Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
“Excuse me?” I asked, caught off guard by her response, which mirrored Officer Howe’s suspicions toward Kyle. “I’m sorry, Dr. Henry. Maybe I didn’t say something right. He was in the area because of an event I offered as extra credit.”
“Yet he didn’t make it to the event, but knew when it was and where you would be.” Her salt-and-pepper eyebrows pushed closer together as she seemed about as convinced as the officer from the night before.
“He beat this guy up good. I don’t think he would have gotten someone to scare me just so he could hurt them.”
“Kids have done stranger things. Trust me, I’ve been doing this a long time. It could have been a prank. Maybe even fake blood.”
I knew what I’d seen: real punches pounding that mugger, and Kyle’s banged-up hands. He hadn’t staged that. It wasn’t the Kyles of a school you had to watch for that shit. It was those football-playing goons who would work each other up into doing stupid crap like that.
Kyle hadn’t done that. However, it was clear by the skeptical expression on Dr. Henry’s face that she wasn’t interested in being convinced of his innocence, nor did I think it was necessary to her filing this away and us all getting on with our lives.
“James, you never know with a guy like Kyle Forsythe.” She shrugged, setting my incident report on the desk in front of her.
“A guy like Kyle Forsythe? I’m sorry. This might be because I’m new here, but is there something I need to know about him?”
“You’ll find out sooner or later. His father is Pastor Travis Forsythe, over at the 12 Stone branch on Thompson and Main.”
“The Wesleyan church?”
“That’s right. Did you know there are fifteen thousand members of the 12 Stone churches in Whispersaw? That means the Forsythes are pretty much Wyachet royalty. Pastor Travis and Leah are very involved with the community. Very generous, caring contributors to Wyachet.”
The way she talked, I assumed she must be a parishioner.
“From what I’ve heard,” she went on, “Kyle has had a lot of issues growing up. Just a bad egg.”
“What does that mean?”
“Prone to violence and a pathological liar. They try to protect him from people knowing the sordid details, but they’ve said enough that it’s evident he would get physical with both of them—Mrs. Forsythe even more so than his father, especially as he got older. The Forsythes did everything they could to get him help, but eventually he ran away from home. They think it was perhaps a combination of drugs and unresolved mental-health issues.”
Considering my own interactions with Kyle, this all seemed far-fetched. Although, after seeing him serve up a beating to my mugger, not totally outside the realm of possibility. Before I had a chance to challenge anything she’d suggested, she added, “The Forsythes try to keep this all as quiet as they can.”
“Yet somehow everyone knows his parents feel this way?” I asked, having my doubts.
She squinted at my suggestion. “It isn’t just what they say. He has a history. Fistfights in middle school. I’ve had to discipline him for several altercations. Now he’s gotten a girl pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” Jesus, I was starting to understand why people reacted to Kyle in a way that made absolutely no sense to me.
“I’m sure you’ve heard about Taryn Maninski.”
I shook my head, and she seemed annoyed that I wasn’t fully integrated into the school rumor mill just yet.
“She’s one of three pregnant girls this year, and I know kids can make up gossip about things, so take this as you will. Everyone believes Kyle is the father, and they have been in the same circles since freshman year, so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise.”
“That wouldn’t be the worst thing imaginable. I’m sure plenty of his peers would be in the same situation if certain measures weren’t taken.”
“Yes, but between that and Kyle’s history with his parents, his violent behavior in school, suspensions… I wouldn’t jump to assuming he was being Superman last Friday night.”
“Saturday.”
She shrugged it off. “Even if he was doing it to help you, it was still a terrible idea for so many reasons. It’s a kid venting his rage on a criminal, and putting his and your life in danger in the process.”
That was more in line with my own thoughts when he’d gone after my attacker.
Still, I was surprised by how much judgment she had toward a guy who hadn’t done anything to convince me that he was this bad kid she seemed to have pictured in her head. That wasn’t the kid who’d helped me when I’d fallen into a puddle on my first day, who’d saved my ass when he could have left me to get knifed in an alley. He had that bad-boy look down pat, and certainly there was a reason his friend called him Scowl, but none of the things Dr. Henry had pointed out made him a delinquent.