Paying the Price

by Maria Quick

  Man, I was laying it on so thick you could drive a truck over it. I think it worked, though.

  What, don’t tell me you thought I was being sincere? Come on.

  He had been rambling on about helping people ever since we’d met. Me caring about people was the only thing that he cared about. And if I pretend that I do, he’ll stick around. We’re a team now, whether he likes it or not. Whether I like it or not. We need each other.

  So, I lied. Water is wet and the sky is blue. The world carries on turning.

  ‘I am so happy to hear you say that,’ George enthused, his little face brightening. ‘I always knew the cold thing was an act. I mean, you risk your life to help people. Of course you care. Does this mean you’re okay with David eventually being arrested for murder?’

  I faltered slightly, but nodded. I sure as hell wasn’t okay with that, but what choice did I have? If I didn’t find evidence against him, Izzy would never get off my back. The way I saw it, it was him or me.

  ‘That’s great. Speaking of, I passed Rathers on the way back. I think he was coming here.’

  Oh boy, I could not wait. Well, I had to get that over with sometime soon.

  ‘Did he seem happy?’ I asked.

  ‘Of course not. Did you think he was coming by to thank and congratulate you?’

  Touché. I headed downstairs as I heard his car door slam shut. I’d heard it so many times recently I could recognize it.

  George was right, he didn’t seem happy. Rathers looked like he’d stepped in dog crap without any shoes on. I held the door open for him to come in but he shook his head.

  ‘I’m not staying long. I just wanted to let you know that you’re not always right,’ he said.

  ‘Oh, thank you, that’s very kind. Seemed to be earlier, though.’

  He avoided my gaze and nodded.

  ‘Yeah, a full-on confession. I told my boss it was a team effort, and we’d been looking over old cases to find new evidence.’

  ‘New evidence, I read about that. Is that my new nickname?’ I pondered.

  He quickly glared at me.

  ‘I told him the truth off the record. It’s not the first time he’s heard of your name. He thought I was insane, going back to you after what you’ve done.’

  My head chose a good time to start pounding. You know, I wondered whether I’d ever be able to move on from this. What with George reminding me of Tommy every two seconds and now Rathers sneering at me, it felt like I was being constantly reminded. Okay, I get it. I made a mistake. People paid the price, including me. I mean, if it bothers people so much why do they keep bringing it up?

  ‘Is that all?’ I asked crisply.

  ‘No. I meant what I said. You’re not right all the time,’ he said, and I distinctly noticed a twinkle in his eye.

  ‘Just say what you have to and leave.’

  I was not in the mood for games.

  ‘I spoke to David earlier,’ he shrugged, and my heart sank. ‘I played the “new evidence” card and he called my bluff. He admits to being bullied by Elizabeth and Chuck, but says he left prom as soon as it happened. He also said he was nowhere near Leo’s bar on the night Leesha was murdered.’

  ‘Just because he said that, it doesn’t mean he’s telling the truth.’

  To be honest, I was surprised David denied it. And annoyed. I was counting on him being a weasel and admitting to doing the deed. Without that, I had nothing.

  Literally nothing.

  ‘Just because you said he did it, it doesn’t mean you’re telling the truth,’ Rathers bit back. I know you are but what am I?

  ‘He did it, I’m telling you. He killed Izzy after prom and Leesha after a date. He strangled them both.’

  ‘Just like he strangled Jessica?’

  Ooh, I’d forgotten about that.

  ‘And how’d he do it with only one working arm?’

  Ooh, he’d lost me. George and I glanced at each other, baffled.

  ‘Huh?’ I asked. Rathers chuckled as though he’d expected me to not have a clue.

  ‘He had an accident at work over twenty years ago, working with heavy machinery. He tore a couple ligaments in his left arm. He’s barely been able to lift that since the 90s.’

  Holy mother of God. He wanted to catch me out in a lie and boy, did he do it. I cannot believe that Izzy didn’t-

  No, wait, I can believe it. It was my own stupid fault for believing her in the first place. And also, for not asking what he was like now. High school was almost forty years ago. Why was I still thinking of him as purely the little bullied kid with asthma? Well, there was an obvious answer to that. I was an idiot.

  Rathers took my stunned silence as confirmation that I was a liar. I mean, technically I was lying anyway, but shut up. He smiled and whistled a merry tune as he headed back to his car. Clearly, all was right again in the world.

  ‘You know, maybe you should have asked Izzy-’

  ‘I know,’ I hissed at George. He coughed, abashed.

  ‘What do we do now?’

  Rathers wouldn’t believe me anymore, and he certainly thought David was now off-limits. I wouldn’t trust a single word that came out of Izzy’s mouth. Nope, it was down to me. As usual.

  ‘I need to see this David Schaffer.’

  27

  ‘Um, we tried doing that, remember?’ George sighed as I rushed back to my laptop. ‘His Facebook wasn’t public, and you don’t know how to research beyond that.’

  ‘It’s not the first time I’ve had to find a caveman. But thankfully, the phone book still exists.’

  At least, it did online. I hadn’t seen a physical one in years. And thanks to people’s general lack of privacy and self-preservation, I was able to find an address for him in thirty seconds flat. Would’ve been quicker if Theo wasn’t downloading every single video game he’d missed out on in the past couple of years. My dad, resigned to the fact that he was going to be here a while, had bought him an Xbox and PlayStation. We now had two of each in the house, one each for both kids. All I’d been hearing at home were the sounds of their yells and guns shooting all the time. Because I wasn’t already stressed out enough. It’s always fun for little things like that to add to the crap pile.

  On the other hand, I hadn’t spoken to my father at all since finding out about my mom. Overall, it was a win.

  ‘Who are you dressing up as?’

  I frowned, thinking. Hannah’s clothes were thrown on my chair, and the clipboard on the floor was giving me an idea. Plus, I was far too lazy to recall all my other personas.

  ‘Hannah,’ I said, drawing up a new document to clip on the board. George watched through my shoulder.

  ‘“American Asthma Association.” Is that real?’

  ‘For their sakes, I hope not.’

  ‘Alright. What’s your play? Donation money?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I hesitated. That was one idea. Another was asking him about his asthma experience. It all depended on what David Schaffer was like, and I wouldn’t know that until I met the guy.

  ‘Maybe this is a bad idea. We should wait until Leesha gets here. She can fetch Izzy and Izzy can tell us what he looks like.’

  ‘Alternatively, we can go meet David, find Izzy ourselves, and then have a humongous argument about him.’

  ‘Well, that does sound more fun,’ he noted dryly.

  I printed out my sheet and sighed.

  ‘Look, I’m not going to do anything stupid. All I want to do is see what the guy looks like. I only know that he was a fat nerd in the 80s. Izzy told me that he’s been in and out of jobs all his life. I thought that was due to depression, but now I’m thinking maybe not. I mean, would a nerd be working with heavy machinery?’

  ‘No, all nerds work with math and microscopes by law. Also, all drama students work as actors and not baristas, and all jocks end up being quarterbacks.’

  Okay, fair point. I kinda had that coming.

  ‘And you don’t even know what type of heavy machinery
it was. It could’ve been a super computer,’ he grinned, giving me a friendly pat.

  Another fair point. I was making assumptions again. And you know what they say about assumptions. They make an ass out of you and- wait. I got that wrong.

  It’s okay, nobody needs to know.

  ‘All I’m going to do is knock on his door, pretend to sell something, and then he’ll shut the door in my face. Then, I’ll get a general idea of what I’m dealing with.’

  ‘So, what you’re saying is, you’re gonna judge the guy based on his appearance?’

  ‘Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,’ I nodded. ‘Then, we can figure out how to accuse him of murder.’

  ‘You’re a terrible person, Ann,’ he told me solemnly.

  ‘I know!’

  David Schaffer lived in a house that looked like... well, any other house I guess. The hell do I know? I don’t know real estate. It had bricks and windows in the places you’d expect. And a front door, which was always a good thing. His garage was closed so he had at least one brain cell in his body, but it meant I couldn’t see what he drove. I whistled at George and gestured to it, and he dutifully woofed and scampered in.

  He whistled himself as he trotted out.

  ‘He’s got a sweet ride in there.’

  ‘How sweet? Bentley-sweet or like supercar-sweet?’ I asked.

  ‘Neither,’ he shook his head. ‘He’s the proud owner of a Harley.’

  ‘Like a bike?’ I clarified.

  ‘Not only like a bike, it is one. He seems to be a mega fan. I saw all kinds of helmets on the wall, kinda like trophies. I’m guessing this isn’t his first.’

  David Schaffer, super-nerd. Had asthma and halitosis. Owned Dungeons and Dragons but couldn’t play it, because he was a loner.

  Now owns a Harley.

  I’m missing something here.

  I re-checked that I had the correct details for him. David Schaffer, early 50s. Lives at this address. There can’t be that many around, surely?

  ‘Did you see Izzy in there?’ I asked.

  ‘No, but I didn’t see David, either. I heard him moving about upstairs, so maybe she’s there, too. Want me to go check?’

  ‘No,’ I frowned.

  ‘What’s up?’

  Nerds can’t own motorcycles. That’s what’s up. Putting it like that, it sounded ridiculous, so I shook off my doubts and headed to his door. I rang the bell and waited, feeling increasingly anxious. Finally, he answered.

  Well, a big hulking brute of a man did, anyway.

  ‘Yes?’ he asked gruffly.

  I could do nothing but stare. The guy was over six foot, and probably about four foot wide. His biceps were bigger than my entire body. He was wiping a dirty rag on his hands full of a black liquid I assumed to be gasoline. How the hell had he changed so much in thirty years?

  Even George was baffled. He let himself in and wandered through the walls as I struggled to think of words.

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘David Schaffer?’ I whispered.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Did you go to Dayton High School back in the eighties?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Do you have asthma?’ I asked, and he slowly stopped wiping his rag and glanced at my clipboard.

  ‘Yes,’ he sighed. ‘What are you selling?’

  ‘I’m from the American Asthma-’

  ‘Not interested,’ he barked, and shut the door in my face. Like I was expecting him to do.

  But not really.

  Dazed and confused, I shuffled back to the safety of my car and waited for George to return. When he did, he didn’t look half as confused as me.

  ‘He’s been painting figures.’

  ‘Numbers?’ I asked, thinking he had a backstreet garage or something.

  ‘What? No, like action figures. Miniatures. You know, tabletop games?’

  Like Dungeons and Dragons. Okay, so he was still a nerd.

  But again, not really.

  ‘Are you alright?’ George probed.

  ‘No, everything is wrong.’

  I was supposed to feel sorry for this guy. For the past six or seven years, I have been told that he is a loser and someone I should take pity on. I hadn’t helped Izzy as much as I probably should’ve done, based purely on that belief. He’s supposed to be broken. He’s meant to be the little bullied kid that I could maybe relate to.

  But he’d grown up. And I really hadn’t seen that coming.

  Maybe it’s because Izzy didn’t grow up, I don’t know. She’s still the Queen Bee in her mind, so David is still the loser. I never thought to actually question that. It’s tiring, second-guessing everybody all the time. I’d rather just take what they say for granted and deal with the inevitable fallout later. Much more simple.

  But now I’m left with David.

  I have been utterly thrown for a loop.

  ‘He’s not like I thought he’d be,’ I said cautiously. George nodded vigorously.

  ‘Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s like we thought he was trash, and he ends up being a boss.’

  ‘I have no idea what you just said,’ I replied. ‘But maybe I got this wrong, you know? Maybe he’s the wrong David Schaffer.’

  ‘You think there were two of them at that school at the same time?’

  ‘Maybe. Maybe he’s a twin!’ I shouted excitedly.

  ‘Again, you think there are two David Schaffers?’

  Oh yeah, that wouldn’t make sense. But I had to have the wrong guy. I just had to.

  ‘Maybe. I don’t know. Stranger things have happened,’ I said wistfully, eyeing up his house one last time. I accidentally caught sight of Izzy in an upstairs window. She seemed furious, and jumped down to no doubt enrage me in some way. Smoothly, I switched on the ignition and headed home.

  Okay, so it was the right David Schaffer.

  ‘You can’t outrun her forever, you know,’ George called out, watching her run after my car.

  ‘I know. But I’d really rather shout at ghosts in the privacy of my own home. Besides,’ I said, peering at another slinking ghost in my rear-view. ‘Leesha looks a little sheepish back there. I’m guessing she’s spilled the beans.’

  28

  I barely had enough time to make a coffee and plant myself on my bean bag when Hurricane Izzy came charging through.

  ‘So, that’s it, huh? You’re not gonna help me now?’ she screeched.

  ‘No, I still am. But-’

  ‘I can’t believe you’d do this!’ she yelled, as though I hadn’t spoken. She started ranting about how it was unfair to her or something, and I quickly zoned out. George watched on in fascinated disgust until even he got bored of it.

  ‘Shut up!’ he roared.

  Taken aback, she did. For a second.

  ‘And another thing...’ she screamed, ranting about the same thing as before.

  Leesha finally showed her face, hovering in the background. She winced at the horrific noise Izzy was making.

  ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled. It wasn’t so hard to hear, since I’d long since labelled Izzy as white noise. ‘Kinda slipped out.’

  ‘That’s alright. I was only putting off the inevitable. Did you tell her everything?’

  ‘I think so. What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean that you’re gay.’

  Silence. Ah, beautiful caress. A horror-stricken Izzy shuddered, slowly turning toward Leesha. She knew what was coming. She braced for it.

  ‘Ew, you’re a dyke?’

  ‘Loud and proud, bitch,’ Leesha grinned.

  Izzy’s barely-there amateur dramatic skills came out in force. She gagged, she yelled, she cursed at Leesha and occasionally at me. She couldn’t believe it, she was disgusted, ew, she’d shared things with Leesha. My heart bled for her.

  No, really.

  Leesha barely moved, and only watched, chuckling softly.

  ‘A couple weeks ago that would’ve bothered me. Now, I just feel sad for you.’

  ‘I don’
t want you to feel anything for me,’ Izzy snapped. God forbid.

  ‘Fine by me.’

  As much as I wanted to see Izzy throw a hissy fit, I still needed her help. Because I still had to help her, right? Was that still the right thing to do? I was confused. Nothing about this case was remotely clear at all. There was no evidence leading to David. Now that the pantyhose were a bust, I had nothing. All roads led to Chuck back then, and probably still did now. Which, in turn, led me down another avenue.

  ‘Did David actually kill you? Tell me the truth,’ I asked her bluntly.

  Oh boy, now it was my turn for the snarls and growls. It was like kicking a Chihuahua or something.

  ‘You think I’d be here following him around if he didn’t?’

  ‘Maybe you wanted to apologize to him,’ George suggested. Oh, that sounded sweet. She realized that she was an asshole too late and wanted to try and make it up to him, but she could never tell him herself. How poetic. Unfortunately, I knew her better than he did.

  ‘What the hell would I have to apologize for?’

  Everything? I let George ramble on and attempt to appeal to her better self, which didn’t exist. I was too busy thinking of how I was going to solve this. No evidence. No confessions. No likelihood of a random eye-witness at the eleventh hour.

  And also, I still had Leesha’s death to contend with, too. I sure knew how to have fun.

  ‘Both of you shut up,’ I lazily said. Offended, they drew themselves up and tried to claw back some dignity. I silenced both of their incoming retorts with a quick hand gesture. I wasn’t finished.

  ‘First things first. Izzy, why didn’t you tell me that David only had one working arm?’

  ‘I didn’t think it was important,’ she sniffed.

  ‘You didn’t think it important? I accused him of a murder that he couldn’t actually have committed.’

  ‘He did commit mine!’

  ‘I meant Leesha’s!’

  She folded her arms and scowled, blowing her frizz off her face.

  ‘I don’t know who you’re talking about.’

  Leesha laughed. I did not. She was a child. She was worse than a child in fact. I think even toddlers know that the you’re-invisible-because-I-don’t-like-you defense never worked.