Free The Grove by John Rector Page B

tell her what I’d heard, but the words wouldn’t come.
    “We have a big problem, and you don’t seem to care.”
    “I care.”
    This time she was quiet.
    I could feel her studying me, her eyes searching my face. It was a terrible feeling, like bugs crawling over my skin. I couldn’t stand it.
    Finally, I told her.
    I didn’t leave anything out, and I didn’t try to make it sound casual. I told her about the sheriff and the ketchup bottle and how Megan had smiled when she’d told me. I told her about how I felt like the air had been kicked out of me, and how I didn’t want to believe it, but I had to hear it from her.
    When I’d finished, Jessica was silent for a long time, staring past me toward the body in the corn.
    Then she smiled.
    “I hope she tells the entire town.”
    “Is it true?”
    She looked at me. “Of course it’s not true.”
    I closed my eyes.
    “How could you even think—”
    “I didn’t,” I said. “I just needed to hear you say it. I knew, inside, that you wouldn’t do that kind of thing, especially with that guy.”
    “Paul,” she said.
    I waved the name away. “Doesn’t matter.”
    “No, it doesn’t,” she said, still smiling. “You want to know what he used to do?”
    I wasn’t sure I did, but she didn’t wait for me to answer.
    “He would quote the Bible to me all day; then when he’d pass me in the kitchen, he’d run his hand across my ass and grunt. It was disgusting. He didn’t even try to play it off as an accident or anything. He wanted me to know it was intentional.”
    “Did you say anything?”
    “I almost did, once, after he cornered me in the store room and wouldn’t let me out. He stood over me, not saying a word, just staring and blocking me every time I tried to get by.”
    “Jesus.”
    “I started to cry, and I think he got scared and let me go. When I went out, Mrs. Colton asked me what was wrong and I almost told her.”
    “But you didn’t?”
    Jessica shook her head. “I was close.”
    I thought about her and Paul alone in a storeroom. Then I tried to imagine what he’d look like dead.
    Jessica must’ve seen something on my face because she slid over next to me and said, “He got what was coming to him.”
    “It’s not enough.”
    “It doesn’t matter. We’ve got to deal with that kid.”
    “There’s nothing we can do about him,” I said. “If he’s going to tell someone, he’s going to tell someone. We can’t stop him.”
    “They’ll take me away.”
    I took another drink.
    Jessica watched me, then said, “You could stop him.”
    For a moment, I didn’t know what she meant; then I looked up and saw it in her eyes.
    I shook my head. “No.”
    “You’ll be alone.”
    “I can’t do that.”
    Jessica didn’t say anything else. After a while, she stood up and was gone.
    I stayed in the grove, drinking, watching the sun sink toward the horizon. Then I got up and crossed the field toward the hills to the north.
    When I got to the top, I looked down and saw the Tollivers’ trailer on the other side. It was parked at the end of a gravel path, surrounded by weeds and garbage. Alongside the trailer was a rusted green pickup truck. All four tires were flat, and an engine block sat heavy in the back. The shocks sagged under the weight. There were no other cars around.
    I stayed for a while, watching the trailer for movement while the sky burned red.

 
     
    THURSDAY

CHAPTER 20
     
    When I got to town, I drove past the Riverside Café but didn’t stop. The lights were off, and there were no cars in the parking lot. I took it as a sign. Jessica might think it was all in my head, but I knew it would look suspicious if I kept showing up every day and asking questions. I’d decided to give it a couple days to cool down.
    Then again, if Jacob Tolliver called the police, looking suspicious wouldn’t matter anymore.
    But I wasn’t ready to think about that.
    With the café closed, I drove to the grocery store and went inside. Liz