Rae looked up at me. “You’ll talk to one at least, right?”
I nodded. “Of course. Yeah.”
But, deep down, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to.
I mean, yeah. I’d almost died. But I’d had a hand in how this played out, too. The fight on the football field. And I didn’t have the cleanest record with the police department in the first place. They’d broken up way too many parties I’d attended over the years. I’d gotten myself into plenty of trouble, speeding around on my bike and defacing public property with spray paint because I’d been an asshole as a freshman. Did a guy like me really stand a chance in court with something like this?
I wasn't sure. And Rae didn’t like that.
“You have to press charges, Clint.”
I sighed. “Let’s get these questions answered first. One step at a time, okay?”
“Why in the world wouldn't you?”
The officer interrupted us. “If the two of you would take a seat, we don’t have a lot of time.”
The detective nodded. “Go on. I’ll be in the hallway once you’re done.”
“Clint?”
The helplessness in Rae’s voice punched me in the gut. I led her over to the table, trying my best to rip her away from the topic of conversation. My mind swirled with too many things, and it made it hard to concentrate. One step at a time. All I wanted to do was take it one step at a time. And after this sworn testimony or whatever the hell it was came to a close, we could discuss the next steps. Talk about what came after this.
Preferably with Cecilia.
31
Raelynn
I sat at the table. “Thanks for having me over for dinner. I really appreciate it.”
Allison’s mom smiled at me. “You know you’re always welcome, Rae. Anytime.”
Allison’s father nodded. “Especially after the day you had yesterday.”
I peeked over at Allison. “My day.”
My best friend nodded. “I told them about you and Clint heading to the police station. I hope that’s okay.”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, yeah. That’s fine.”
Her mom slid the biscuits to me. “You know if you want to talk about it, we’re here.”
Her dad spooned me up some mashed potatoes. “Do you know if he’s going to press charges at all?”
Allison scoffed. “I think he should, at least. Those boys need to get what’s coming to them.”
My eyebrows rose. “Wow. Harsh language coming from you.”
Her mom murmured. “Well, it’s true. The whole town is abuzz with it. Apparently, they almost killed him. Doesn’t matter their age, they deserve to pay for their actions.”
Her father grunted in approval. “And maybe their parents will learn a thing or two about actually keeping tabs on their kids from now on.”
I didn’t want to talk about it. Especially with her parents. But it was nice to know they were on my side. Especially since it took so much to convince Clint to press charges. I still didn’t know why. I still didn’t know why it had taken a lengthy conversation in the back of his stepmother’s car in order to convince him to press charges against these assholes. I mean, they’d do so much to us that, apparently, I had a right to press charges as well.
I promised Clint that if I didn’t press charges, he would.
Allison’s mom filled my lemonade up and her father kept spooning food onto my plate. I loved coming over to eat with them. More because I enjoyed the family dynamic. They treated me like their own daughter, wanting to know about my life and giving me advice. Her father always stuffed me full of food, too. Which was outstanding, because he w