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“I'd like to assist Mr. Wright, if that is okay with you.”
His offer surprised me, but I readily accepted it.“I'm surprised by Brad's behavior, pissed and furious as well, but surprised. Brad participated in quite a few of the fundraisers that I helped with for your school and he always seemed like a good kid. His father, on the other hand, has no respect for women. We all went to school together, and he was just one of those guys that wanted what he wanted and to hell with how anyone else felt about it. There was even rumor that he had crossed the line into abusive, but I never picked up on that trait in Brad.”
“Neither did I. We were friends, at least I thought we were.”The news about Brad's father was as disturbing as it was revealing: like father, like son.
My uncle started to reach across the table to offer comfort, but seemed to think better of it and I guessed because he wasn't sure if I wanted to be touched after my ordeal. I reached for him and he instantly closed his fingers around mine.“Thank you for telling me. I'm really sorry about how things ended with your aunt, but you are family, at least to me.”
Tears slipped from my eyes at his sincerity.“For me too.”
***
Later that day I had to go into the police station to make a formal statement. Afterwards, as I sat waiting for my uncle and the Wrights to finish up with the detective, someone sat down right next me. I wasn't surprised to see it was Mica.
“How are you doing?” The concern in her voice almost made me lose it right there.
“I'm okay. Thank you for what you did at the party.”I tried to say more, but my words got clogged in my throat. Understanding moved over her expression,“It happened to you too, didn't it?”I asked.
“Yeah. It's why I'm here. They are re-opening my case.”
“They closed it?!”I was appalled.
“Yeah, because it was my word against his. I was even encouraged strongly by Brad's lawyer to not defame his client or I'd be brought up on charges. My own lawyer told me that had he raped me, I would have had a stronger case.”A noticeable shudder worked through her.“I never saw it, never saw the monster just below the surface.”
“Neither did I.”
“He was a part of my clique, we hung out all the time. When he attacked me, I didn't understand because his actions were so contrary to the boy I thought I knew.”
“I don't know him like you do, but that sounds exactly like what happened to me.”
“I saw him talking to you at the party. I kept an eye on you, but I turned away for a few minutes and when I looked again, you were gone. I was looking for you when I heard the screaming. I'm sorry.”
“Please don't, Mica. If it wasn't for you...”I didn't finish the thought, because it was too horrific to ponder.“Was that why you came into the art room that day?”
“Yeah, I saw Brad coming out and I worried since I'd noticed he was paying more attention to you, especially after Bastian left.”
All those times I caught her watching me, to think she was watching out for me. I had definitely been wrong about her. As wrong as I had been about who Brad was showing an interest in.
“I guess the upside in all of this is with you stepping forward and me, maybe others will too,” she said with determination.
“You think there are others?”I hated the thought of that.
“Yeah, I do. He's done it before and you can be damn sure he'll do it again.”
***
That night, I called Bastian.
“Lark, I was just talking about you to my boss.”
He sounded so happy that I hated what I was about to do, but he needed to know.“Bastian, I need to tell you something.”
His voice hardened.“Did my parents do something?”
“No. God, I don't even know how to say this.”
“Just say it, Lark.”
“Poppy, Caden and I went to a party last night and Brad was there. He tried to rape me.”
