Status: Active
Guilty
Tape I, Scene II - 0 : 09 : 56 : 82
“We drove for probably half an hour. I don’t think either of us could really think straight enough to keep time. After a while, however long it was, we stopped in a parking lot. I looked over at Dylan and she was pale as a ghost. She looked back at me with this just uncomprehending expression on her face.”
The girl gave a sad chuckle. “It must have been like looking in the mirror. You were so white you were almost green.”
“I’m still surprised I managed to drive for that long without having an accident,” the boy countered. There was a brief pause. “Well, a real one at least. So, we were sitting in that parking lot.”
“A Walgreens, I think.”
“A Walgreens parking lot, and we knew we had to talk to the police. Neither of us had done anything wrong, Uncle Silas had gone crazy, and we had to clear everything up. As much as we knew that all of that was true, we also knew something else was going on... You could feel it. There was a part of the story we’d skipped, somehow. There was a major plot point that we’d misread and we didn’t know how to go back. There was some reason that Uncle Silas was doing this... Some explanation.”
“There was something wrong with him... Something evil. Something inhuman,” the girl’s voice breathed.
There was a pause and the whisper of fabric. The boy continued, “We knew that we couldn’t just walk into the police department and say that we were there to tell them that I wasn’t a rapist, so I gave Dylan my phone once we’d both had a few minutes to talk about it, and she called.”
“Officer Cassady picked up and I told him who I was,” the girl took over narration. “I remember having him in DARE class when we were in the fourth grade. He asked if I was alright, said that my parents were really worried about me, that I should come home. He asked if Ash was with me. He asked if Ash was in ear-shot. I said I was with Ash but he wasn’t in the truck, but assured him that Silas had been lying—that anything he thought he’d heard about what happened was wrong. Ash didn’t hurt me, would never hurt me, was not some monster. Officer Cassady just told me to come in again, that he needed to see me in person to make sure I was okay. I asked if Ash would be in trouble and he just told me to come in again. There was something strange about his voice, like it was forced... Almost like when someone’s lying and they know you’ll find out. Or when someone is feeding them lines. I hung up. I convinced Ash that we should call my dad, who’s a lawyer.” For the first time while the girl was talking, some emotion was in her voice. She wasn’t just stating the facts anymore. “It took some persuading, but I didn’t think we should go in—at least not without someone on our side. I called my dad and asked him to come meet Ash and I with some clothes—mine were a little bit torn—and my purse. I told him where we were—he knew something was wrong but knew better than to ask over the phone. About forty-five minutes later, he was pulling in.” The girl’s voice broke off and there was some whispering away from the microphone again.
The boy continued the story, despite some sniffling in the background. “Daniel stepped out of the car and walked up to the passenger door of my truck. Dylan opened the door and suddenly he was pulling her out of the car by her hair. There was a queer light in his eyes and he just kept screaming these horrible things at her... Calling her a slut, telling her she was impure...” The sniffling in the background became muffled sobs. “Now, I need you to understand—Dylan’s parents told her where babies come from when she was six. They bought her a box of condoms when she was fourteen, just to make sure she was safe. Dylan told her parents when she lost her virginity at a party. This was not the sort of family to have the word ‘impure’ in their vocabulary.” The boy took a deep breath. “By the time I’d shaken off the shock and gotten out of the car, she was on the ground and Daniel was kicking her. I pushed him off and punched him in the face. He’s taller than be, but not very muscular so it was a much fairer fight than the one with Uncle Silas... Until he slugged me back and took out a knife.
“Dylan was starting to get up and he grabbed her by the hair, jaggedly slicing it off, saying something about how if she wanted to be a whore he would make her too ugly to fuck. I got up and started towards him, but he put the knife to her throat.” The boy paused and swallowed audibly. “There was the longest moment where we just stared at each other, that bewitched light in Daniel’s eyes growing brighter. All I could hear was my heartbeat in my ears. I thought he was going to kill her... I think he would have if she hadn’t elbowed him in the crotch and scrambled away. I kicked him in the head and he lost consciousness.” There was a sharp intake of breath. “Sorry, Dylan. I’m just trying to tell the story with all the specifics... I’m gonna admit to all the things I really did do. He was still breathing, so I took his knife, grabbed Dylan’s things from his car and we left.
“We drove for fifteen minutes before I had to pull over. We were on this little private road through the woods that nobody uses anymore and we just sat and cried and tried to pull it together so we could think. I don’t even know how long we sat there, but it was getting to be late afternoon. Finally, I started the truck again and headed north. I told Dylan that I didn’t know how we would fix this—I wasn’t sure there was a way. I told her I would bring her to a police station if she wanted, but I couldn’t stay.”
“Like I would leave you,” the girl said quietly.
“I know, but I couldn’t just... Kidnap you.” The boy laughed darkly. “And so we decided to go together. We would find a way to prove my innocence, but first we had to run.”
The girl gave a sad chuckle. “It must have been like looking in the mirror. You were so white you were almost green.”
“I’m still surprised I managed to drive for that long without having an accident,” the boy countered. There was a brief pause. “Well, a real one at least. So, we were sitting in that parking lot.”
“A Walgreens, I think.”
“A Walgreens parking lot, and we knew we had to talk to the police. Neither of us had done anything wrong, Uncle Silas had gone crazy, and we had to clear everything up. As much as we knew that all of that was true, we also knew something else was going on... You could feel it. There was a part of the story we’d skipped, somehow. There was a major plot point that we’d misread and we didn’t know how to go back. There was some reason that Uncle Silas was doing this... Some explanation.”
“There was something wrong with him... Something evil. Something inhuman,” the girl’s voice breathed.
There was a pause and the whisper of fabric. The boy continued, “We knew that we couldn’t just walk into the police department and say that we were there to tell them that I wasn’t a rapist, so I gave Dylan my phone once we’d both had a few minutes to talk about it, and she called.”
“Officer Cassady picked up and I told him who I was,” the girl took over narration. “I remember having him in DARE class when we were in the fourth grade. He asked if I was alright, said that my parents were really worried about me, that I should come home. He asked if Ash was with me. He asked if Ash was in ear-shot. I said I was with Ash but he wasn’t in the truck, but assured him that Silas had been lying—that anything he thought he’d heard about what happened was wrong. Ash didn’t hurt me, would never hurt me, was not some monster. Officer Cassady just told me to come in again, that he needed to see me in person to make sure I was okay. I asked if Ash would be in trouble and he just told me to come in again. There was something strange about his voice, like it was forced... Almost like when someone’s lying and they know you’ll find out. Or when someone is feeding them lines. I hung up. I convinced Ash that we should call my dad, who’s a lawyer.” For the first time while the girl was talking, some emotion was in her voice. She wasn’t just stating the facts anymore. “It took some persuading, but I didn’t think we should go in—at least not without someone on our side. I called my dad and asked him to come meet Ash and I with some clothes—mine were a little bit torn—and my purse. I told him where we were—he knew something was wrong but knew better than to ask over the phone. About forty-five minutes later, he was pulling in.” The girl’s voice broke off and there was some whispering away from the microphone again.
The boy continued the story, despite some sniffling in the background. “Daniel stepped out of the car and walked up to the passenger door of my truck. Dylan opened the door and suddenly he was pulling her out of the car by her hair. There was a queer light in his eyes and he just kept screaming these horrible things at her... Calling her a slut, telling her she was impure...” The sniffling in the background became muffled sobs. “Now, I need you to understand—Dylan’s parents told her where babies come from when she was six. They bought her a box of condoms when she was fourteen, just to make sure she was safe. Dylan told her parents when she lost her virginity at a party. This was not the sort of family to have the word ‘impure’ in their vocabulary.” The boy took a deep breath. “By the time I’d shaken off the shock and gotten out of the car, she was on the ground and Daniel was kicking her. I pushed him off and punched him in the face. He’s taller than be, but not very muscular so it was a much fairer fight than the one with Uncle Silas... Until he slugged me back and took out a knife.
“Dylan was starting to get up and he grabbed her by the hair, jaggedly slicing it off, saying something about how if she wanted to be a whore he would make her too ugly to fuck. I got up and started towards him, but he put the knife to her throat.” The boy paused and swallowed audibly. “There was the longest moment where we just stared at each other, that bewitched light in Daniel’s eyes growing brighter. All I could hear was my heartbeat in my ears. I thought he was going to kill her... I think he would have if she hadn’t elbowed him in the crotch and scrambled away. I kicked him in the head and he lost consciousness.” There was a sharp intake of breath. “Sorry, Dylan. I’m just trying to tell the story with all the specifics... I’m gonna admit to all the things I really did do. He was still breathing, so I took his knife, grabbed Dylan’s things from his car and we left.
“We drove for fifteen minutes before I had to pull over. We were on this little private road through the woods that nobody uses anymore and we just sat and cried and tried to pull it together so we could think. I don’t even know how long we sat there, but it was getting to be late afternoon. Finally, I started the truck again and headed north. I told Dylan that I didn’t know how we would fix this—I wasn’t sure there was a way. I told her I would bring her to a police station if she wanted, but I couldn’t stay.”
“Like I would leave you,” the girl said quietly.
“I know, but I couldn’t just... Kidnap you.” The boy laughed darkly. “And so we decided to go together. We would find a way to prove my innocence, but first we had to run.”