Karin felt for Reese in that moment. She had wanted him to come to her that night after their falling out and apparently he had. Only something went horribly wrong along the way. But who was at fault?
She saw Marilyn pull up behind him in her stepfather’s Ford Explorer and felt almost relieved. Offering Reese a faint smile, Karin said, “Well, it looks like my ride is here. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Is that a promise?”
Karin thought about it. Knowing that they would still have to see each other, if only at school, she said, “Yeah, it’s a promise.”
Reese smiled at her wearily and drove off.
Marilyn seemed to be the one person at Elmwood High who had nothing to say about Lesley or Reese, preferring instead to talk about the girls’ indoor track team in preparation for the outdoor season. For once, Karin actually enjoyed hearing about the track team, as it took her mind off other things.
“I was clocked at 15:83 for the 100 meter run,” bragged Marilyn during the drive. “But I think I can do a lot better.”
“Who am I to argue with that?” quipped Karin.
“You can do better, too. I know you can.”
“Don’t even start.”
“Not saying a word.” Marilyn smiled broadly. “Except that the Coach is still looking for someone who can complement the team in a big way.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Karin said, knowing that her window for trying out for the team this year was closing fast. Right now she had far more pressing thoughts on her mind.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
At the dinner table, Karin felt like she was in a morgue. Her parents, like her, were caught up in their own worlds. But she had no doubt that their thoughts all merged into one and it centered around Lesley and Reese. For her part, Karin was thinking about the cold shoulder she had seemed to get from Lesley at school, as though she were her enemy. Yet, at the same time, she sensed her friend’s vulnerability and fear about the situation. She only wanted to help Lesley, if she could. But would Lesley let her?
Then there was Reese. Karin knew he was hurting, too, no matter how things went down with him and Lesley. She didn’t believe he was a bad guy, even if they hadn’t been on the same page Saturday night. But could he have tried to take advantage of an intoxicated Lesley afterwards? Was Lesley even sober enough to be able to determine what had truly happened?
Not lost on Karin was the possibility that Lesley had been protecting the true culprit of an assault in fingering Reese...such as Marcus. But why?
“Well, I’m glad Lesley decided to talk to you to some extent, Karin, but there are still more questions than answers,” her father said. “Pass the beans, honey.”
Karin did so while responding contemplatively, “I think Lesley’s just going through a lot right now and needs more time to come to grips with it.”
“I’m sure that Shelly’s got a lot a do with Lesley not being too forthcoming about this serious accusation,” Josephine said. “She’s always been too overprotective of that girl. I just hope she gets her some help when this is over.”
“Lesley’s not crazy!” Karin defended her.
“I never said she was, sweetheart,” her mother stated. “But she’s obviously been put through some sort of trauma—real or imagined—and will need some counseling to deal with it.”
Deep down inside Karin knew her mother was right. If Lesley had been sexually assaulted, making sure that justice was served against her perpetrator was only part of the recovery process. She would need to speak with a sexual assault counselor and probably someone in the mental health profession, too.
If Reese really was a sex offender, he would also need therapy to acknowledge what he did and get treated for it, Karin thought. Of course, that would be in addition to whatever criminal penalties he faced.
But what if the assault hadn’t really occurred? What if Lesley made it all up or deliberately implicated the wrong person? These were possibilities that troubled Karin and couldn’t be ignored altogether. Cheryl had suggested that Lesley and Marcus had gone all the way. Had they? Or maybe Marcus drank too much and, instead of attacking Jayne’s house, turned his violence towards Lesley.
“Karin—I’m talking to you!” Her father raised his voice.
She snapped back to attention. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked you if you know of any reason why Lesley might have accused Reese, other than that it really happened?”
Karin fluttered her lashes musingly. “Not that I can think of.”
She didn’t want to mention Lesley’s alleged sexual escapades. Not when it was strictly hearsay at this point. Not to mention it could have a rippling effect, so that they eventually found out just how close Karin had come to losing her virginity to Reese.
“Isn’t Lesley dating Marcus Payne?” Greer asked attentively.
“Yeah,” Karin admitted. “So what?”
“So where was he when this supposed attack occurred?”
“I don’t know, since I wasn’t there when it supposedly happened.”
Josephine peered at her daughter. “Did your leaving the party early have anything to do with a quarrel between you and Reese?”
“No!” she insisted maybe a little too much. “I told you, I wasn’t—”
“I know what you told me,” her mother cut in. “I’m just not sure I believe you.”
“Why not?” Karin tried to play innocent, feeling guilty in the process. But she didn’t want to get into this any deeper than she had to.
Her mother deflected the question and stayed on the offensive. “If something happened with you and Reese causing you to walk home, we need to know. Your father has agreed to help Reese only because he’s your boyfriend. But if circumstances are there that call into question his attitude and temperament after you left the party, keeping it to yourself won’t be good for him, Lesley—or you.”
“Your mother’s absolutely correct,” her father said supportively. “I need to know everything that happened at that party between you and Reese. It could go a long way in his defense against this sexual allegation. Not to mention determining his guilt or innocence—”
Why does this have to be so hard? Karin thought, wanting to cry. Her loyalties were divided between two people she cared deeply for. Turning on one or the other would be a major betrayal of sorts, when she didn’t even know the facts. But saying nothing could be even worse if it meant getting Reese off the hook or charging him for something he never did.
“All right,” she said with a sigh. “Reese and I had a fight, sort of, at the party and I left.”
Her father’s brows twitched. “Fight about what?”
“Just a little disagreement, no big deal,” Karin tried to downplay it.
Her mother’s mouth hardened. “It is a big deal if your little disagreement caused him to go after your best friend.”
“Reese wouldn’t have,” Karin said weakly, beginning to doubt her own words as much as she stood by them.
“So what was the disagreement about?” her father demanded.
Karin sucked in a deep breath. The last thing she wanted was to go down this path with her parents of all people. But she had been backed into a corner and Reese’s credibility as a person and as her father’s client was at stake.
“Well, he just wanted to go a little further than I did,” she stammered.
Josephine regarded her angrily. “You’re telling us Reese tried to have sex with you, Karin? Where? I thought this was a party you went to?”
“It was. We were just fooling around a little in a room. But so were Lesley and Marcus...and Cheryl and Jeffrey Jamison.” Karin added quickly, mainly to try to lessen what she and Reese were doing. “It’s what kids do at parties these days.”
“It’s not what you do, young lady,” her mother argued.
“We didn’t do anything wrong!” She defended their actions as best she could.
“Then why did you leave?”
“So we w
ouldn’t do anything wrong, Momma,” Karin snapped. “I left so nothing would happen.”
This silenced her mother for a moment.
“Well, that was a good thing,” her father said thankfully. “I still wish Reese hadn’t put you in that position. We’ll deal with that later. Right now, I’d like to know what his state of mind was when you left him alone.”
He wasn’t very happy, Karin knew, but she would hardly say that made him ready to jump Lesley’s bones. Not unless he was prepared to go through the bigger, probably stronger, Marcus, to do it.
“Reese was fine,” she told him. “He understood my position.”
Her father looked less than convinced. “Had he been drinking?”
“He might have had some beer, but he wasn’t drunk!” Karin recalled Cheryl saying that Reese always liked to be in control of what he was doing. Meaning he couldn’t use intoxication as an excuse for sexually assaulting someone, if it happened. “Reese even offered to drive me home, but I chose to walk.”
“Well, that was the least he could do after trying to pressure you into having sex.” Greer’s hard eyes were on her. “Maybe Reese went after Lesley as the next best thing?”
“You don’t know that, Daddy, and neither do I. The whole thing could be some sort of misunderstanding.”
“You don’t accuse someone of sexually assaulting you as a misunderstanding, Karin,” her father said. “This doesn’t mean Lesley’s accusation can stand on its own merits. That’s what we need to find out.”
Karin played with her food, not even pretending to eat anymore. “I just wish this would all go away.”
“Yeah, don’t we all. Unfortunately, it’s here to stay till we get to the bottom of it.”
“And that means determining which one of your friends, Lesley or Reese, is telling the truth about what really happened,” Josephine said flatly. “Then dealing with it.”
This was the part that scared Karin. How did she deal with such an allegation and the aftermath? Was it possible that the three of them could still somehow come out of this with minimal damage?
Greer pursed his lips. “Well, my advice to Lesley as the accuser, were I allowed to give her any, would be to step up to the plate quickly in solidifying her story, if she hopes to win the support of her best friend...and me—”
Karin looked at him with a raised brow. “I thought you were on Reese’s side—legally, I mean.”
“I’m on your side, honey,” he said laconically. “As for Reese’s defense, if after all the evidence is laid out I come to believe that young man laid one finger on Lesley, I will recommend that he gets himself another lawyer. And he could forget about any more thoughts of romance with you ever again!”
Karin’s heart sank, even if their relationship was still on the rocks aside from Lesley’s charge. For if her own father abandoned him during his time of need, how could Karin expect Reese to stand by her and resolve their own issues should he prove to be innocent of any improprieties?
By the time she went to bed, Karin was more confused than ever. Her best friend was barely talking to her and the boy she still loved could very well be a sex offender. All of a sudden all she ever wanted was turning into a nightmare that figured to get worse. She could only pray that she woke up from it before it was too late and her world was turned upside down forever.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Karin was in something less than a deep sleep when she heard the chime. At first, she thought it was part of a dream she was having about running track in which Coach Cleaver was blowing his whistle, urging her to run faster and faster. But then as that began to fade and she opened her eyes, Karin realized it was her cell phone ringing.
It must be Reese wanting to talk while her parents were asleep so they couldn’t prevent it. Though things were very much up in the air with them, Karin was excited at the prospect of hearing his voice again, as if she hadn’t heard it recently. But another side of her wondered if it was a good idea to talk to Reese right now while her parents were up in arms over what they almost did. And what he might have done to Lesley.
I have to, she told herself. Whatever else, I owe it to Reese to at least keep the lines of communication open.
Karin got up and dragged her feet to the dresser where she’d set the phone.
She was surprised to see that the caller was not Reese, but Lesley.
She could barely put the phone up to her ear fast enough.
“Lesley—”
“Yeah, it’s me.” Her voice was shaking.
“Are you all right?” Of course she isn’t, given the situation. But maybe she’s a little better than she was before.
“Not really,” Lesley uttered.
Karin felt her stomach churn. “Oh, Lesley, I’m so sorry about this whole thing.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“Of course.” Karin was careful to keep her voice down, lest she wake her parents and have an unwanted audience.
“Not over the phone,” Lesley told her. “And not by text.”
Karin glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly four a.m. “Do you want me to come over there?”
“No!” Lesley snapped. “I need to get out of here before my Mom and Edgar wake up.”
Karin assumed that her house would not be a safe place to have a private conversation either. So she proposed, “How about the park?”
“That’s good.”
“I’ll meet you outside in five minutes,” Karin said.
“All right,” Lesley agreed. “Bye.”
“Bye.”
Karin felt a rush of adrenalin as she quickly slipped into a pair of jeans and a heavy sweater. She tiptoed from her room and down the hall past her parents’ room. The door was closed as usual. She hoped they were sound asleep.
Otherwise I will have some major explaining to do. She preferred not to go down that road now, especially when Karin sensed that Lesley was about to do some explaining of her own.
* * *
Outside, a street lamp softened the darkness. Karin waited on the sidewalk for Lesley to emerge. She did, coming from the side of her house. Karin knew that their front door squeaked and was more likely to alert Shelly or Edgar. She noticed his car parked in the driveway, where it had been just about every night lately.
Lesley walked up to her. Her hands were jammed in the pockets of a denim jacket. Her hair hung limply across her shoulders.
“Hey, girl,” Karin said, hoping to make her friend feel comfortable, though the situation was awkward for both of them.
“Hey.”
They stood there for a moment before Karin hugged her. “Everything will be fine, no matter what happened,” she said, though wondering if that was truly possible.
“I hope so,” Lesley said weakly. “I’ve been so scared and confused about this...I just couldn’t keep it all to myself any longer—”
“Let’s walk,” Karin said, and took her hand. She couldn’t begin to imagine whatever it was that Lesley had gone through. She just needed to know the whole story, so she could help her. Or at least try.
Neither said a word until they were well into the park. They followed the well-lit path and sat on a bench near a cluster of picnic tables.
Lesley had her head bent down when she said unsteadily, “I don’t know where to begin.”
“How about at the party?” Karin regarded her profile thoughtfully. “I saw you and Marcus in the room making out. Did he force you do something you didn’t want to do?”
Lesley sighed. “No. Marcus wouldn’t do that. He stopped when I told him I didn’t want to go any further. I wasn’t feeling very good—I think I had too much to drink—and decided to go home. Since he wasn’t exactly in the best shape to drive either, we found Reese and he told me you’d left. He offered to take me home—”
She paused and a sinking feeling came over Karin. Could Reese actually be guilty of a sexual assault? She hoped that wasn’t the case.
“And what happened then?” K
arin looked at Lesley.
“Reese drove me home and we talked.”
“Did he do anything to you?”
Lesley faced her, tears streaming down her cheeks. “No, Reese never touched me.”
“Then why—?”
Lesley swiped at the tears on her cheeks and rubbed her nose with the sleeve of her jacket. She sucked in a deep breath and stammered, “After he dropped me off, I went inside and straight to my room. I felt sick and just went to bed without taking my clothes off. And that’s when Edgar came in. He told me Mom was asleep and that, um, it was time we got to know each other better.” Lesley paused, wiping her nose again. “I thought he was crazy and told him to leave me alone. But he got on the bed and said he was better for me than Marcus. And, um, then he started kissing and touching me. I could smell alcohol on his breath. I tried to scream, but he put his hand on my mouth and said he’d hurt me if I didn’t shut up.” Lesley sniffled.
Karin was shocked. “Did he rape you?”
“He tried to, but couldn’t get in,” she cried. “He tore my top and, um, kept touching me. Then he just stopped while I was bawling. He told me not to say anything to Mom and that she wouldn’t believe me over him if I did.” Lesley wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “Then when Mom saw me on the bed like that, she asked what happened. And I didn’t know what to say, with Edgar standing there and all. I was afraid he’d hurt us both or that Mom would blame me for what he did. I just freaked.” Lesley grabbed a wadded up tissue from her pocket and blew her nose before continuing.
“She pressed me to tell her what happened and when I tried, all I ended up doing was crying and I couldn’t stop. Mom asked me if Marcus made me do something against my will. I said no and she somehow took that as meaning somebody else did so she started tossing out names. And, um, when she said Reese’s name, I reacted, thinking about what he told me happened between you guys that night. I blurted out his name, not meaning to, and Mom decided he was the one responsible for what happened. And with Edgar standing there threatening me with his eyes, I just broke down and told her that Reese had touched me inappropriately and tore my blouse, hoping she would just leave it alone.”
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