YOU’RE STILL WONDERING what that detective asked me before. You’ll find out, eventually. But today, on a Saturday morning, when I should be in the woods doing hill intervals, they’re questioning me again. Stewart, his hands in a meaty clump across our kitchen table. Tabby isn’t here, but they don’t think they’ve wrung enough out of me.
Mom brings over two coffees, like it’s normal having Stewart in our house. Maybe it is by now. She knows he takes his coffee with cream and sugar. We never even kept creamer in the fridge until Stewart started making these appearances.
“What did Tabby say to you in the days leading up to the hike?” I hate his voice, slow and measured, like I’m a baby who doesn’t understand.
“Nothing unusual,” I say. “She was just going because Mark wanted to.”
“You know those woods well, from what I’ve heard,” he says. From who, I want to ask.
“I’m a runner. That’s where I go.”
“You drew her a map,” he says, either a statement or an accusation.
“Yeah. I told you that already. It was in case she wanted to go running again. I guess she held on to it.”
“Running again?”
Shit. I shouldn’t have said anything. Now they’re going to take that and twist it around, another weapon to use against my sister.
“I took her running with me once. She had no idea where she was going.”
“You say she held on to the map. But she never took it with her that day.” He leans back, like it’s some kind of big revelation.
“She must have forgotten it. And look what happened. She did get lost.”
“Look what happened,” he echoes. “Did you run in the woods that day?”
My mouth, bone-dry. “Yes. I run there almost every day.”
“Did you happen to time your run to see your sister with Mark?”
I shake my head. It doesn’t matter anyway. I only got a glimpse of them, walking together. I stayed hidden in the trees. They were laughing, not fighting, Tabby trailing just a few steps behind. Mark was singing a song. I left, because they looked okay.
“You didn’t like Mark, did you?”
My head snaps up. “Why do you think that?”
“Because of what you said to him at Crest Beach. Some may have taken it as a threat.”
Keegan. That asshole Keegan. No wonder my sister hates him so much.
“It was a joke,” I say. “He just didn’t take jokes very well.”
Stewart nods, his chin bobbing. “Thanks for answering my questions. If you can think of anything else—anything at all—you have my card.”
When he gets up to leave—another unfinished coffee in his wake, how many of those has Mom made him?—he turns around. “One more thing, Bridget. What size shoe do you wear?”
I open my mouth, but no sound comes out. “Seven,” I finally manage. “Sometimes seven and a half.”
I’m not sure why I tack on that last part, but it feels important somehow.
Let’s get something straight. I’m guilty of nothing except trying to protect my sister, because she’s the one who needs me. I see what the media does to girls like Tabby. Everyone says boys will be boys, but girls? Girls will be monsters.
SHARP EDGES CRIME—
CUT TO THE TRUTH!
October 24, 2019
Let’s talk about sex (and what it leads to), baby
By Oberon Halton
Got your attention with that headline? Well, keep paying attention. I have the inside scoop on some photos that shed some light on when things started going downhill between Mark and Tabby, and it’s not just because somebody got bored or someone had a wandering eye. No, it’s because someone got knocked up.
Photos sent in by one of our readers show Tabby heading into an abortion clinic. As you can see, she’s wearing a Princeton sweatshirt, which is pretty cruel since Mark knew nothing about the baby at all. The photos were published on an Instagram account belonging to someone who obviously created the account just to post them, and post them they did.
The question is, when did Mark find out about the abortion? Some speculate it was when he crashed and burned at the NCAAs, failing to even make the finals after being favored to win a gold medal. Others claim he didn’t know until they went into the woods, and when Tabby tried to tell him, he freaked out, and something happened up there on the Split.
I don’t know about you all, but this bombshell has made me rethink everything. If you know anything else about the situation, help a friend out! Let’s shed some light on this mystery.
COMMENTS
LookCloser: Those pictures don’t even show her face. It could be any girl in a sweatshirt. Also, the Princeton could be photoshopped on, if someone hated her enough to do it. And sounds like they did.
WhenDovesCry: There are other guys who could have been the father.
Excerpt from Tabby’s Diary
March 29, 2019
Great, now he doesn’t believe me about this abortion thing. It wasn’t me—truthfully, I swear to God, and I told him that, but he doesn’t believe me. He said we’d talk about it later, but now it’s later and we haven’t talked about it. I watched his heats online and he wasn’t himself at all. He didn’t even make the semis. He’s going to be so livid, and it’s all because of me. I’m scared that he’ll break up with me, and I’m scared he won’t.