Were you fucking Rose Waller? Were you her Sugar Daddy? Did you send the flowers and lingerie to Kenley? Did you have anything to do with Rose’s disappearance?
Question after question runs through my mind, but my father is the master of lies. He’s built a career on manipulative talk and double speak. If I reveal that I know any of this, he’ll turn the tables on me and it may put Kenley in more danger.
But I have to ask something.
“How long were you cheating on Mom?”
He blinks. “Your mother and I—”
“Stop. I said I wanted the truth. Can you even answer that? How long did you cheat on Mom? From the beginning? From before I was born?”
“Fidelity isn’t my strong suit, Ezra.”
I shake my head. “I knew you couldn’t do it. You can’t answer one goddamned question.”
Finished with this pointless conversation, I head out of the room. There’s one difference though. I’m determined to find out what my father is hiding and exposing him to the world.
24
Kenley
My hope is that if I give Ezra a little time to reconsider, by Monday morning he’ll be ready to talk about this. That after a little space we can work out what’s really going on, but when he slides into his seat for AP Lit and keeps his eyes focused ahead, I realize that’s not going to happen.
I hear Ozzy say behind me, “Hey man.”
From the corner of my eye I see that Ezra only nods in reply.
Finn walks in just before the bell and assesses the situation quickly. His jaw is clenched tight when he sits down.
I sigh and sink into my seat, trying my hardest to focus on Mrs. Gimple and not how my world is imploding around me. I’m barely paying attention when she announces, “For the remainder of class, I want you all to break into groups and break this section of the book into three central points.”
This happens a lot and we always form a quick foursome—Ozzy is in high demand to be in all groups. Today though, as we shift our desks, Ezra stands and walks up to Mrs. Gimple. I’m not sure what he says, but a moment later, he exits the room.
“What the hell?” Ozzy asks, watching him go.
In a flash, I’ve made a decision and stand. “I’m going after him.”
“Now?” Finn asks.
“Yeah, now.”
I walk to Mrs. Gimple’s desk. “Can I have a hall pass.”
“I just let Ezra go. Can you wait?”
I lean forward. “I think my period just started.”
She nods. “Go ahead.”
I dart from the room. If I’m going to have to live with the annoyance of monthly bleeding, I may as well get some extra mileage out of it.
With a glance back at the guys, I head out of the room and into the hall. I look both ways, but the hallway is empty. To the right is a dead end, so I turn left. As I near the bathrooms I see the men’s door quietly close.
I stand in front of it, take a deep breath and push the door open.
The sound of someone peeing echoes in the hard-tiled room. And I almost bolt, but if it’s Ezra, I don’t want to miss a chance to make him talk to me. I wait until they finish and peer around the corner. Ezra’s standing at the urinal, zipping up his jeans. I’m standing in the entry right as he turns. He laughs darkly.
“I shouldn’t be surprised.”