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“And did you?”
“We ran out the door, but we turned back just as Slade shoved Walt hard enough that the dude fell into a display of booze, which tipped over and shattered. The old guy went down hard on his head, and your brother and his friend took off, laughing and running.”
“Oh my God,” she said, and I could hear the pain in her voice. “What did you do?”
“River and I… we were fucking young, you know? I was scared, and he wouldn’t admit it, but I know he was, too. We ran back inside, and Walt was unconscious. We called 9-1-1 and got him help. We stayed with him until they got there.”
“Was he okay?”
“He had bleeding on the brain from hitting his head and was in the hospital for a week.”
“How do I not know about this? Slade must have gotten in trouble for this. And who was the other kid?”
“He didn’t, and I never knew who the other kid was because your brother denied even being there. The surveillance cameras miraculously didn’t work that day, according to the police report. River and I were blamed for what happened. We’d beenon the scene when the ambulance arrived. We’d explained what happened to the police officers assigned to the case, and they’d claimed that your brother wasn’t at the store, and neither was his friend. Slade had a watertight alibi that he was fishing with your dad. Your father had visited Walt at the hospital, from what River and I later found out, and once Walt was up for talking, he’d corroborated the story. And they’d come down hard on me and River because we’d been skipping school, and we’d been blamed for the damage at the shop and for shoving Walt so hard that he’d been hospitalized.”
She pushed up now, looking me right in the eyes as tears streamed down her face. “What happened after that?”
“We were sent to juvenile detention. They’d said we were violent and dangerous. Neither of us had families who could protect us at that point. My mom was in way over her head, and all she could do was cry. My father had just gone to prison, so no one thought it was a stretch that I’d have done this. And River and King were being raised by their elderly grandparents, who weren’t equipped to go to bat for us either. Slade had found the perfect scapegoats.”
And I’d hated them every day since.
fourteen
. . .
Demi
My ears were ringing,and my head was spinning as I listened with horror to what had happened to Romeo and River.
The injustice.
All at the hands of my brother, and possibly my father.
I couldn’t wrap my head around any of it.
My dad was a good man. He worked hard for our family. His investment company gave back to the community. I couldn’t fathom him going along with this.
I remember hearing bits and pieces about Romeo and River, but I hadn’t known the half of it.
“You were fourteen years old, and they sent you away?” I croaked, and now I needed to look at him. To feel all the things that he went through at the expense of my family. I needed to understand it and apologize and try to make this right in any way that I could.
“Yes. Originally, we were told that I’d be staying for six months, and River would be staying for a year, which was the appropriate time based on our age, apparently. We’d been presented to the judge like the scum of the earth. Two kids who ditched school and vandalized their neighborhood. One who hada dad who was serving time, and the other who didn’t even have parents who cared enough to stick around. So, they’d given us the worst. For a crime we hadn’t committed.”
“Did you tell the judge?”
“We told anyone who would listen, but after a while, we stopped telling our side of the story because our free legal representation said we were making things worse. They said we should apologize and take what they gave us.”
“Did you?”
“Fuck no. Neither of us was going to apologize for something that we didn’t do. But we stopped telling our side of the story when we realized no one wanted to hear it. Hell, Walt sat in that courtroom and couldn’t even look at us. He knew. He fucking knew. He claimed he had no memory, but I saw the guilt there. Hell, I still see it when I run into the asshole in town. I think Oscar figured it out, too, but your father made sure that none of this came down on your brother and whoever else was there with him.”
I shook my head frantically. “I can’t fathom that my father would send innocent kids away for a crime they didn’t commit.” But as the words left my mouth, I couldn’t help but wonder what he could, or would, do. I was questioning everything now. Things with my brother and everything that had gone down with Ronny. I knew image was important to my father, but this was unfathomable.
His gaze softened, as if he’d expected me to say that. “I know you love him, but your father and your brother both know what happened, Demi. I want you to really think about something, okay?”
“Okay.” I nodded, swiping at the falling tears.
“If your father had to choose between your brother getting into trouble or me and River, do you really think he’d do theright thing when his back was against the wall? Look at how he’s handled your situation with Ronny.”
