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I trail off when he turns away and then, I’m being flooded with hugs and sympathy.
Someone cries at my shoulders. Someone else sits me down in a chair and hands me a glass of water that I don’t take a sip of.
“He was just trying to save his mom,” I whisper to no one in particular, watching the door they took Zach through.
But someone answers. It’s Tina.
She’s kneeling in front of me. “No, he was trying to save you.”
I don’t press charges against Mr. Prince.
They ask me if I want to, though.
But I think that it was just a formality. This is Princetown; I don’t think anyone can touch the Princes.
They ask me what I saw and how it all came about. I tell them about Mr. Prince’s slap and the suspicion I have about the abuse. Mrs. Prince’s wrist, which apparently is marked up.
Mrs. Prince claims that I attacked her husband without any reason. But I guess when her husband started pushing me around, people were already at the door because of all the noise, rushing to my rescue, and they saw what happened.
Not to mention, there’s another large imprint of his hand on her made-up cheeks.
It takes a few hours for them to question me and question me again before they let me go. The doctor had already cleared me, saying that all I had was a tiny busted lip and that I needed to take it easy.
Before I leave, I ask them about Zach and about what’s going to happen to him.
One of them gives me a curt answer, saying that he’ll be held longer for questioning and that’s all I need to know. The cop who escorts me out gives me the real scoop – because he’s young, a rookie, maybe, and when I tell him I’m from the south side, he perks up.
“He was violent. No question about it, and he said some things that might be used against him.”
“Like what?”
He glances around and divulges, “He made threats against his father in front of witnesses.” At my terrified look, he rushes to explain, “Look, as long as Mr. Prince is alive and kicking, I don’t think anything’s going to stick. There are people who saw you getting attacked and most of them confirmed that he was acting in your defense. It’s just bureaucratic bullshit.”
He was trying to save you.
“You said most of them. Why not all of them?”
He purses his lips.
“It’s his mom, isn’t it? She’s insisting that he did it out of spite.”
His silence confirms it.
God, that fucking woman.
Before I can talk further, I spy Maggie and Tina walking toward me. They both look concerned and as soon as they reach me, they burst out with all the questions.
They pull me away from the cop and help me out of the building. The building where Zach’s being held for questioning.
Back at The Pleiades, Tina puts me in my bed and Maggie brings me tea. She gives me a pill for the pain, which honestly, I’m not feeling at all. But I take it, nonetheless.
I don’t sleep that night. I toss and turn, thinking where Zach might be. If he got back or if he’s okay.
In the morning, I find out that he’s in the lock-up, and he’s going to stay there through the weekend.
I’m at the kitchen island when I hear the news and I’m already off the bar stool when Maggie comes and stops me. “You’re not going anywhere. You have to take care of yourself.”
“But –”
“He’s going to be fine. We went down to the station, all the senior staff members, and gave our statement about how Mr. Prince has been abusive for the past few years. They won’t hold Zach for anything. They’re just trying to throw their weight around.”
I look at her in disbelief. “You knew about the abuse?”
Sighing sadly, she sits me down. “Yes. All of the old staff members. We knew.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because we’re just… the staff. No one would’ve believed us. Plus, Mrs. Prince never came forward and pressed charges. It’s us against them. They own this town. This time though, there were witnesses, evidence. There are marks on her skin. I’m not sure if it will amount to anything but it will arouse suspicion.”
Then something occurs to me. Something horrifying.
“Do you think h-his dad would press charges against him?”
Mr. Prince is in the hospital but they say he’s going to be okay. I don’t even want to think about what would happen to Zach if he weren’t.
This time around, Maggie’s smile is even sadder and that gets my tired and hurting heart racing.
“You don’t understand these people, Cleo,” she explains. “All they care about is appearances. When Master Zach came back, they threw a party when they were the ones who kicked him out. They lied about where he went. They’ve been lying about the abuse, Mrs. Prince’s illness. They’ll lie about this too. So it’ll be Princes’ word against the world. And this is their world.”
