Forgotten Girls, The (13 page)

The table was quiet. Kim leaned
in, looked over her shoulder, and whispered, “It was such a terrible tragedy. They
committed suicide together. Their poor parents,” she said, shaking her head. “The
only good thing to come of it is the openings, but now they are not even a sure
thing.”

She looked around to make sure no
one in the café heard what she said. Bella couldn’t believe her ears. Was she
kidding? Bella had the distinct feeling it was time to take a different
approach. Maybe shaking the tree a bit stronger would bring the nuts down to
earth a bit quicker.

Bella leaned in and whispered, “I
heard those girls took so much Adderall their brains fried. May have had a
psychotic break.”

“Oh my god,” said Kim.

“Oh my god,” whined Stephanie.

Erika and Jenna were silent.

“Where did you hear such a thing?
Are people really starting horrible rumors now?” Kim wailed.

“What is a psychotic break? What
are you saying?” Stephanie looked deeply confused.

Jenna simply stared out the window.
Bella’s comment seemed to have no effect on her at all.

Bella responded, “A psychotic
break is what it sounds like, Stephanie. It’s one of the side effects of
Adderall, a very popular drug around here apparently.”

No one said a word.

“Am I wrong? Is there anyone at
this table whose child is not taking it?”

“Perry is not,” said Erika.

“Adderall is a godsend,” Jenna
said. “An absolute godsend.”

She sounded just like Weber.

“I assume you have personal
experience with it,” Bella responded.

“Yes, I do,” Jenna answered,
indignantly. “So does everyone at this table. So does everyone in this town. There
are very few kids left anywhere who don’t take it and those who don’t are at a
serious disadvantage, I’ll tell you that. It’s a wonder drug.”

“They call it the competition drug,”
Kim chirped, excited she knew something.

“Have any of you heard it is being
sold at your school?” Bella asked quietly.

Stephanie and Kim looked shocked. Erika
shook her head sadly. Jenna’s face was unreadable. No one replied.

“Were you aware Joslyn wanted Carly
to get off it?” Bella tried again.

Kim and Stephanie’s jaw dropped.

“Are you kidding me?” they both
asked.

Jenna looked out the window again.
Was this conversation boring her? Bella wondered.

“Stop taking Adderall?” Stephanie
asked, truly perplexed. “I can’t imagine that.”

“Why not?” Erika asked. “Why is
that so hard to imagine?”

“I just think she would need it
more than ever at Vanderbilt,” Stephanie replied.

“I think you were given the wrong
information,” Kim said with sympathy, shaking her head. “Jos would never have
wanted that.”

There was a silence at the table.
Bella looked at Jenna.

“What do you think, Jenna?”

Jenna gazed pointedly at Bella and
replied, “Dr. Weber is the expert—she knows what she is doing. I agree with Kim—I
think you were given the wrong information.”

Erika stole a glance at Bella, but
Bella pretended not to notice.

“Dr. Weber, the psychiatrist?”
Bella acted naïve.

“She’s the town guru,” Kim
answered.

“Stop putting everyone on a
pedestal, Kim,” Jenna reprimanded. “You don’t even use her.”

“You’re the one who said she was a
guru,” Kim replied, clearly hurt. Jenna didn’t seem to notice or care. She
brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes and exhaled.

“That’s quite a compliment,” Bella
said. “How did you find this doctor?”

“Jenna found her,” Kim said,
without looking at Jenna.

Bella looked at Jenna.

“She’s a top psychiatrist. I
forgot who recommended her. Excuse me.” Jenna hastily stood and headed for the
bathroom.

“I didn’t want to start a fight
with Jenna, but now that she’s not here I can say it,” Kim leaned in and
whispered in a conspiratorial tone. “I really don’t like Dr. Weber at all.
Jenna tried to get me to use her when my son was diagnosed with ADHD. She
seemed more like a drill sergeant than a doctor. She is very intimidating. I
found someone else in town. Jenna was mad at me, but I’m sorry, I just couldn’t
stomach the woman. Neither could my son. I don’t get why she and Jenna are
close.”

“What do you mean close?” asked
Bella.

“I mean, Jenna loves her. Goes on
and on about what a good doctor she is. Maybe she is, but…”

“She is a good doctor,” Stephanie
confirmed.

“I saw her and Jenna one day at
the diner when I stopped to get a to-go order,” Kim continued, ignoring
Stephanie’s comment. “I was really surprised to see them together. At the diner
no less! Not the cleanest place in the world.” She made a face like she would
rather not think about it—even though she had been there to pick up food for
herself. “I guess she needed to speak with her about Jessie. I don’t know. I
didn’t ask. I didn’t even tell Jenna I saw them. I thought she’d be mad. Stephanie,
don’t say anything to her!”

Stephanie looked up from texting.
“OK,” she promised.

Jenna returned and picked her
phone off the table. “I need to get to my hair appointment. I don’t want to be
late,” she said. “I guess I’ll see you gals tomorrow? At the funeral? Ugh…so
sad. Byyyeeee…..” she sang as she waved and smiled at the table. Without
waiting for a reply, she walked out.

“Oh my god, she reminded me!” Kim
exclaimed. “I need my hair done too! Oh my god, I gotta go. Bye, Detective, bye,
Steph, bye, Erika.”

“Wait, I’ll go with you,”
Stephanie said, as she eagerly jumped up from her chair. “I have so many
errands. Bye, guys,” and she followed Kim out the door.

Bella and Erika were left at the
table.

“What did I tell you?” Erika said,
with resignation in her voice. “Did I describe them well or what?”

The server came over with the
check. In their mad rush to leave they had all forgotten to leave money.

“Forty-seven dollars??” Erika
exclaimed incredulously, as she looked at the check. “For what?”

“Never mind that. I got it.
Listen, Erika, I have a few hours until I need to be somewhere. I need a
favor.”

The four girls crammed around
Erika’s small kitchen table wolfing down pizza, munchkins, and chips. Bella stood
near the counter a safe distance away, cup of coffee in hand, surveying them. Ashley
and Savannah had their arms clasped through one another’s. Jessie watched them
from across the table and looked annoyed. Or was she sad? Bella couldn’t tell.
Perry, Erika’s daughter, sat with both feet curled up under her eating one chip
at a time, slowly, as though contemplating.

It had taken a while for Erika to
round up this crew. The formal school day had been cancelled as a result of the
murder, but a school wide assembly had been held that morning. The girls had
scattered afterwards, their normal Friday routine blown to pieces, so Bella had
spent a few hours at the station house reading the deceased girl’s files until
she got word from Erika to come over. Bella had not heard from Mack all day. He
had planned to spend the day at the high school, that much she knew, but she
had texted him twice and had yet to hear back.

After the girls devoured most of
the food in front of them and seemed to take a pause in their non- stop
conversation, Bella sat down at the table and asked if it would be OK if she talked
to them. It didn’t take long for her to see how impressive these girls were. She
had never spent time with teenagers like these—educated, articulate, confident.
The girls were interested in Bella and her work, and asked many questions about
sex crimes, genuinely captivated when she described the conditions and lives of
most of the young girls she knew. They discussed the epidemic of crime against
women globally: the black market sex trade in Europe, the plight of African
girls subjected to mutilation, the rampant rape and murder of Arabic girls who
dare to disobey the men in their lives—even domestic violence against women in
America.

“I guess violence found its way to
our town as well,” Perry said sadly. The table became quiet. Bella broke the
silence.

“Listen, girls, I really
appreciate your meeting me here and keeping this between ourselves, for now.”

The girls looked serious, and sad.

“I need your help,” Bella said
bluntly. “Our investigation has uncovered a drug ring at your school. I am
wondering if any of you have heard anything about it.”

The girls looked at Bella then at
one another nervously.

“When I say drugs I mean prescription
meds, like Adderall,” Bella hastily added.

The girls still said nothing.

“I know you might feel nervous to talk
to me about this. I want to ensure you I am not interested in getting anyone here
in trouble. What you tell me stays with me. I give you my word. I didn’t come
to Greenvale for this, as you know. I came here to investigate Mrs. Freed’s
murder. But at this point, my trail is leading to your school and to the
possibility that Adderall is being sold there. Mrs. Freed may have known about
it.”

Each girl’s face radiated fear and
Bella noticed most of the eyes at the table darted briefly toward Jessie, whose
gaze remained on the floor.

“I’ve heard there’s a guy you can
go to, if you need some Adderall, ya know, to help you study,” Perry faltered.
“I don’t know who he is though,” she added very quickly.

“OK,” said Bella softly, looking
at the others. “Do any of you girls know him?”

Savannah and Ashley shook their
heads. Jessie still looked down.

“Do you know whether Carly ever bought
Adderall from him?” Bella asked point-blank.

This time all three girls looked
at Jessie at the same time. It was pretty clear she knew something.

“Me and Car once bought one pill
from him. That’s all. It was during finals,” Jessie answered quietly. She was calm,
unlike Perry, who looked really nervous.

“You OK, Perry?” Bella asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just don’t like
the idea of buying drugs from some guy at school. It, like, freaks me out,” she
explained as she put her hair behind her ears.

“We didn’t buy drugs, Perry,” Jessie
admonished. “Car needed some extra Adderall and I went with her so she wouldn’t
have to go alone. It was during finals.”

Jessie apparently didn’t like
Perry’s characterization of Adderall as a drug.

“What’s his name?” Bella looked at
Jessie.

“JJ,” she replied.

“Who is he?” Bella wanted to know.

“Just some guy at school. He
always has stuff. He’s like a kid. He’s in tenth grade.” Jessie said this as
though that made it better.

“What’s his real name?” Bella
inquired.

“I don’t know. Everyone calls him
JJ.”

“How much did she buy? Exactly?”
asked Bella.

“I told you. One pill.” Jessie
looked unhappy having to answer.

Bella doubted her answer was
truthful.

“What dose?” Bella prodded.

“I don’t remember,” Jessie replied
sheepishly.

“How much did she spend?”

Jessie looked embarrassed and
shrugged. “I don’t know, like forty bucks?”

“Do any of you know whether Mrs.
Freed knew about it? Confronted him? Made any kind of trouble? Anything like
that?”

“Carly told me her mom was really
upset she was taking it and wanted her off it. But she didn’t say anything
about her knowing she bought it from JJ,” Ashley said.

“What did exactly did she say about
her mom?” Bella asked.

“She said her mom was freaking out.
That she thought it may have been the reason why Sam and Sophie killed
themselves.”

She looked sad. All the girls did.

“I don’t understand why Carly went
to JJ,” Perry remarked. “She has a psychiatrist.”

“I don’t know,” Jessie said in an
off hand manner.

“Do you guys know Dr. Weber?”
Bella asked.

“I go to someone else,” answered
Sav, which was what her friends called her.

“I use her,” answered Ashley.

“Me too,” added Jessie.

Perry shook her head no.

“What do you think of her?”

“She’s not the warmest woman in
the world,” Ashley answered. They all giggled nervously. “But she gets you in
and out.”

“Have you ever asked her to raise
your dose?” Bella asked Ashley and Jessie.

“Once,” Ashley answered. “It was
the week before my ACTs.” Ashley looked embarrassed for a moment. “But she gave
me only like a week’s worth.”

“So Dr. Weber probably would have increased
Carly’s prescription if she asked, no? Why do you think Carly didn’t just ask
her? Why go to JJ?” Bella directed this question at Jessie.

There was silence.

“You’d have to ask her,” Jessie
answered, twirling her hair. At that moment she looked and sounded just like
her mom, Bella thought.

“What about Sam and Sophie? Did
you guys know them?” Bella continued.

“Yeah, we knew them. OMG—craaaaazy
story,” Sav remarked. They all echoed her.

“What do you think happened?”
Bella was curious to see what they thought.

They all started speaking at once,
over one another, as they told Bella that Sam and Sophie had been super-smart
softball stars who applied to Vandy ED together, got in, and then afterwards came
out with the news they were gay.

“As if no one knew,” Ashley added.

“Did they get shit for it at
school?” Bella asked, though she knew they had. She had read their files. It
seems the girl’s varsity soccer team hung a banner in the gym calling them
dykes. Two girls had been suspended.

“Yeah, there was a lot of drama,
but not like every day. There were a few kids who teased them, but nothing
crazy. Their team was cool with them.”

 “Yeah, because the rest of their
team is gay too,” Jessie said sarcastically.

“So? Who cares? All the more
reason why they wouldn’t kill themselves over it,” said Perry.

“Made no sense at all. Pretty
messed up,” Sav added.

“Yeah, what’s also messed up is
that they locked up two spots at Vanderbilt. Suicide is selfish enough,” Jessie
added.

“That’s soooo mean, Jessie,” Perry
said, clearly turned off by the comment. “I mean, are you kidding?”

“Yeah, that’s lame, Jessie. You
sound like a psycho,” Sav echoed.

“You know you’re gonna end up
there anyway,” added Ashley.

“I’m only kidding.” Jessie smiled
disingenuously. “Chill, guys.”

Perry looked uncomfortable. Bella looked
at Jessie and, again, felt like she was sitting with a mini version of Jenna. She
liked her least of all of them. No surprise.

“Do you guys have your own
opinions about why they may have taken their own lives?” Bella asked.

“No,” each girl responded sadly.
Bella decided to switch gears.

“I heard it was a hard year, with
applications to college and all,” Bella remarked to the table.

They all nodded vigorously.

“Jessie, I heard you were wait-listed
at Vanderbilt,” Bella commented. “Congratulations.”

“Ugh, please,” said Jessie,
looking at Bella like she was out of touch. “Congratulations for being wait-listed?”

The girls chimed in at the same
time.

“You got into awesome schools,
Jessie. Emory, Duke, UVA, USC.” They each took turns naming them.

“So that’s fantastic! No?” Bella
asked naively. She didn’t get why Jessie seemed so miserable.

“I wanted Vandy,” Jessie said
plain and simple. “It was my dream school.” Her gloomy expression matched her
tone. “I found out I was deferred when we were in Mexico,” she explained. “We
were on the beach. My mom had a cow. Car got in which made it worse. Not that I
don’t love Car like a sister—I do. I was sooooo happy for her. But, ya know, I just
felt like it wasn’t fair. We had the same GPA, test scores, sports letters,
after-school activities—everything. It just sucked.”

“She had all-county violin, Jesse.
That’s a big deal,” Perry pointed out.

“And I had three summers in India
building freakin’ houses and digging water wells while she was at sleep-away
camp.”

She looked embarrassed at her
outbreak. “Ugh, now I sound like my mother. SOS!!” she exclaimed.

They all relieved the tension with
a burst of laughter.

Bella looked down at her phone.
Still no word from Mack.

“She’s too hard on you,” the girls
were saying. “You got into sick schools. You can go to USC. I mean California?
Poor you!” Sav laughed sweetly, trying to cheer her up. Ashley and Perry nodded
their heads in agreement.

“Yeah, she drives me nuts. I can’t
wait to move out. California won’t be far enough away!”

They all laughed.

“Anything noteworthy happen in
Mexico? Other than hearing from Vandy?” Bella tried to sound cool when she said
this.

“Not really,” they all chimed.

“I think Joslyn and my mom had a
fight, actually,” Savannah said quietly, looking self-conscious.

“What happened?” Bella leaned
forward.

 “I don’t know,” Savannah replied.
“I think it had to do with Carly’s dad, actually,” she said nervously.

“Really??”

The other girls’ eyes widened and
their mouths hung wide open.

“Yeah. Do you swear not to say
anything?” Savannah pleaded.

They all nodded eagerly.

“I don’t know. I think Jos saw my
mom and Jamie talking and, like, thought Jamie liked my mom, something crazy
like that. My mom said Jos was just feeling insecure and blaming her. I don’t
know—it was stupid.”

“Are you kidding me?” Jessie was
flabbergasted. “Jos was gorgeous. Nothing against your mom or anything, but I
just don’t see her being jealous. That’s craaaazy. They were like the perfect
little family. Did your dad know?”

“Noooo!!!! Never!!!! That would be
so uncomfortable!!!”

“So did they make up?”

Savannah looked upset.

“I don’t think so. I mean they
were speaking obviously. But, ya know, my mom said things were awkward. The
four of them hadn’t gone out to dinner in a while. Since Mexico, I think.”

“That’s unbelievable.” Perry
sighed.

“I just think everyone was
stressed out this year, on edge, ya know?” Savannah said to no one in
particular, looking for an excuse to explain it away.

“On edge about what?” Bella tried
to process what there was in these people’s lives to be on edge about.

“I don’t know. One thing or
another,” Sav replied dismissively. “I didn’t say anything to Carly. I don’t
even know if she knows. It was stupid. Just don’t say anything ok? I don’t want
her to feel bad or know about it. Especially now,” Sav added sadly.

“Poor Carly. And little Alex,”
Ashley said. “Jos was the best mom, hands down. Like the sweetest woman. It was
hard to believe she was so rich, the way she acted. You’re right, Jess. They
were the perfect little family. Just perfect.”