Chapter 4

“We need to set aside some time to talk this evening,” Jenny told Brock Wednesday morning before school.

Brock was instantly worried. He had been thinking the exact same thing. It was time for Jenny to know the truth. But maybe she already did. That would be terrible.

He was also worried about how far his hands had roamed the night before. He and Jenny had been making out pretty heavily and before he could stop himself Brock had slid his hands up Jenny’s shirt and cupped her bra-clad breasts.

Her nipples stiffened immediately--but so had the rest of her body--and Brock extricated his hands as seamlessly as possible. He hoped she wasn’t pissed about that.

When Jenny and Brock sat on his porch that evening he could tell from the expression on her face that it wasn’t going to be good news.

“I think we should see other people,” she said without preface. “I’m not comfortable with the way things are going between us.”

“If this is about my hands last night, I’m sorry,” Brock said quickly. Of all the scenarios he’d considered, this wasn’t one of them.

Jenny laughed at him--literally at him.

“In a way it’s exactly about that,” she said. “You don’t seem the least little bit interested in going farther. I was actually happy about where your hands went last night until you jerked them away.

“No, this is about a lot of things. When we first got together we had a lot in common. But my interests have changed. You’re still happy sitting right here on Saturday nights. Even when we do socialize you won’t let me have any fun. You watch me like a hawk to make sure I’m not drinking or skinny dipping and to make sure I’m home before curfew.”

Brock took a deep breath to try to regain his cool.

“I just think I’ve outgrown you in the last few months,” she continued and any strides Brock had made toward composure were gone.

“You’ve outgrown me?” he said louder than he’d wanted. “What in the fuck does that mean? Do you realize that if it weren’t for me you’d still be the little girl no one knew? Hell, when school started I had to introduce you to people you’d been in class with for 10 fucking years.

“Those people don’t really like you. They like you because you date me. Do you think you’ll get invited to parties without a boyfriend everyone wants there? Fat fucking chance.”

Then it dawned on him.

“But you won’t have to worry about that,” he said. “You’ll be going with that pot-head Mansfield. You’re right. If that’s the kind of life you’re after, we should break up. You’re too fucking stupid for me to date any longer.”

Brock turned and walked in the house leaving a stunned Jenny sitting on his porch.

The regular season had only two more football games left when Jenny dumped Brock but the time seemed to fly by. He was surprised on Saturday after the final regular-season game to see Mel waiting for him on his porch.

She had a binder in her hand and serious look on her face.

“May I come in?” she asked.

Brock was taken aback. No one from the Miles clan had stepped foot in his house.

“Sure, if you promise your mom won’t come over with a shotgun,” he said. He had no idea of what Melanie wanted, but he was sure it wasn’t good.

Leslie had paid him a visit on several occasions since the break up to try to get the lowdown. But he simply told her that Jenny would be a better source for information since it was her decision.

He tried that tack with Mel as soon as she walked in.

“Listen, I know Jenny is trying to date a scum wad,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do about it and I probably wouldn’t do anything about it if I could. Your Mom made it clear from the beginning that she didn’t want Jenny to become too attached to me. She’s gotten her wish. But in a week or a month, I’ll lay you a hundred bucks that she wished to God it was me dating your sister.

“The worst part is I was really starting to trust Jenny. I was really thinking I’d found someone I could open up to. I’m glad I didn’t do that, though.”

“Hey, easy there,” Mel said. “I told Jenny she was an idiot. I think she’s starting to realize it, too. She thought Wes Mansfield would be her boyfriend the day after you weren’t. But it turned out he already had a couple of girlfriends lined up--at least for a night or two. I tried to tell her about guys like that but, as I’m sure you’ve learned, Jenny is never wrong. No, I need to talk to you about something much more important than my retard sister. Do you mind if we sit?”

Melanie sat across from Brock and opened her binder. She spread a couple of things out on the kitchen table and started to speak.

“We’re doing a case study in my ethics class,” she said evenly. “It’s a local case involving bribery, extortion, conspiracy and public corruption but it has farther reaching implications.”

Brock closed his eyes tightly.

“How much do you know?” he said softly.

“Most of it,” she answered. “Maybe all of it. We’ve been studying it all semester. The professor would hand out study guides each week with different facets of the case. It was fascinating. At first all we got were newspaper accounts and rumors. Then we started to get copies of the court transcripts.

“He had redacted all the names but last month in one of the printouts there was a grainy photo. I recognized you immediately.”

“Shit,” Brock hissed. “Who all have you told? You’ve known about this for a month and just now came to see me. Jesus Christ.”

“I’ve spent the month at the library,” she said defensively. “I’ve pulled every newspaper article I could find right up until the middle of May. That’s about the time you moved here, right? We’re not supposed to have the information I’ve found until right before the final. I guess I’m cheating a bit but I have a personal interest.”

“It is the time I moved here, yes,” Brock said. “But if all you’ve read are newspaper accounts you don’t know shit. Let along most of it or all of it. I can almost guarantee you that I’m one of a few people who knows every fucking sordid detail.”

Melanie didn’t want for this to turn into a confrontation. In fact, she’d hoped she would be able to convince him to tell her family the whole story.

“I’m sorry about your Mom,” she said sadly. “She was so young.”

“It just got to be too much for her,” he told her with tears in his eyes. “She just couldn’t take it anymore.”