Mr. Genovese sat across from me, his eyes never wavering, waiting for more, waiting for a miracle. But there wasn’t any more. I wasn’t an angel or a saint. I couldn’t give him a miracle.
SEVEN
Kelly
INT.—TYRELL LIVINGROOM—DAY
KELLY watches her mother walk Mr. Genovese to the front door. She glances at TEGAN, who is sitting on her chair as if she had been poured out of a cement truck and had hardened into place. She listens as the front door opens and closes again and her mother walks past the living room into the kitchen.
KELLY
You could have told him you’d at least think about it. That’s all he was asking.
At first TEGAN doesn’t move. Then her eyes seem to click into focus.
TEGAN
And you could have minded your own business. He came here to see me, not you. And, for your information, I don’t have to think about it. I know what I saw.
KELLY stares at her sister, trying to decode her last sentence.
TEGAN (CONT’D)
Everybody keeps asking me the same questions, and I keep giving them the same answers, and they still ask me, like I’m hiding something.
KELLY
(to the camera)
Nobody had said that—not yet, anyway.
TEGAN
The police are the ones who are supposed to solve murders, not me. Why don’t they do their jobs and leave me alone? Why don’t they gather evidence and look for other witnesses?
KELLY
Other witnesses? What other witnesses?
TEGAN stands abruptly.
TEGAN
I’m going upstairs.
KELLY watches her go. She turns to the camera again.
KELLY
What other witnesses?
CUT TO :
INT.—HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY—DAY
The hallway is crowded with teenaged students unpacking their backpacks into their lockers, catching up on gossip and clowning around before classes start for the day. KELLY is at her locker. An attractive blond girl is standing beside her. She is LACEY STRATTON, Kelly’s best friend. KELLY, who has been stuffing textbooks and binders onto the top shelf of her locker, pauses to look angrily at another student, a girl.
KELLY
(to the girl)
Get lost, why don’t you? It’s none of your business.
LACEY
(also to the girl)
Yeah, get lost.
The GIRL glowers at them, spins around and marches a few paces down the hall, where she joins a group of girls and proceeds to whisper something to them. They all stare at Kelly.
KELLY
Jeez, if one more person asks me about Tegan, I am going to go postal.
(to the camera)
Mom let Tegan stay home today—post-traumatic stress disorder and all that. But what about me? Did anyone give even one second’s thought to how stressful it would be to have a couple of hundred kids in your face, all trying to pump you for juicy gossip, all wanting to know Is it true? Was she really there? And, of course, the big one, Did she see?
KELLY shoves the last textbook into her locker and slams the door shut.
LACEY
I heard my mom tell my dad that she overheard Clark’s parents talking while she was over there working with Scott.
KELLY
(to the camera)
Lacey’s mom is a physiotherapist. She’s been working with Clark’s brother, Scott, ever since his accident.
LACEY
They’ve hired someone to look into what happened. Some kind of pi.
KELLY
(surprised)
Don’t they trust the cops to find the killer?
LACEY
I guess not. You know what my mom said? Mr. Carson is used to giving orders and being in charge. She said it’s probably driving him nuts having to wait to hear from the cops. And you know cops—there’s only so much they’ll tell you.
LACEY peers at Kelly and bites her lip. She glances around the crowded hallway and steps in closer to Kelly.
LACEY (CONT’D)
My mom also said she heard Mr. Carson mention Tegan.
KELLY
What did he say?
LACEY
He was telling someone that Tegan knew Clark and that she was in the car when it happened. Did she say anything to you, Kelly? Did she see anything?
KELLY
(sighing)
I don’t know. She won’t talk to me. But you know how she felt about Martin. If she saw anything, I’m pretty sure she would have said something.
LACEY
Pretty sure?
KELLY
You know what I mean.
LACEY
What if Martin talked to her?
KELLY
What?
LACEY
What if Martin talked to her? What if he told her? (pause) Did he, Kel? Did he say anything to her?
KELLY
Not that I know of.
(to the camera)
She would have been all over me if he’d said anything. Talk about drama! She would have ripped out hair, shredded clothing—mine, of course, not hers.
LACEY peers into the distance, chewing her lower lip. KELLY stares at her, frowning.
KELLY (CONT’D)
What?
LACEY
Huh?
KELLY
There’s something you’re not telling me.
LACEY
No there isn’t.
KELLY
Yes there is. I know you, Lacey. I’ve known you since third grade, and you were never a good liar.
LACEY
It’s just…I thought…You told me Martin said he was quitting—smoking, I mean.
KELLY
(to the camera)
It’s how the whole thing started between me and Martin—with me giving Martin a piece of my mind about his smoking—and I don’t mean cigarettes.
DISSOLVE TO FLASHBACK:
INT.—HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM—DAY
The gym has been set up with booths and information tables. Each one represents a different nonprofit organization, charity or community group. A huge banner hangs from the ceiling: Get Involved, Make a Difference in Your Community. Students are walking listlessly from table to booth to table, most of which are staffed by adults. KELLY wanders up and down the aisles between tables, looking bored and cranky. Then something catches her eye. She stares at a good-looking young man at the Doctors Without Borders table. He is MARTIN GENOVESE. A sort of smirk takes over her face. She walks toward him.
KELLY
Well, if it isn’t the future Doctor Genovese. I’m surprised to see you here. According to this—She holds up a small booklet entitled The Students’ Guide to Community Service: Fulfilling Yourself While Fulfilling Your Curriculum Requirement.
KELLY (CONT’D)
—these groups screen their volunteers pretty carefully. They even do police checks.
MARTIN
(grinning at her)
That’s only when you work with vulnerable populations, like children and seniors.
KELLY
Good thing for you, I guess. I mean, what would they think if they found out you were a pothead?
MARTIN
What I do on my own time—
KELLY
And that you got busted.
MARTIN grabs Kelly by the arm and hauls her to the side of the gym. When he speaks, he drops his voice and glances around to make sure no one can hear him.
MARTIN
What are you talking about?
KELLY
Like you don’t know. Look, what you do is your business, but you hang around with my sister. How do I know you don’t—
MARTIN
What makes you think I ever got busted?
KELLY
I heard your sister talking about it.
MARTIN’s face turns pale.
KELLY (CONT’D)
She doesn’t know I heard
her. She was in the girls’ washroom. She thought she was alone. She was on her cell phone. I think she might have been talking to you.
MARTIN
Did she say anything to anyone about it?
KELLY
Not that I know of. But I don’t know your sister all that well.
MARTIN
What about you? Did you tell anyone? Did you tell Tegan?
KELLY
No.
MARTIN
So she doesn’t know?
KELLY
If she does, she didn’t hear it from me.
MARTIN breathes a sigh of relief.
KELLY (CONT’D)
She keeps telling me how you want to be some do-gooder doctor, helping people in all those countries where there’s starvation or civil wars going on or where aids is rampant. What kind of example are you going to set, huh?
MARTIN
They ended up letting me go. There were no charges.
KELLY
Right. So you’re in the clear. There’s nothing to worry about.
(she shakes her head)
Stuff like that catches up with you, Martin.
She turns and walks away.
CUT TO:
INT.—HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY—DAY
KELLY is walking past the gymnasium. She has a backpack slung over one shoulder. She is on her way out of school. The door to the gym is open. Inside, people are cleaning up after the volunteer fair. martin is one of those people. He spots Kelly and hurries out to her.
MARTIN
Hey, Kelly!
KELLY turns to face him.
MARTIN (CONT’D)
Can I talk to you?
KELLY
About what?
MARTIN
About what you said.
KELLY
I really don’t care what you do with your life, Martin.
MARTIN
Tegan told me you say exactly what’s on your mind. She made it sound like a bad thing, but you know what? It’s not so bad.
KELLY eyes him suspiciously.
MARTIN (CONT’D)
I want to explain—
KELLY
You don’t have to.
She starts to circle around him, but he blocks her path.
MARTIN
I got off. Clark called his dad and his dad called some high-powered lawyer he knows, and they let me go with a warning. They didn’t even tell my parents.
KELLY
Good for you.
MARTIN
The deal was, I had to do a program. And I did. I did the program. I haven’t touched anything in five months now. And you know what? I’m glad. I can focus better. I feel better. More righteous, you know?
KELLY
Are you sure you don’t mean more self-righteous?
MARTIN stares at her. She offers a smile. He smiles too.
KELLY (CONT’D)
Can I ask you something?
MARTIN nods.
KELLY (CONT’D)
Why did you ask if Tegan knew about your bust?
MARTIN
It’s nothing. Really.
KELLY peers at him.
KELLY
You’re a terrible liar.
MARTIN
She’s my friend.
KELLY peers at him a few beats longer.
KELLY
I know she smokes up. I don’t think my mom’s figured it out. But I did. Ages ago. So if that’s what you mean—For a moment MARTIN says nothing. He studies Kelly.
MARTIN
Yeah, that’s what I mean.
KELLY frowns. She knows there is more than what he is saying, but she can’t figure out what.
MARTIN (CONT’D)
The thing I wanted to tell you, though—I quit. I learned my lesson. I did the program. I’m clean. One hundred percent drug-free. And I plan to stay that way.
KELLY
Great.
They stare at each other for a moment. KELLY is the first to break eye contact.
KELLY (CONT’D)
Unless there’s anything else…
MARTIN says nothing. KELLY circles around him and bounds out the main door of the school.
CUT BACK TO:
INT.—HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY—DAY
KELLY and LACEY are standing in front of Kelly’s locker. The knot of girls down the hall are still staring at them.
KELLY
Martin quit that stuff. I know he did. Why?
LACEY
It’s just that I heard…
LACEY shifts uncomfortably.
KELLY
For God’s sake, Lacey, just spit it out. What did you hear?
LACEY
I heard he smoked up that night. Tegan too. I heard Clark’s parents are making a big deal of it.
KELLY
No way. He quit. And Tegan…
KELLY frowns.
CUT TO:
INT.—TYRELL FOYER—NIGHT
TEGAN comes through the front door and throws her backpack onto the floor. KELLY is coming down the stairs.
TEGAN
I don’t know what’s gotten into Martin. He used to be fun. Now he says he doesn’t want to party as much anymore. I don’t get it.
CUT TO:
INT.—HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY—DAY
KELLY and LACEY are still in front of Kelly’s locker.
LACEY
I’m telling you what I heard from someone who was at the party. They were smoking up. Tegan and Martin.
A school bell rings. Locker doors slam up and down the hallway, and kids start to move to their first class of the day. KELLY stares at Lacey as if she can’t believe what she has just heard.
LACEY (CONT’D)
Come on, Kel. You know how Austen gets if anyone comes to class late.
KELLY still doesn’t move. LACEY grabs her by one arm and drags her down the hall.
EIGHT
Tegan
I stayed in my room all day Monday, dreading the moment when the doorbell would ring and Clark’s parents would show up to ask the same questions as Mr. Genovese.
But they didn’t come. Instead, a man named Mr. Deacon did, and, don’t you know it, my mother, who had stayed home from work even though I told her she didn’t have to (I wanted to be alone), let him into the house. Then she made me go downstairs and talk to him. He was a tall, handsome man in an expensive-looking navy-blue suit. His hand engulfed mine when he shook it.
“Mr. and Mrs. Carson asked me to drop by,” he said. “I’d like to ask you some questions, Tegan, if that’s okay with you.”
No, it wasn’t okay with me. But before I could say anything, my mother was fluttering around him like he was datable material.
“Please, come into the living room, Mr. Deacon,” she said. “Can I make you some coffee?”
“No, thank you, Mrs. Tyrell.” He sounded polite, but there was something cold behind his eyes. “I’m fine.”
We sat down, me in the same armchair Kelly had sat in when Mr. Genovese had stopped by, my mother in the matching armchair next to me, and Mr. Deacon on the sofa on the other side of the coffee table. My mother clasped her hands in her lap and smiled nervously.
“Tegan, as I’m sure you can imagine, Mr. and Mrs. Carson are devastated by what happened,” Mr. Deacon said.
“We all are,” my mother said.
Mr. Deacon smiled pleasantly at her, but he didn’t fool me. His smile was as fake as his politeness. My mother’s hands tightened in her lap.
“They are even more devastated by the impasse the police find themselves in,” Mr. Deacon continued. “A senseless double homicide committed, not in a ganginfested part of the city, but in a good neighborhood filled with well-educated, hard-working professional people—and the police don’t have a single lead. They have the bullet casings, but no weapon. There are no fingerprints. No footwear impressions. No hairs, no fibers, no blood except the victims’.”
I flinched when he said that. He was looking straight at me. He knew
the effect his words were having on me. But that didn’t stop him.
“The police have no idea who would have wanted to kill those two boys, or why,” he said. “They’ve talked to Clark’s and Martin’s families. They’ve talked to both boys’ friends. They all say the same thing—that the boys didn’t have any enemies, that they weren’t in any trouble, that they hadn’t been in any fights or arguments with anyone. If anyone held some kind of grudge against either of them, no one seems to know about it. The police have nothing to go on, Tegan. And that means that they’re not likely to make any progress in finding out who murdered these two fine boys.”
She Said/She Saw Page 3