Rapid Falls by Cowie Amber

Author:Cowie, Amber
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
ISBN: 9781503951785
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2018-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

July 1997

My mom was in the kitchen preparing dinner when I walked in. The force with which she was handling the vegetables was not a good sign. My parents had been fighting a lot since Jesse’s funeral. I hadn’t heard them speak to each other this much in years. Usually my mom spent most of her time in her room, reading art books, and my dad worked long hours at the shop, but he had been home more lately. Business had slowed down a lot since Jesse died.

“Hi, Mom,” I said.

“Hi,” she replied. When she looked up, I saw in her eyes that she wasn’t angry—she was sad. Devastated. I felt a cramp of fear in my stomach.

“What’s going on?” I said.

She nearly knocked over her glass of wine as she stepped around the corner of the counter. I was relieved to see she had been drinking. It meant she was far less likely to notice I had been as well. The wine coolers that Wade had given me earlier were making my head tingle.

“Anna is going to be arrested tomorrow.” Her voice cracked.

I waited, staring at the heap of jumbled items on the countertop: old mail, a fruit bowl with one brown banana, Anna’s keys. I wondered if she was sitting in a jail cell at that moment.

“Allen Murphy came a few hours ago. He wouldn’t even look at me.” Her mouth curled into an expression between fury and disgust. “He is going charge her with drunk driving. Sorry, felony DUI.” She looked at a small notepad beside the cutting board with a scrawled phrase on it. I wondered bitterly why she bothered to write down the official charge. No matter what it said on paper, to everyone in Rapid Falls, Anna had been arrested for murder. Jesse’s murder.

“Where is she now?” My voice felt raw, like I didn’t know how to say words anymore.

“She’s here, hon. Allen told us to drop her off at the station first thing in the morning.”

“And then we bail her out?” I said, as if the process was familiar to me.

My mom nodded. “After the arraignment. She’s a minor. Maybe that will help it go quicker.” She turned back to the pile of produce on the counter and stared at the lettuce. I could hear her sniffing.

“Mom. Is Anna going to jail?” I felt my stomach flip-flop in panic and elation. I crossed my arms to try to contain both emotions.

“She was . . . drinking and driving, Cara. It’s not a joke. I’ve told you both, over and over.” She trailed off, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Mom, it was graduation night. It was an accident.” I made a case for her because I knew I should, speaking as if I believed the words I was saying.

“Cara. I know. She’s your sister, and we all love her . . .”

“Of course.” I pressed my tongue against my teeth with anger at my mom’s unfailing allegiance to Anna.

“Oh, Cara, we all loved Jesse too,” my mom said with sorrow in her eyes in response to the fury in my voice.

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