Kara stared at Ingrid. Then at Bill. Then at the marshmallow-cereal square on the bench, speckled with blood.
“I should get rid of that,” Ingrid said, taking the Rice Krispie square. “I’ll need to get changed, too, after we call the police. It’ll be easier if we don’t mention I was in here.”
Kara nodded, unable to speak.
Ingrid walked over and clutched Kara’s arm. “It’ll be okay. Everyone knows he cleaned his gun on Fridays during hunting season. Accidents happen.”
When Kara still didn’t move, Ingrid leaned down to her ear and whispered, “He won’t touch you ever again, Kare-Bear.” Then she walked past and headed for the bathroom.
May 3, 2012
“Kara?”
“Kare-Bear?”
“Are you there, Kara?”
Kara lay there, listening to Ingrid calling for her. Then, quietly, Kara said, “I heard what you told him.”
Silence.
Kara raised her voice a notch. “You told him I shot Bill.”
“N-no. I-I never?—”
“I heard you, Ingrid. You told him and he beat me, and you let him.”
“He was going to kill me. I panicked. I didn’t mean to say it. It just came out.”
“Like with Eddie?”
“No!” Kara heard a scrabbling noise and imagined Ingrid getting to her feet. “I swear, I never told them you had anything to do with Eddie.”
Liar.
Kara squeezed her eyes shut, rage whipping through her as she remembered Eddie’s death. Ingrid swearing he’d raped her, then making Kara help her cover it up, as she’d done with Bill.
“If you tell anyone about Eddie, I’ll tell them you killed Bill.”
“I didn’t?—!”
“But that’s what I’ll tell them, and they’ll believe me, because you had reason to kill him. I didn’t.” Ingrid’s voice softened and she stroked Kara’s hair. “But that’s not going to happen because you know I did the right thing. With Bill and with Eddie. I saved you, Kare-Bear. Two times I saved you. Now you owe me. You have to pay the price.”
And she had. They both had. No one ever realized Bill’s death wasn’t an accident. Eddie was different. The police eventually figured it out and arrested both girls, and Kara did as Ingrid told her. She said Eddie raped Ingrid, but that’s all she knew, and she had no idea who shot him.
What had Ingrid said? Kara never found out. The whole experience was a blur of shock and confusion and terror. The case never went to trial. Their public defender struck a deal, andboth girls were sentenced to separate juvenile detention facilities until their eighteenth birthdays.
Thatwas the price Kara had paid for being Ingrid’s friend.
Karalay on the floor after that, too exhausted for anger. It hurt even to breathe. He didn’t need to beat her so badly. There was little purpose to it except his own enjoyment, and she’d seen that glittering in his eyes. The beatings wouldn’t stop until she escaped, and right now, she couldn’t even think about doing that. Just staying awake was too much effort, and soon she lost that battle. She tumbled into restless sleep and a nightmare, this one straight from life.
November 16, 2011
Karasat on the park bench, holding Melody on her lap so the baby could watch the big kids.
“Do you want to go play?” Kara laughed when Melody’s feet drummed against her leg. “I bet you do. I bet?—”
“Hello, Kara.”
