Suzie’s House 373 : On the Side of Truth and Justice

“So this is where you’ve been hiding.” Tracy grabbed Lisa’s arm and spun her around right before she and Ben went into the public library.

Lisa wasn’t really avoiding Tracy, though she kind of suspected what her cousin wanted to say. She was here because this was where she and Ben were spending most of their summer vacation. Yeah, geek city. It had to do with researching the books they were writings, but you couldn’t get something like that through to Tracy.

“You betrayed me.” Tracy kept her voice down, miraculously, but gritted her teeth and spoke with such tightness that a bunch of people stared as they passed.

“I did not,” Lisa said automatically.

“What did she do?” Ben looked curiously at Tracy.

“She told Gene… something. Something about me that wasn’t even true.” Tracy glared at Lisa.

“It IS true.”

“Not! That isn’t even the point.” Tracy slashed the air with her hands. “The point is that you shouldn’t go telling anyone and everyone about my business.”

“But what did she say?” Ben just wouldn’t let it go.

“But it’s obviously Gene’s business, too.”

“You said it right there next to the van. If all the other band members hadn’t been inside the studio right then, anyone could have heard. I’m surprised you haven’t told him.” Tracy gestured at Ben.

“Would someone clue me in, please?”

Tracy turned slightly red and puffed up her cheeks like she was going to explode, then she said in a rush, “Lisa told Gene I’d been raped.”

“Oh.” Ben turned nearly white. His eyes widened and he leaned away like he’d rather be anywhere but where they were right then. “And it wasn’t even true? What a thing to say!” Ben looked at Lisa like he couldn’t believe she would do such a thing.

“Whose side are you on?”

“I like to think I’m on the side of truth and justice,” Ben said, all serious.

“Well, no matter what Tracy says, the truth is that she was attacked by a pervert. If it wasn’t rape, it was too close to make a difference.” Lisa could feel herself getting all tense. Did they both think she was in the wrong? But she wasn’t. She wasn’t.

“Whether it was true or not, it still wasn’t justice. I mean, something like that,” Ben looked away as if he didn’t have the words. He shook his head. “You shouldn’t go around talking about it.”

“I didn’t! It’s been nearly a year since Tracy came and the only one I told anything to was Gene, and only because he and Lisa broke up over it without him even knowing what it was really about. It wasn’t fair. Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what,” Tracy asked with a scowl.

“Like I’m a carcass by the road. I did what had to be done.”

“No. You didn’t. You meddled where you didn’t belong. At the very least, you owe me an apology. If you can’t even come up with that, then I don’t think I can count you as a friend anymore.”

This was so much worse than what Lisa had visualized.

“You’re a writer,” Ben said like that had anything to do with it. “Put yourself in her shoes. If it was you who got attacked, would you want her to tell anyone about it? Would it be ok for her to tell me? I bet you’d be so mad at her you’d never talk to her again.”

Lisa’s first inclination was to lash out at him. But the back of her mind presented her with an image of Tracy telling Ben she’d been raped. All of a sudden she felt really, really bad. Guilt. She hated guilt.

While the two of them just stared at her, Lisa fought off her own emotions. When she spoke, the words would hardly come out.

“Yeah. All right. I get it.” She took a deep breath, as if saying this was killing her and looked at the sky, the tops of the skyscrapers between the capital building and the library, anything but her friends. “I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

Finally she made herself look at Tracy. Tracy smiled, but it wasn’t a triumph thing. It was more like she was relieved.

“Thanks.” She swatted Lisa’s shoulder. “That was all I needed.”

She looked almost like she might cry as she turned toward home and walked away.

If you enjoy Suzie’s House and would like to see more, please leave a comment. Suzie’s House is powered by its readers.