#youlikeit - BLACKBIRD book 1

4. confession

"You know you can tell me whatever you want, right, Nancy?" Aldana repeated softly, as they strolled across the Public Garden. "This is completely off the record."

The girl nodded, eyes down, and the silence pooled between them for a whole minute.

"I used to have nightmares about it, y'know?" Nancy said then, and her eyes were looking ahead now, but not quite seeing. "About the night Rogue— You know. But now it's so much worse, because both things get mixed, so I see— In my dreams, he still abuses me, but now he's covered in blood, and I'm—" The girl burst in tears.

Aldana rubbed her back gently and guided her to a bench under a tree, where they sat side by side. Nancy accepted the tissue Aldana offered her, trying in vain to stop crying.

"Why did I do it?" She sobbed desperately. "Oh, gosh! What am I gonna do now?"

"Do your parents know?"

"What Rogue did to me? Yeah, of course they know!"

"And what you and the girls did to him?"

Nancy shook her head, keeping it low. "No. How can I ever tell them that I— I—"

Aldana pressed her hand. "They need to know, Nancy, and I can help you tell them."

The girl looked up at her with a spark of hope in her welling eyes, but then she shook her head again, looking away. "I can't!"

"Nancy, we already know exactly which ones of you did it and who planned it. It's just a matter of time before a police officer knocks on your door to arrest you. But right now, you can still choose to turn yourself in, sort of on your own terms, and that would be really good for you."

"What d'you mean?"

"If you allow me to meet with your parents, you don't even need to be there when I talk to them about what happened. If we do it now, I can also tell them what to do next, and how, so you can get a better deal."

"Deal?"

Aldana only nodded, giving the girl time to process it and understand. Her tears rolled down again and she closed her eyes, lips pressed tight together to hold back a groan.

"There are circumstances here that a good lawyer can use on your behalf. But I need to tell your parents about them."

Nancy could only nod and shrug at the same time, and she covered her face with her hands.

"It was Tricia, right?" said Aldana. "She brought up the idea."

The girl didn't answer, and didn't make any gesture to confirm or deny it.

"Did she ever tell you how she came up with her plan, or why now?"

"We were all very upset when Lucy tried to kill herself, y'know?" muttered Nancy. "We went to the hospital, but they kept'er sedated and wouldn't let us see her. We stayed there anyway. We wanted to see her, 'cause we knew it would make her feel a little better. And then, like out of the blue, y'know? Suddenly Tricia started ranting about Rogue deserving to die for what he'd done to us, 'cause it was plain to see nobody would ever do anything about it, save covering up for him, and— I don't know. Next thing we were discussing how to do it, and who of us should do it, and..."

"So she'd never mentioned it before?"

Nancy frowned, trying to remember, and grimaced. "I don't know, maybe. Not like it was something new, y'know? We all used to say we'd like'im dead, but— We didn't really meant it, y'know? Well, not until we..."

She trailed off and Aldana respected her silence. The girl turned to her, face contracted, at the brink of tears again.

"Would you really do it?" she asked. "Would you really talk to my parents, and help me and my friends?"

"Of course, Nancy. That's why I'm here. I will help you all the way. And I can help your friends, if they want me to."

Her firm, plain way to say it made the girl break in bitter tears, and Aldana held her again to soothe her.

"You know? You're the first..." mumbled Nancy, trying to get a little grip on herself. "You're the first one to offer us any kind of help. Even knowing... what we did." She suffocated a groan and met Aldana's eyes. "Is it true? Are you really arresting the principal and all the others?"

"We're bringing them in tomorrow morning, Nancy, but only to question them. We don't have enough to arrest them, yet. We may never have enough if you guys don't help us."

"You mean it's up to us?"

"Pretty much, yeah. We may eventually find enough evidence to press charges, but without your testimony, it might take months, even years."

Nancy produced her phone right away and started typing, but Aldana stopped her gently.

The girl faced her, puzzled. "Let me tell'em what you just said! And no matter what Tricia says, I know many of them will come to see you, and tell you everything you need!"

Aldana smiled. "First things first, Nancy. Let's talk to your parents, and take care of your situation. You can text your friends while I'm at it, okay?"