“He wasn’t one of us. He wasn’t rich. He grew up poor in LA. The coach saw him play on his high school team and offered him a scholarship. The guy was amazing. He could’ve skipped high school and played at the college level. He was that good.”
“So they paid him to come to Twisted Pine? I thought they only wanted kids who came from money. The principal even told me that when I met him.”
“They made an exception for Jason. They needed him to win games. But then he died and they haven’t had a recruit since. I’m sure they’ll do it again. They’re probably already looking for the next Jason.”
“You think Braden did it,” I say. My statement is just a guess, but I want to see what he says.
“Didwhat?”
I get in front of him, stopping him. “You think Braden killed Jason.”
He goes around me and keeps walking. “Jason had a heart problem.”
“That’s what they told people, but what if it’s not true?”
“He had a heart problem. End of story.” He walks faster down the beach.
“You don’t believe that.”
“I just said I did.”
“Yeah, but before you made it sound like you didn’t. When I told you about his parents donating money for a room in his name, you made it sound like that was a lie.”
“Of course it’s a lie. His parents are poor. Where would they get money to pay to have his name on a room?”
“So what’s the real story?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about it.”
I grab his arm. “Jackson, wait.”
“We have to keep walking. We can’t just stand here. It’s private property. We shouldn’t even be back here.”
We continue in silence down the beach. When we reach his house, we go up the stairs to the patio. I stop him before we go inside.
“Jackson, just tell me. What do you think happened to Jason?”
He hesitates. “Why do you care?”
“I want to know. I keep hearing all these stories and I’m starting to freak out.”
“Why?”
“Because all the stories have something in common. Someonein common.”
“Braden.”
“Yeah. And since I’m living with him, I’d really like to know the truth.”
“I don’t know the truth. I wasn’t there when Andrea died, and I wasn’t there when Jason died. I know as much as you do.”
“You know way more than me. You were here when all this happened. People said you were questioned by the police.”
“Not about Jason. I had nothing to do with that. I was at Legion when Jason died.”
“Who paid to have his name on the room? If his parents couldn’t afford it, then who paid for it?”
“My guess is the school.”
