Summer by the Lake

by Mandy Baggot

  ‘Why would you want him at your wedding?’ Brad exclaimed.

  ‘Because he didn’t rape me. We just found out. Brad, it definitely wasn’t him,’ Robyn said.

  ‘I don’t believe it. How? What about the DNA evidence?’ Brad said a look of shock on his face.

  ‘It wasn’t accurate. Don’t ask me about these sorts of things, Cole’s the scientist. Another sample was tested and the DNA definifely didn’t match,’ Robyn explained.

  ‘What other sample? What d’you mean, another sample?’ Brad demanded to know.

  He was agitated and his face was flaming. He stopped skating.

  ‘It doesn’t matter. But there’s no doubt,’ Robyn said with a swallow, stopping opposite him.

  ‘What d’you mean, it doesn’t matter? Of course it matters! There were no other samples! There was one sample, my dad dealt with it and it was Jason’s DNA!’ Brad yelled at the top of his voice.

  ‘Well, there must have been contamination or something, because Jason wasn’t the father of my baby!’ Robyn screamed back at him.

  Robyn watched the color drain away from Brad’s face and his hockey stick dropped from his gloves and fell to the ice with a clatter. He put his hand to his mouth, his eyes wide, unsteady on his skates.

  And all at once she knew.

  His reaction spoke a thousand words. Robyn felt the bile rise in her throat as she looked at him. Brad folded in half, falling to the floor and doubling over on the ice, sobbing onto the frozen ground.

  ‘It was you,’ she said, her limbs paralyzed, her skates stuck to the spot.

  Brad just howled like someone who had been cut in two. He didn’t lift his head, maybe couldn’t lift his head.

  ‘You raped me,’ Robyn stated as calmly as her trembling voice would allow.

  ‘No!’ Brad howled, finally looking up, his face pained, his eyes spilling tears.

  ‘It was you,’ Robyn said again, furrowing her brow and staring at him, confused.

  ‘You had a baby?’ Brad questioned, looking at her for confirmation.

  ‘Tell me the truth! When the police check this DNA profile on their computer, is it going to match yours?’ Robyn yelled at the top of her voice.

  ‘Robyn…’

  ‘Is it gonna match yours?’ Robyn screamed hysterically.

  She felt like the arena seats were moving in on her, shrinking the rink. There was no air, she wasn’t even sure she was breathing, it was almost like time was standing still.

  ‘Yes,’ Brad said and then put his gloved hand over his mouth and let out another sob of despair.

  Her insides contracted, her heart thumped in her chest and her head felt like it was ballooning. She looked at him, slumped on the floor, wailing like a baby, and she was overwhelmed by a feeling of disgust.

  She gripped her stick tightly with both hands and she hit him across the back of the head with it.

  He clutched at his head and tried to crawl away from her, but Robyn hit him again.

  ‘You bastard! How could you do that to me? How? You put a sack over my head and you violated me in the worst possible way! You were my boyfriend, Brad! My boyfriend!’ Robyn screamed, continuing to hit him with all her strength.

  ‘I loved you, Robyn. I really loved you,’ Brad told her, grabbing the stick before it could hit him again.

  ‘You loved me? You loved me so you raped me? Are you insane?’ Robyn cried, tears falling down her face as she wrestled him for control of her stick.

  ‘I wanted you to be serious about me, but you never seemed to think that way. You didn’t treat me like a proper boyfriend. Yeah, we went to the movies and we hung out with Mickey and Sarah but…’ Brad kept a firm hold on the stick.

  ‘I wouldn’t sleep with you,’ Robyn stated, horrified.

  ‘I loved you. I still love you,’ Brad repeated.

  ‘I wouldn’t sleep with you, so you followed me home from the arena, you put a bag over my head and you made me have sex with you? You make me sick!’ Robyn exclaimed, clutching at her stomach and struggling to stay on her skates.

  ‘I just wanted to be with you, Robyn, be close to you… like we should have been,’ Brad said, reaching for her hand as he stood up.

  ‘Don’t you touch me! I’m calling the police,’ Robyn said, backing away from him.

  ‘Look, I know some of what I did was wrong. You were scared and I didn’t want you to be scared, that’s why I came back,’ Brad said.

  ‘You raped me, then you left me, then you came back and pretended to find me,’ Robyn said, her mind returning to the dark, wet night.

  ‘It was so cold that night, and I remember your mom’s coat was soaked right through. I watched you put your clothes back on, and when you made it back to the road, I went back to my car and made sure I was the first one to find you. I wanted to look after you and take you home,’ Brad continued.

  ‘You put your arms around me and held me when I told you what someone had done to me. It was you,’ Robyn stated, unable to truly believe it.

  ‘Where’s our baby?’ Brad questioned bluntly.

  ‘Our baby,’ Robyn said, the words almost hurting her mouth.

  ‘You said you had our baby.’

  ‘I had an abortion,’ Robyn stated.

  Brad looked visibly shaken. Tears sprung out of his eyes and he let go of her hockey stick.

  ‘Then I really don’t have anything left,’ he yelled out, his voice echoing around the arena.

  ‘Do you expect me to feel sorry for you? You’ve ruined half my life… you’ve ruined half of Jason’s life,’ Robyn said, staring at him.

  ‘Jason didn’t have a life. I did him a favor. What was he going to do around here? He’s a better person now, he’s read a lot and taken classes he would never have done on the outside,’ Brad continued.

  ‘I can’t believe you’re justifying what you did. And what about what your dad did covering it up? You both framed an innocent man and sent him to jail!’ Robyn screamed.

  ‘I wanted you to realize what we had was special,’ Brad said, reaching out and taking hold of Robyn’s hand.

  ‘Get off me!’ she shrieked, trying to pull back her hand.

  ‘You call it rape, but it wasn’t really like that, was it? I didn’t really hurt you, I loved you that night, just like I’ve been loving you ever since,’ Brad said, keeping a firm grip on her hand.

  *

  He’d driven flat out all the way to the arena. He only hoped he wasn’t too late. Sweat was beading on his forehead and his heart was thumping in his chest as he ran up the corridor toward the rink. He now knew the identity of the rapist. And when he got to him, he was going to make him pay, and if he’d done anything else to hurt Robyn, he was going to kill him.

  He burst out of the tunnel and saw Brad holding onto her. Leaping over the barrier, he skidded across the ice toward them.

  *

  ‘Give me your stick, Robyn,’ Cole ordered, appearing on the ice, out of breath and shaking with rage.

  ‘Let me go!’ Robyn begged, tears seeping from her eyes as she tried to release her fingers from Brad’s grip.

  Cole picked up Robyn’s ice hockey stick and caught Brad around the head with it, knocking him off his skates and onto the ground.

  He hit him across the face and raised it again for another strike.

  ‘Police! Put the weapon down!’

  Robyn looked toward the tunnel at the team of officers making their way into the stadium, and she hurried over to Cole and took the stick from him.

  ‘I know what you want to do, but give me this one. Let me see them put the cuffs on him,’ Robyn begged.

  *

  ‘Bradley Willis, you are under arrest on suspicion of the rape of Robyn Matthers. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?’ the officer asked a
s he cuffed Brad’s hands.

  ‘Yes,’ Brad replied, bloodied and battered, but still looking at Robyn.

  ‘Let’s go,’ the officer said, pushing Brad forward.

  Robyn watched them disappear out of view and then she fell to the ice in a heap, the emotion finally catching up with her.

  ‘Hey, it’s okay, come here,’ Cole said, joining her on the floor and putting his arms around her.

  ‘How could he do that to me? And lie about it, all these years?’ Robyn wanted to know.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Cole admitted.

  ‘I’ve been an idiot. How could I not have seen it? There must have been signs I should have picked up on. There must have been something.’

  ‘He was the first person you saw after it happened. His DNA was all over you, anyway. The only DNA he couldn’t control and should have thought about controlling was what made the baby. His dad took care of that sample and changed the records… put Jason in the firing line,’ Cole explained.

  ‘I feel sick,’ Robyn said, wrapping her arms around herself.

  ‘We’ll go home,’ Cole said, hugging her to him.

  ‘No. I don’t want to, not yet. Can we just sit here for a bit?’ Robyn asked, looking up at the scoreboard advertising the Panthers’ next match.

  ‘Sure,’ Cole said.

  ‘I’ve always liked Aerosmith, you know,’ Robyn said as a new tune began over the PA system.

  ‘Yeah, me too. But don’t tell anyone,’ Cole replied, taking hold of her hand.

  ‘I want lilies for the wedding, you know the pink ones with the gooey orange stuff in the middle that cats are allergic to, and we still need to compile a set list for Special Guest, you know, ZZ Top, Bryan Adams… do you like Train? I love Train. And I’m not sure one party tent is gonna be enough, we might need two, with proper sides and everything because Max isn’t too well at the moment and I don’t want him or Dad getting a chill. And we need plenty of gin for Ada, she’s hand-embroidered napkins with our initials on them. It wasn’t my idea, she insisted, but I like it. And although I’m coming on Uncle Bob’s boat, I want Leonora decorated, you know, something classy, like shaving foam and balloons. The twins are wearing their hockey outfits by the way.’

  Forty-Nine

  Now that they were home, she wouldn’t cry. She had rearranged the talking fridge, polished Leonora within an inch of her life, and now she was outside scrubbing the decking. He could only imagine how she was feeling.

  *

  ‘We’ve brought chicken and rice and stuff for the barbecue. We didn’t know what was best,’ Pam said when Cole opened the front door.

  Standing on the doorstep were Pam, Bob, Sienna, Sierra, Nancy, Sarah, Mickey, Henrik, Wade, Wes and Jason.

  ‘We hear news about Brad, what he did. To shoot would be too good,’ Henrik said, handing Cole a bottle of tequila.

  ‘Thanks for coming. Come on in,’ Cole invited, letting them all through.

  ‘How is she?’ Sarah asked, her eyes brimming with tears.

  ‘Not too good,’ Cole admitted sadly.

  ‘If I ever set eyes on that boy again, I’ll…’ Bob began passionately.

  ‘We’d all like to do that, Bob,’ Mickey said, patting him on the back.

  ‘Shall I warm the food?’ Pam asked.

  ‘She isn’t eating, but sure, I’m guessing everyone here is hungry,’ Cole said as they all moved into the lounge.

  ‘Where is she?’ Sierra asked.

  ‘We’ve made a card,’ Sienna added.

  ‘She’s outside. Cleaning the hot tub,’ Cole informed them.

  ‘What?’ Pam exclaimed.

  ‘She’s been at it for over two hours, says it isn’t clean yet,’ Cole replied with a shrug.

  ‘Leave this to me,’ Nancy said firmly and she marched toward the patio doors.

  ‘She says she doesn’t want to talk about it any more. She’s been writing lists and lists of stuff to do with the wedding and now she’s cleaning the hot tub,’ Cole informed everyone.

  ‘I go in hot tub?’ Henrik asked, producing trunks from the pocket of his jeans.

  ‘No, Henrik. God, you Danes are obsessive over your hot tubs, aren’t you?’ Sarah spoke

  ‘What?’ Henrik asked.

  ‘Right now is in-appro-priate,’ she sounded out.

  *

  Outside Robyn was scrubbing the side of the Jacuzzi with a nail brush. Her hands were red and sore from the chemicals, but she couldn’t stop. If she stopped for just a second, she would have to think about what had happened that day.

  ‘Jeez, sugar! You wanna clean something, you could have a go at the kitchen at Eddie’s. Chef’s great, but not exactly splatter free,’ Nancy remarked, standing next to her.

  ‘I’ll do it tomorrow, if you like,’ Robyn answered.

  ‘Put the brush down, honey,’ Nancy ordered.

  ‘It needs finishing, in time for the wedding. You know, people will wanna use it and…’

  ‘You can’t hide behind things,’ Nancy said seriously.

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because sooner or later, you’re gonna have to come out,’ Nancy continued.

  Robyn let out a heavy sigh and threw the brush into the hot tub.

  ‘If we make it sooner, then we can get on with finalizing these wedding plans,’ Nancy told her.

  ‘I feel dirty all over again. Do you want to talk about that?’ Robyn snapped.

  ‘This isn’t your fault.’

  ‘Cole keeps saying that, over and over again. It is my fault! I mean, if I’d just slept with him when we were dating, he wouldn’t have done what he did.’

  ‘You don’t know that.’

  ‘Yes, I do. He told me.’

  ‘Honey, you weren’t ready to do that with him. If you were, you would have done it already. And no man should make you feel you oughta be ready before you are,’ Nancy reminded her.

  ‘I trusted him,’ Robyn said with a shake of her head.

  ‘We all trusted him,’ Pam added as she and Sarah joined them outside.

  ‘He betrayed us all,’ Sarah said, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

  ‘How could he do that to me?’ Robyn asked them, tears threatening to spill.

  ‘He lied to all of us, all these years. And as for his father… he’s as guilty as Brad, changing evidence, ruining Jason’s reputation,’ Pam continued.

  ‘I can’t even speak to Jason. I don’t know what to say to him. I’m scared he’s never gonna forgive me and that’s no more than I deserve,’ Robyn said.

  ‘Hey, none of this is your fault Robyn. I’m just glad you know the truth now,’ Jason replied as he and the rest of the team came out of the house to see her.

  ‘Jason. I am so sorry. If I could turn back the clock, if I could do anything different to change things I would,’ Robyn said, looking at him shamefully.

  ‘It wasn’t you, Robyn. I understand that you only ever told the truth, the rest of it was out of your hands,’ Jason said, taking hold of her hand and squeezing it in his.

  ‘I condemned you, though, everyone did. We should have remembered who you were. A kind, sweet boy who liked Marvel comics,’ Robyn said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

  ‘Shh, don’t tell the Panthers. They’ll never let me live it down,’ Jason replied with a smile.

  ‘We heard!’ Mickey yelled out.

  ‘So, you’re back on the team and I also wanna give you meals for life at Eddie’s,’ Robyn stated.

  ‘Whoa, now hang on a minute,’ Nancy said.

  ‘I’ll take the place on the team, but not the food. Your dad needs to be making all the profit he can right now. But maybe a team dinner after our next win?’ Jason suggested.

  ‘Sweet,’ Wade agreed.

  ‘And Dad says he’s been meaning to ask you since about 2003 about his Chevy, she’s not running right. I thought now that things were back to normal, you might wanna take a look some time,’ Jason added.

  ‘Hey! I’m the mechanic around here
! Why hasn’t he asked me?’ Mickey wanted to know.

  ‘Because Grant knows I could strip the engine of his Chevy blindfolded,’ Robyn answered with a smile.

  ‘We have drinks and refrigerator say low on beer. It is amazing, I want,’ Henrik said as he, Bob, Cole, and the twins came out onto the deck.

  ‘Robyn, we made you a card,’ Sierra said, bounding up to her with it.

  ‘Mom said Brad’s going to jail,’ Sienna added.

  ‘I didn’t tell them the whole thing, you know…’ Pam started.

  ‘What did he do to you?’ Sienna wanted to know.

  ‘Well, he told a lot of people a lot of lies, and if you don’t tell the truth, you get in trouble,’ Robyn said, looking at the card.

  It had a picture of a girl on ice skates wearing a Portage Panthers shirt.

  ‘Logan Hamilton at school tells lies; he says his mom has a girlfriend. Moms don’t have girlfriends!’ Sierra exclaimed with a roll of her eyes.

  ‘Will he go to jail?’ Sienna asked.

  ‘No,’ Robyn answered.

  ‘Beer and pickles?’ Cole offered as he held out the jar and a fork and Bob held out a bottle of Bud Light.

  ‘You remembered to forget the plate,’ Robyn said, smiling at him.

  ‘Yes, I did,’ Cole replied.

  Fifty

  October in Michigan is usually a mixed bag. One day it can have a month’s worth of rainfall in two hours, the next it can snow. Throw in a tornado and showers of leaves and you’ve pretty much got it covered.

  But October second broke like a summer morning, and the blue, cloudless sky looked set to last all day.

  As Robyn sat in Bob’s boat and slowly sailed across West Lake, she smiled. Here she was, back where she belonged, with all the people she loved, on her way to get married to a man who knew everything about her and still adored her.

  ‘Daddy, shouldn’t Robyn be wearing a life jacket?’ Sienna called out, lifting the shield of her helmet.

  ‘Yepper,’ Bob replied, steering the boat.

  ‘Then why isn’t she?’ Sierra questioned.