“Why edit it? It’s the truth.”
“This is Marshall, Grace’s brother.”
“Scott Simpson was a pawn,” Marshall said. “Expendable in every way, and used by the prosecution to strategically set up their case.”
“Okay, Marshall,” Glenn said in a practiced tone a parent might use on a teenager. “That’s enough.”
“Are you going to help my sister?”
Sidney hesitated. “Am I going to help . . . I’m going to try, yes.”
“These two are going to send me away if Grace doesn’t come back.”
“All right,” Glenn said as he stood. “Excuse me.” Hewalked over to his son and took the handles of the wheelchair. “Come on. Let’s go back to your room.”
When Marshall and Glenn were gone, Sidney looked at Mrs. Sebold with an awkward smile.
“Sorry,” Gretchen said. “Marshall is upset lately. We’re looking into a facility to help him out, and he’s not happy about it.”
Sidney smiled and nodded her head as though her words made perfect sense.
Gretchen hesitated. “Did Gracie fill you in on Marshall? About what happened?”
“No. We’ve only really talked about her case. I was hoping today’s conversation might shed light on Grace’s past, though. Before Sugar Beach. It will be important to show the viewers who Grace really is, get them past the headlines many of them remember her for. Was she close with Marshall?”
“Very. Still is.” Gretchen Sebold gave a far-off stare, then looked back at Sidney. “Marshall used to be quite an athlete. Football was his sport. During his freshman year of high school, he was on the varsity squad as the backup quarterback. By the third game, he was starting. Led the Wildcats to two state championships his freshman and sophomore years, and was being seriously recruited by some big universities. It was a big deal around this town.”
The ramp up the front steps and around the corner flashed in Sidney’s mind, as did the first-floor addition on the side of the house.
“What happened?”
“I’m surprised Gracie never told you. It’s the reason Gracie decided to go into neurology. I mean, that grand idea she had about neurosurgery instead of delivering babies, like she always wanted to do.”
Sidney noticed Derrick as he positioned himself across the room to capture Mrs. Sebold’s impending confession. The next episode flashed in Sidney’s mind. The world had never heard anything about Grace Sebold’s family life.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
The Girl of Sugar Beach
“The Accident” Part of Episode 2
*Based on the interview with Gretchen Sebold
With the parents out of town, the party raged well past midnight. Predictably, the small gathering originally planned had bloated to include most of the junior and senior class. Sarah Cayling frantically tried to clear her house and stop the destruction that was occurring, from spilled beer to sex in her parents’ bed. She was ready to call the police, but instead recruited two guy friends from the football team to empty the house. The jocks gathered their friends and started shoving. At first, small scuffles broke out in the foyer. Then more kids joined in. Sucker punches were thrown, and before long, the fighting turned into a riot that spilled onto the front yard.
The smart kids ran. The drunken kids stayed to watch.
“We’re leaving,” Grace said to Marshall.
“No way,” he said. “Somebody threw a sucker punch. I’m not leaving my teammates.”
“The hell you’re not. The cops are coming, you idiot. You want to get thrown into a paddy wagon with a bunch of meatheads? Mom and Dad will kill us.”
Marshall tried to walk back toward the house and the riot. Grace grabbed him by the back of the shirt. “Let’s go.” She cocked her head sideways and gave him a look when their eyes met. Her lips moved, but her voice stayed silent.Come on.
“Your recruiting days will be over if you get arrested,” Ellie Reiser said.
A far-off police siren screamed through the night. When they heard it, all three ran.
