Megan checked the street, glancing in both directions. It was empty. She walked up the driveway and I went behind her, remaining a fair distance back. There was a gate to the left of the garage and she reached over and unlatched it. It swung open and I followed her through.
The backyard seemed darker than the street without the aid of random streetlights and dimly lit front porches, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. The grass was longer in the backyard, perhaps having gone un-mowed for several months, but I realized immediately that we were walking in a path that had been trampled down. We came around the corner of the house to an empty covered patio. The blinds were pulled on the inside of the sliding glass doors.
Megan opened her phone and the screen glowed in the dark. She tapped several keys, then looked at me, saying nothing.
The jabs in my gut punched harder.
The blinds inside fluttered like a gust of wind blew through them. I saw a hand poke through them and the lock popped loudly in the quiet. I shuffled back a few steps. I thought I knew who was inside, but I wasn’t entirely certain and I wanted to be cautious. The hand disappeared and Megan slid open the door, looking at me.
“After you,” I said.
She didn’t argue and stepped through the door, pushing the blinds aside. I followed.
The interior was pitch black, save for a nightlight plugged into an outlet on the far wall. We were in a large rectangular living room that was empty except for a single small sofa.
She was sitting on the sofa.
“Hi Meredith,” I said.
SEVENTY-SIX
“You’ve been here the entire time?” I asked.
She was on one end of the sofa and I was on the other. Megan sat cross-legged on the floor. They refused to turn on the lights and my eyes were adjusting to the darkness with the help of the nightlight.
As far as I could tell, Meredith appeared fine. She wore jeans and a sweatshirt and she seemed a little tired, a little pale, but otherwise fine. She was nervous and had pushed herself into the far corner of the sofa, as if she could shoot out her feet and kick at me if she needed to.
“Yeah,” she said, her voice ragged.
“Why?”
“Because I knew no one would look here,” she said.
“Kind of a big gamble,” I said. “This is your official address.”
“You didn’t look here,” Megan said.
Hard to argue with that.
“So why are you here, Meredith?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t know where else to go,” she said.
“You aren’t dumb,” I said. “So you must know that your parents are going out of their minds.”
“My parents? Or my dad?” she asked, a knowing smirk on her face. “You don’t even know my parents.”
“I know a lot more than you think I do,” I said.
She raised a cynical eyebrow. “Really?”
“Really.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Why don’t you tell me what you know then?”
“You sure?” I asked. I glanced at Megan. “You care if she hears?”
The cynical eyebrow became an angry one. “Megan knows everything. And she is the only one I trust.”
Megan played with her shoelaces and remained silent.
I spent the next fifteen minutes laying out everything I had learned about her life over the previous three days, leaving out nothing. Chuck, the beating he took, the prostitution, her mother’s past, her boyfriend. I put it all on the table for her.
Meredith’s eyebrow went from angry and cynical to disbelieving, embarrassed and uncertain. By the time I finished, her hands were clasped together in her lap and she was staring at them.
Megan had not flinched so she apparently did know everything.
“That’s what I know,” I said. “But I need you to fill in the blanks. Why did you blame Chuck for beating you up?”
“He was an easy target,” Megan said.
“Megan, no offense, but shut up,” I said. “Thanks for bringing me here, but I want answers from Meredith. Not you.”
She went back to fiddling with her shoelaces.
“I knew people would take me seriously if I said it was him,” Meredith said. “Everyone knew we’d been spending time together, but he was new at school.” She paused and even in the dark, I could see tears in her eyes. “I felt horrible. I know that doesn’t make it better or right or whatever, but I felt horrible. But I didn’t have a choice.”
“You could’ve told the truth.”
She made a noise that was some combination of a laugh and a grunt. “Yeah, right. So easy to tell the truth.”
“It’s easier to ruin a coach you say you like?”
“I do like him,” she said, straining to keep her composure. “No one’s ever taken the time to help me like he did. No one.”
“But you did get angry with him when he gave you the ultimatum, right?” I pressed. “When he told you to get out of the hooking?”
“Yeah, but I was more relieved than anything,” she said. “He was giving me an out.”
“So what happened?”
“I got the shit kicked out of me,” she said, her voice full of anger and hurt. “I didn’t want him to tell my parents. I didn’t want to tell them, either, but I wasn’t going to make him do it for me.” An angry smile crept onto her face. “And part of me did kinda want to see my mother’s face when I told her.”
I didn’t respond.
“But when I tried to get out, I got the shit kicked out of me,” she said, the smile disappearing. “And I got scared.”
“Who beat you up?” I asked. “Was it Derek?”
She pressed herself further back in the sofa. “Derek thought he was controlling me, but he’s an idiot. I was never scared of him.”
“Derek said you wanted out.”
“I did. I wasn't sure I wanted to keep doing it. Yeah, the money was cool, but it was…I don't know. I thought I was just done.”
“But you didn't get out.”
She hesitated, then shook her head. “No. I didn't.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t tell you,” she said. “I can't tell you a lot of things.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t wanna die.”
It sounded melodramatic, but there was weight to her words. She believed what she was saying.
“I’m here to help you, Meredith,” I said. “I don’t think Megan would’ve brought me here if she didn’t think I was here to help you.”
But it was like a wall had come down. She wasn’t budging.
“So why did you come here?” I asked, trying to maintain some momentum in the conversation. “Why did you run away?”
“I needed to hide,” she finally said, wiping at her nose. “I was afraid.”
“You didn’t think your parents would be worried?” I asked. “Your friends?”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course I knew they’d be worried. And I’m sorry, okay? But I wasn’t sure what else to do.”
Again, it sounded overly dramatic, but there was sincerity in her words. I wasn’t sure if she was accurately describing her situation, but she believed what she was saying.
“Why did you get into this Meredith?” I asked, trying a different path. “Why the prostitution?”
She wiped at her nose, then her eyes and looked away. “I don’t know.”
“Bullshit,” I said. “This isn’t something you get into without knowing why. I don’t believe that for a second. Maybe it doesn’t feel now like you knew what you were doing. But you did.”
She sniffed and wiped harder at her eyes. “Because I was stupid then, I guess. I didn’t say out loud ‘I want to be a hooker,’ okay? I was mad at my mom, I needed money and I was stupid.”
“You aren't stupid and no one does this just for money.”
“Some people do.”
“Well, I don't believe for a second that was your reason. Had to be something else.”
She stared into her own lap, her hands clasped tightly together. “I was tired of being perfect.”
“What?”