Circle of Silence

by Carol M. Tanzman

  Immediately, they all shut up—except for me. “Bethany did not shoot that footage. Jagger did.”

  “Yeah, yeah. That’s what she said.” He puts a hand on her shoulder. Bethany flinches. “Point is—it’s her fault. She told you stuff.”

  “She did not!”

  “Don’t lie. She confessed.”

  Has Bethany lost her mind? Moved past terror to…I’m not sure what to call it. It’s hard to imagine what Skeletor did to force her to lie like that.

  “Okay, fine,” I say. “But the footage on my computer’s been deleted. As of today. You were probably in the bedroom when she did it.”

  Skeletor shrugs, meaning: big deal. You figured that out. “She said you always make a backup copy. Who has it?”

  “My friend Marci.” Defiantly, I toss my head. “She’s giving it to the cops—”

  “Giving?” He sneers “Or gave?”

  Shit!

  “I don’t know. She wanted to go to the cops from the beginning, but I wouldn’t let her. We made a deal. She’d wait until after we aired the piece.”

  “How long?”

  I glance at Bethany. “I’m not exactly sure—”

  “My guess is she hasn’t gone yet. All you Campus News freaks would make her wait. See if some asshole at school rats us out.” Skeletor points a skinny finger at me. “Here’s what you’re going to do. Call your friend, tell her to leave the copy on the stoop of her building, or the lobby, or whatever she has, and bring it back here. Someone will trail behind you to make sure you follow directions. That’s when I’ll let your traitor sister go.”

  “Listen to me! It doesn’t matter whether you get the copy or not. It’s still on the school’s server.”

  He laughs. It’s a nasty sound. “Not anymore.”

  Surprised, I wipe snowflakes from my eyelashes. Someone deleted the footage? Who would do that? Who has access—

  Skeletor takes a menacing step forward. “What are you waiting for? Get going.”

  Forget the server. Focus on the danger in front of you.

  “I’ll never get to Marci’s.” I spin the lie with as much certainty as I can. “I called the team before getting here. Campus News will show up in five minutes. Maybe less. With cameras and everything else. So you might as well let Bethany and me leave before you get into real trouble.”

  “You didn’t call anyone,” he tells me.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah.” He jerks his head. “You wouldn’t. Not until you talked to your sister. Something about blood being thicker than water. Just to prove I’m right, one of you check her cell.”

  Ghost Face yanks the backpack from my shoulder. Roots around, finds the phone. “She got a couple of calls and texts from someone named Raul. She didn’t reply.”

  Behind the mask, I can feel Skeletor’s gotcha smile. “Told you. Lying runs in your family.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say quickly. “You’re right. It’s just so cold right now. Why don’t we go together? It’ll take more than an hour to get to Marci’s and back. You’ll end up with frostbite if you stay here.”

  The snow’s falling at a steady pace. It would be beautiful—if I wasn’t so scared. I’ve finally figured out the reason Bethie isn’t moving. Her arms, which have been behind her back the entire time, must be tied to the pole sticking up from the end of the dock.

  “Don’t worry about me.” Skeletor sneers.

  He’s no dope. He’ll find someplace to get warm while I run around Brooklyn like a maniac. And he’s evil enough to leave Bethany on the dock until I get back.

  Just as that thought hits, a blast startles the group. A tugboat makes its way up the river. All heads turn—except for mine. Instead, I jerk my arms from Frankenstein’s suddenly slackened grasp and race forward. There’s no way I’m leaving my sister with a bunch of psychos.

  Someone shouts. Skeletor moves to block my way. As I swerve, my boots slip on the damp wood. I hit the deck hard, unexpectedly sliding past Skeletor on my stomach.

  “Shit!”

  The end of the dock is less than two feet away. Momentum, and a thin layer of melting snow, defies the law of friction. Skidding forward, I can’t stop—

  Just before I plunge into the cold, dark waters of NY Harbor, Bethany sticks out her leg. The front of her shoe hits my shoulder hard enough to keep me from going over the edge.

  Scrambling to my feet, I turn to face the members of MP. “Back off, assholes! If either Bethany or me ends up in the water, you’ll be arrested for murder. Is that what you want? Life in prison?”

  The three at the back have the brains to hesitate. But Skeletor’s out of control. He screams as he lunges for me.

  “Don’t call me an asshole!”

  We struggle, locked in a tight, back-and-forth motion. The dock is not very wide and I don’t want to slip again. Skeletor grabs a lock of my hair and pulls hard. I collapse onto my knees. A sickening boom, like a gunshot, scares the crap out of me.

  A large crack fractures the dock. At the same time, Skeletor’s foot crashes through the wood. He lets go of my hair as he falls. Lucky for him, the plank’s splintered gap isn’t wide enough to allow him to drop all the way through. He dangles awkwardly, one leg in the hole. His other leg and butt are splayed against the wooden deck.

  The dock sways and groans. Any second now the thing will break apart, plunging us all into the chilly depths of the East River.

  Skeletor screams at the masked kids, “Don’t just stand there. Help—”

  “Everybody freeze!”

  The voice is familiar. I’m pretty sure I’ve lost my mind when I see Raul standing at the land edge of the dock, hands cupped to his mouth.

  “Val? You all right?”

  How on earth did he find me?

  “Valerie!”

  My voice trembles. “I’m okay. But I’m worried about Bethie. And this thing is really shaky!”

  “What about me?” Skeletor yells. “My leg—”

  “Nobody moves,” Raul shouts. “Nobody panics. You’ll have to get off one at a time.” He points to the person closest to the edge. “You first. As smooth as you can.”

  I hold my breath as Ghost Face inches forward. When she gets to within inches of Raul, he extends a hand and pulls her off. Raul nods to Frankenstein. “Now you.”

  He moves quickly. Instantly, the dock quivers.

  “Slow down!” Raul yells.

  Frankenstein freezes. Legs shaking with fear, he starts again. After what seems like half a lifetime, he’s off the dock, too. Now it’s just one more person before only Bethany, Skeletor and I are left.

  Gingerly, Zombie makes his way through ever-thickening snow. He finally hits land, which is the moment Skeletor loses it.

  “I can’t feel my leg anymore!” he screams. “Help me!”

  “Hell no! Bethany’s next,” I hiss.

  Ignoring Skeletor’s pleas, I tap my sister. “Your turn.”

  Her teeth rattle so much she can’t speak. Carefully, I lean over the edge. In the never-quite-dark of a New York City evening, my stomach drops.

  “She’s tied up, Raul!”

  “Stay calm, Val. Go ahead and undo the knot.”

  “I can’t. My fingers are cold. They’re stiff—”

  “You have to,” he commands. “I can’t get there. Concentrate. It’s just like editing. One step at a time. Find the end of the rope….”

  He keeps talking, nice and calm, as if standing on a crumbling dock
trying to save my sister’s life is a regular part of any day.

  The faster I untie the knot, the faster Bethie gets off the dock. That’s what I tell myself as I work the rope. Then it’s my turn. We’ll both be safe.

  With a final twist, the rope comes undone. Quickly I unwind it from Bethany’s wrists, and then drop the rope into the water. Within seconds, the current takes it away.

  “Move your legs,” I beg. “Please! We can’t stay here much longer.”

  Painfully, my sister makes an effort. She bends one leg, then the other.

  “That’s great. Go on!” I urge.

  She takes two tiny steps, but her knees wobble. Afraid she’ll fall, I prop her back against the wooden pole.

  “C-c-can’t d-d-d-o it! V-V-Val….”

  “Okay, we’ll go together.”

  I wind my arm around her shoulders to sort of lift her. We don’t take more than a few steps before the rotted pilings underneath begin to creak. The dock sways. I’m afraid to go any farther.

  I give Raul a horrified, beseeching look.

  In the face of looming disaster, he continues to remain calm. “Bethany? I’m Val’s friend. Raul.” He takes off his jacket, holds it out. “You can put this on when you get here. It’ll warm you right up. Doesn’t that sound good? Just get close enough to me and I’ll help you the rest of the way. You can do it.”

  “He’s right, Bethie. Go!”

  Her thin legs move awkwardly. She takes a step. Then a second, a third… At the same time, Raul gingerly slides a few feet down the dock from his end. I hold my breath. About three feet from land, they meet. He says something I can’t hear before leading her to safety. Puts his coat around her shoulders and shouts, “You’re next, Val!”

  Skeletor screams, “No! You can’t leave me alone!”

  I hesitate, but Raul waves me forward. As I move, a hand grabs my ankle and holds on tight. I pull Skeletor’s head, violently, to get him to release me. His mask comes off in my hand and my body jerks backward. Off balance, I step down hard to keep from falling. The dock shakes, groans—and splits apart.

  Omigod!

  In a sort of slow-motion panic, I realize that I’m falling, falling, falling… The intense shock when I hit freezing water takes my breath away.

  “Val!” Raul screams.

  Frantic to stay afloat, I flail about. But I’m wearing boots, a jacket…. The swiftly moving current eddies around, pulling me down. It’s impossible to breathe. In some part of my consciousness, I hear screams, see flashes of light…

  As I slip underwater, the last thing I see is Skeletor’s face floating beside me.

  If I thought I’d recognize him, I’m wrong. Stripped of his fright mask and the power the others give him, he’s nothing special. The kind of kid you pass in the hallway every day—and never, ever notice.

  It’s the last thought I have before the world turns black.

  32

  The chaos over the next few hours is colossal. To my immense good fortune, Raul called the cops the instant he saw us on the dock. By the time it falls apart, the police have arrived.

  That accounted for the flashing lights and the yelling. After going completely underwater the first time, I managed to struggle back up. Gasping for breath, I see an orange tube float beside me.

  “Grab it!” voices shout. “Hold on!”

  Somehow I manage to grasp the tube and wrap my arms around it. Immediately, there’s a sweet tug of rope as the police reel me in. As soon as I’m close enough, they drag me onto land. Coughing, sputtering, I feel my knees give out when I try to stand. Before I hit the ground, however, I’m scooped into strong arms. They carry me from the water’s edge. The cop places me on a large, flat rock. Fingers press gently against my throat. I hear, “Pulse is good.” Within seconds, thick, warm blankets wrap my body.

  One of the uniformed men squats down. He has a black mustache and kind eyes. “Can you talk? Do you know your name?”

  “Val Gaines. Where’s my sister?”

  He points. “We’re keeping the other kids back there—”

  The wail of an ambulance interrupts. I look over. Skeletor has been fished out of the water, too, but he’s lying, not sitting, on the ground.

  “Is he okay?” I ask.

  A walkie-talkie squawks. In my dazed state, I can’t make out the words.

  The cop shrugs. “He’s got a deep laceration on his leg, so we called the paramedics.” He squints. “How about you? Can you stand? If not, we can send you to the hospital with him—”

  I shake my head vehemently. “I’m fine. I need to see my sister. And Raul.”

  “Let’s go to my car and then I’ll find them,” he says. “You’ll warm up faster inside.”

  From the backseat, I watch Skeletor being carried on a stretcher to the ambulance. I still don’t know who he is.

  * * *

  By the time Raul and Bethany get into the car, the heat’s blasting. Raul takes the middle, Bethany the far side. Either because it’s tight in the backseat, or because he feels the need to protect us, Raul wraps one arm around Bethany; the other hugs me. Despite the fact that she’s still wearing his coat, he feels warm against my side.

  “His name’s Arnold Clemson,” he tells me. “Mean anything?”

  The shiver at the sound of the name has nothing to do with the fact that I’m soaking wet. “That’s Skeletor? Uh-uh.”

  “Yep. I heard the cops talking.”

  I stare out the window. I don’t recognize Ghost Face or Zombie, either. Two more people who manage to stay under the wire at school. Wraithlike, they float down hallways and settle into their seats, invisible to the rest of us. They don’t raise their hands, don’t cause trouble. Just like Bethany, I imagine, they go home after school, munch on cookies or chips, listen to music, do their homework—but they do it alone.

  There is one person that I’ve met. Frankenstein. He’s the dude Marci called Potty Mouth. The kid who gave what I now realize was a totally bogus interview, pretending he didn’t give a crap about MP.

  The Channel 5 News van shows up. High school kids plunging into the icy East River is news. Good old Emily Purdue, hair not quite perfect in the night wind, wants an interview. Raul, Bethany and I refuse. Determined, she heads for the others. MP can make up any lie they want. Emily can get the story wrong. I have no sympathy for her.

  The cops string yellow caution tape barriers to alert people to the dangerous half-submerged dock before we get rolling. A second car, carrying the three MP members who originally surrounded me, follows. At the police station, parents descend. In the bathroom, I exchange the heavy blankets for the dry clothes Mom brings.

  Names, addresses, stories. The cops talk to everyone separately, including Bethany and me. They write down everything, no matter how contradictory. A couple of lawyers show up. Since everyone’s under eighteen, the final outcome of the evening is that we’re released to our parents. Specific criminal charges to be decided next week.

  With Raul by my side, the Gaines family exits. I think I’m holding it together pretty well until I discover that my folks took the car, even though the police station isn’t far from home. Now we have to walk to where Dad parked, drive to Connie’s apartment, wait for the twins to pack up their toys and then go home.

  “I am not doing that!” I say.

  “Val—” Mom starts.

  “No! It’s much faster to walk home. Raul will take me, right?”

  He lo
oks uncomfortable, clearly unhappy to be in the middle of a family fight. “I’ll be glad to walk you home if it’s okay with your parents.”

  Mom opens her mouth to protest, but Dad stops her. Saving at least one daughter, if not two, from certain death gives a guy major cred.

  “She’s got a point, Kate,” he tells Mom. “No sense in all of us crowding into the car. You sure you’re all right, Val?”

  “Yes. I really want to walk. The police station was stuffy.”

  “Okay.” Dad looks at Raul. “Be careful. Have her call the minute you get inside.”

  “Yes, sir. I will.”

  With a wave that’s more cheerful than I actually feel, Raul and I head off. The snowstorm’s moved on, leaving a half-inch blanket of crystals sparkling in the clear night air.

  “Tell the truth,” Raul says. “Are you really okay?”

  “I guess. I just can’t sit in the car with the twins and Bethany. Or my parents. I don’t feel like answering a million more questions.”

  “I hear you,” Raul says.

  After a few minutes, though, I’m the one who breaks the silence. “The cops asked me something I couldn’t answer. How did you know where to find me?”

  “It wasn’t hard. I got worried when you didn’t respond to any of the texts or calls. I used the locator app like you did when you were looking for Jagger. Red Hook came up, but that didn’t make sense. You were supposed to be waiting at home. Why would you leave—unless you’d been contacted by MP?”

  “Bethany told me I had to come alone.”

  That’s the moment it hits. How close I came to drowning. My body quivers with pent-up fear—and rage. I stop in the middle of the sidewalk. Raul gives me a concerned look before guiding me to a stoop swept clean of snow. It’s dry. Gratefully, I sink down.

  He takes my hand. “Oooh, cold.” He rubs both sets of fingers with his large, much warmer, palms. “Better?”

  “Mmmm.” I let him fuss over me for a few moments, too tired to protest. The truth is, it feels good. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you back. It’s just—”