Mending Fences

Marcie forced a smile. “Certainly. Evan stood up too quickly and the chair fell. It was just an accident.”

He didn’t look convinced, but he retreated.

Marcie returned her attention to her son. “You haven’t answered me, Evan. Do you take no for an answer?”

“I’m not talking about this with you,” he said tightly. “Go home where you belong and let Dad handle everything. At least he’s on my side.”

Marcie paled at the hurtful remark, but she refused to back down. “I’m on your side, too, but I’m also a big believer in facing facts. Having a woman claim that you raped her is a very serious thing, Evan. It’s not just going to go away. You might be able to talk your way out of a speeding ticket, but not this. This could destroy your life, do you understand that?”

“You’re just full of good cheer, aren’t you, Mom? Go home, okay? Dad will fix this.”

Her gaze clashed with her son’s, but in the end she was the one to look away. The cocky self-assurance she saw there made her want to cry. She would stand beside Evan no matter what, because he was her son, but in that instant she knew she couldn’t believe a word coming out of his mouth.

Emily was as stunned as everyone else when the rumor that Evan had been arrested for date rape spread through the school by mid-morning on Monday. According to the head-lines splashed across the local page of the morning paper, an unidentified freshman at the University of Miami had accused him of the attack, saying that rather than leaving after their date, he’d insisted on coming in and then demanded sex. When she’d turned him down, he’d raped her.

During her first break, Emily read the article with a sense of disbelief, especially since Marcie had been deliberately vague about why the police had come for Evan. In fact, their only conversation after she’d called to ask if Caitlyn could stay with Emily had been a request that Emily keep Caitlyn for the rest of the weekend.

“There’s too much going on over here right now and she doesn’t need to hear any of it,” Marcie had said, sounding completely drained.

“Caitlyn can stay as long as you want,” Emily assured her. “Shall I come by for her things or send her over?”

“No,” Marcie had said quickly. “I’ll pack a few things and drop them by.”

“She has a lot of questions,” Emily had warned her.

Marcie sighed. “We all do.”

Finally Emily understood the hint of desperation she’d heard in Marcie’s voice and her rushed visit to drop off Caitlyn’s clothes. She’d barely said a word beyond thanking Emily for taking care of Caitlyn and being sure she got to school on Monday.

Now, as Emily scanned the morning paper in the teacher’s lounge, she tried to imagine the way she’d feel if this had been Josh who’d been accused of such a thing. She also wondered what on earth Marcie had been thinking by allowing Caitlyn to go to school this morning. A sensitive fifteen-year-old girl wasn’t prepared to cope with the stares and whispers and intrusive questions about her brother that were bound to hound her during the day.