The Fort (6 page)

With the bedroom door closed behind him, Tim felt a lot better, as if that sort of barrier could possibly protect him from a detective with the ability to know exactly when and how a boy was lying. It was a weak barrier. Tim wanted to, in order: (1) tell those cops that he knew nothing, (2) play Nintendo in the family room—Zelda, always Zelda lately—and (3) go hang out with his friends. A soft knock on his door was a fair indicator that none of the above would be happening, and Tim exhaled softly as his dad entered the room following the light tap.

“How are you doing, big guy?” Stan asked, and Tim searched his father’s face for information. There was nothing there. He looked like he always did, only maybe a little more tired than usual.

“I’m OK. What are those cops doing here?”

“They had to ask Becca some questions about last night.” Stan sighed. “Letting her go to that movie keeps becoming a worse and worse decision, unfortunately. One of the girls that she went with,
Molly, didn’t come home last night, and her mom is really upset, really worried. Not that I blame her for that. If Becca hadn’t come home, your mom and I would be going nuts. I think any parent would. Anyways, Becca isn’t in trouble or anything, at least not with the police. They just had to ask her when she last saw Molly, who she was with, things like that.”

“What did she say?”

Stan took a deep breath. “She told them when she saw her last, and who she was with. Her description matched what some of the other girls had to say, and I think that made the cops happy that all their ducks were in a row.”

“Is Molly going to be OK?”

“I don’t know, buddy. I sure hope so, but I don’t think the guys your sister and her friends were hanging around with were very nice people. Now, that doesn’t mean that Molly won’t turn out to be just fine—that’s really the most likely thing. But it does make me worried for you guys, as a parent.”

“You don’t need to worry about me, Dad. I don’t want to hang out with creepy older guys; plus, I never go to the drive-in, unless it’s with you and Mom.”

Stan let out a bark of laughter, and then looked down at Tim again. “That’s good stuff. You get some lunch and go find something to do. It’s summer. You don’t want to be stuck up in your room all day. And remember, if you get bored, there’s lots of hard work to be done out back.”

Luke made it home with three minutes to spare. When he walked into the trailer, he saw his sisters sitting on the living room floor, watching a soap opera. From the sound of things, someone had been caught having an affair. Luke ignored them, and they ignored Luke as he passed them and went to the kitchen. As usual, his mom was nowhere to be found.

Luke took a jar of jelly from the refrigerator, and then a jar of peanut butter from the cupboard. He opened both jars, then placed three plates on the counter, topping them with bread that he quickly checked for mold. After spreading the sandwiches with peanut butter and jelly—lots of both for him; light jelly, heavy peanut butter for Alisha; light peanut butter, heavy jelly for Ashley—Luke topped the jellied pieces with the peanut butter–covered ones, then added chips to all three plates.

He carried his sisters’ food into the living room and placed it before them, getting no reaction from the girls. Ignoring them in return, Luke walked back to the kitchen, poured himself a glass of Coke from a two-liter bottle, then sat at the lone clean spot at the dining room table. The table was covered with bills and laundry, and not for the first time, Luke wondered if his mom chose for them to live in filth, or if she just didn’t know any other way. Deciding that was too depressing a thought to ponder, he began to imagine being screamed at by a drill instructor while he did push-ups. In the fantasy it was raining, he was knuckle deep in mud, and he was smiling.
Someday.

When Luke was done eating, he put his plate in the sink and walked to the living room. His sisters were where he had left them—one on the floor, one lying across the couch—and both of their plates were empty. The soap opera was still blaring from the TV as Luke passed in front of their glassy-eyed faces to collect the dishes, and once they were retrieved, he headed back to the kitchen. Luke set the plates in the sink with his, then turned on the water and laid a towel down upon the counter so that he would have space to let them dry.
Mom doesn’t work but is almost never home. Where does she go?
This thought, much like the one concerning the condition of their house, was almost too black to really put much energy into. Luke felt quite certain that no matter what his mom filled her days with, it was probably better not to know.

When the dishes were done, Luke noticed a familiar smell coming from the other room. Drying his hands with the same towel he used as a drying rag, Luke walked into the living room, where he saw his sisters smoking cigarettes, flicking the ashes into their mom’s pilfered Arby’s ashtrays.

“You guys can’t smoke in the house!” Luke bellowed. “If Mom finds out you guys were stealing her cigarettes, she’ll kill you, not to mention what she’ll do if she catches you smoking in the house.”

“But she won’t catch us,” said Ashley, blowing a ring of far-too-practiced smoke from her lips. “Because we didn’t steal Mom’s cigarettes,” finished Alisha. “We told her that we smoked a few weeks ago, and she’s been buying them for us ever since.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” stammered Luke. “We’re broke. Why would Mom let you do that? Not to mention it’s terrible for you. Everybody knows that.”

“We’re not smoking a lot,” said Alisha. “That’s why you haven’t seen us smoking before.” She exhaled another blast of nicotine and tar. “Besides, Mom told us it would help us keep our figures,” said Ashley. “I’m not going to get all fat and gross. Plus, guys like girls who smoke. Mom told us that too.”

“I’m leaving,” said Luke quietly. “I’ll be back for dinner.”

“Fine,” said Ashley, her eyes already focused on the TV, her lipstick-stained cigarette dangling from her fingers. “Yeah,” seconded Alisha. “Of course you are. You’re never home unless it’s time to eat. You might be older than us, but you sure act like a kid. All you do is run around in the woods with your stupid friends. You’re totally wasting your summer.”

“All you two do is watch TV,” said Luke. “And apparently now you smell bad doing it.”

“Luke,” said Ashley. “You have no idea what we do when you’re not around.” She stubbed her cigarette in a foil ashtray and returned her focus to the television. “Yeah,” said Alisha, punching out her own butt. “We have big plans, and you don’t have a clue.”

Luke turned from them, let the door slam shut, and began to walk to the fort. When he got there he dropped his Sprite cap on the ground and began to climb the ladder. Just like the cap on the ground, he was alone in the woods.

Scott walked to the mailbox, one last thing to do before he could rejoin his friends. Lunch had been boring as usual, no one was home to talk to, and there was nothing good to watch on TV during the day.
This summer sucks so far.
The target was supposed to give them days of fun, but all it really did was show them that make-believe went only so far.

He watched as a police cruiser rolled slowly down the street toward him, followed closely by a matching car that was missing police markings. The cruiser slipped past him, but the other car eased to a stop across the street, even with him. The cruiser stopped too. Scott gave a look behind him, but there was no one there. The driver’s window of the car without the markings rolled down, and a younger-looking guy hung out an arm holding a wallet and a piece of paper.

“Come over here, son,” called the man in the car. “I need to ask you a couple of questions.”

Wary of the stranger, but comforted by the presence of the definitely-a-police-car idling in front of him, Scott slowly walked into the street to the car. “What can I help you with?”

The man in the car flipped open the wallet, and inside it was a picture of him, along with a silver badge. “I’m a detective with the Grand Rapids Police Department,” he said. “And right now, we’re looking for a missing girl. Seen anything odd out in the woods back there today?”

“No,” said Scott. “How did you know I was in the woods?”

The detective pointed at his shoes. They were dirty, and did sort of look like he’d been in the woods. “Oh, OK,” said Scott. “But
no, I haven’t seen anything weird. I’m going back there to meet some friends, though. We can keep a lookout.”

“What grade are you in, son?” asked the detective, who made the wallet disappear and then handed Scott a black-and-white photocopy of a picture of Molly Peterson. It looked like a school photo.

“I’m going into seventh,” said Scott.

“You’re tall for your age,” said the detective. “I would have figured freshman, maybe sophomore by your build. You were not at the drive-in last night, then?”

“No,” said Scott, shaking his head. “Is Molly really missing?”

“She is,” said the detective, who pulled the photo back into the car. The hand came back with a card, which the detective pressed into Scott’s hand. It said, “Detective Richard Van Endel” and had a phone number. “If you or your buddies come across anything in those woods, call this number. It’s my direct line.”

“Do you think she’s back there?”

“I think she’s somewhere, and there’s an old trail that leads from behind the screen of that movie theater.” Van Endel shrugged. “Just keep your eyes open.”

“I will,” said Scott, as the window rolled up and the car started to move. He looked at the card in his cupped palm.
Cool.

12

Detective Van Endel sat in Dr. Andrea Martinez’s office. Martinez was a leggy Hispanic woman with ample breasts and a beautiful caramel skin tone. She was also a lesbian, not currently dating, and took judo twice a week. Those who thought she was just an arm piece waiting for the right arm were sadly mistaken, and discovered as much quickly. Dr. Martinez had been working with the Grand Rapids Police Department off and on for the past few years, and Van Endel valued her counsel more than just about anyone else’s. This was not the first case he had asked for her thoughts on, and it was not going to be the last.

“So give me your first impression,” said Dr. Martinez. “Is she gone?”

“She’s gone,” said Van Endel. “But there’s more to it than that. The kids I talked to are all telling the same story, but it feels rehearsed. Not to mention, I know the shit kids get into at that drive-in. Nothing like this has ever made anyone turn tail, from what I’ve heard. I mean, a little making out goes a little too far, girl’s friends help her get away from the guy, end of story.”

“I wouldn’t treat attempted rape quite so flippantly, Dick,” said Dr. Martinez. “The number of unreported rapes in this
country—in this
county
—is growing astronomically. There is no use debating that.” She smiled. “Especially with me.”

“I’m not treating anything flippantly,” said Van Endel. “My point is that there’s probably something illegal happening at that drive-in almost every day involving teenagers, and I just don’t see this big of a group of them freaking out over one girl getting groped and then leaving without a friend. I know they said they went back for her, but I don’t think they did. I just don’t think we’re getting even half the real story.”

“What do the drive-in employees say?”

“I talked to the crew from last night. Pretty much worst-case scenario there. Gus Lembowski was sick, and he had a couple deadbeats running the projector and the food. I’m sure they barely accomplished either one. By the time I got there, the marijuana smoke had cleared out and they were out picking up garbage from last night.”

“Details?”

“They saw a bunch of teens come in like they do every night that they work. I asked if a large group left early, they said that they did. I asked if they could identify any of the vehicles or people in them, they said they couldn’t, not even the make of one single car. I asked if there were any fights, or other disturbances that stuck out to them, they said no.” He rolled his eyes. “Godzilla would have to have shown up to watch a movie for those two to take notice of it.”