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"No, just Kayla. Cool kid."
His gray eyes sparkled. "Cool. Yes, that's a good word to describe Kayla. One of those little characters who don't quite fit in, but you know, when they grow up, they'll do better in life than all the popular kids. Paula brings her up once a week to go over her lessons, make sure she's on track. I offer to help more, but Paula won't even take the supervision work for nothing--insists on cleaning my house while I'm working with Kayla."
"You taught her, too, didn't you? Paula Thompson?"
He nodded and led me to a couple of chairs in a makeshift office space. "She started high school the same year I started teaching. I taught her, then Genevieve, and now Kayla. Three generations of Thompson girls. And three more different girls you couldn't hope to find."
"Tell me about Ginny and Brandi."
He settled in his chair and took a moment, as if trying to decide how to start. "When I first started teaching, I was convinced every student could be helped. It's a spark of idealism that fades fast. Some can, and you learn to concentrate on them. The others ... The others you can't help because they just aren't interested."
Sounded familiar. I'd never had much use for school myself.
"I had Ginny and Brandi in my class," he said, "when they came to class, which wasn't often. They spent most of the day in the woods behind the school, smoking with their boyfriends. Then Ginny got pregnant with Kayla."
"Did that help?"
He rubbed his chin and I could tell he wanted to say yes, but after a moment, gave a slow shake of his head. "Ginny was thrilled about Kayla, but only because it meant she could quit school. Otherwise, she was perfectly happy to dump the baby on Paula and go off getting drunk and high with Brandi."
"No father in the picture I take it?"
"Daddy was some loser Ginny hooked up with on a weekend in Portland. I'd be surprised if she even got a name. Paula has Kayla now, thank God. Should have had her from the start but ..." He shrugged. "Paula had Ginny when she was a kid herself and it turned her life around, so she kept hoping having Kayla would do the same for Ginny. Paula would baby-sit Kayla, make sure she was fed, had clothing, play dates, all that, but she insisted Ginny step up and be a mother, get a job, get an apartment ..."
"Did she?"
"The job? On and off, mostly off. She had a place, though, over one of the shops on Main Street. Kayla wasn't neglected--Paula made sure of that. But like I said, those Thompson girls were very different. Having Ginny might have been a life-changing experience for Paula, but her life didn't need as much changing as Ginny's. Even if Paula wasn't much of a student, she still showed up in class and did the work. Hung out with a rough crowd, but she was the best of the bunch. Polite and respectful even when she came to class stoned."
"And Ginny's dad? Was he part of that rough crowd?"
"I don't think so. Paula had a string of boyfriends in ninth and tenth grade. Then she seemed to stop dating. Next thing you know, she's pregnant."
"Meaning she was dating. Just not anyone she could be seen with in public. There were rumors, though, I bet."
"Plenty. Most of them involving married men, not surprisingly. A couple of names floated around. I don't like spreading rumors, so I won't give them to you, but I will say that neither of them killed Ginny. One left for the East Coast years back, and the other's dead."
We talked about Ginny for a few more minutes, but he couldn't add any dimension to the picture I'd drawn of her. It was even worse when we got talking about Brandi.
"I barely remember the girl," Mulligan said. "I felt bad about that, but when I went to the funeral, I remembered why. There wasn't much to Brandi Degas. Nothing memorable. She was Ginny Thompson's shadow. I don't mean in regards to their friendship--Brandi was clearly the leader there. But Ginny was the one you noticed. The prettier one. The louder one."
"They'd been friends a long time, I heard."
"Since they were babies. Both had single moms and I think Paula and Carol went to the same support group."
"Were they friends? Paula and Carol?"
"Close acquaintances more like. Carol was an alcoholic even back then, and Paula didn't take with that. She helped out, though, looking after Brandi when she could."
"Is Carol Degas still in town?"
"She is. And you can try talking to her, but don't expect much. A lifetime of boozing has taken its toll. When Brandi died, Carol couldn't even sober up for the funeral. She's doing better, but her memory's shot."
"And Brandi's father?"
"A kid who died in a drunk-driving accident a year after Brandi was born."
"No dad in the picture for either. Those girls did have a lot in common."
"Pretty much everything. Never finished school. Were into drugs and booze. Couldn't hold a job. No kids for Brandi, though."
