Page 106 of Old Acquaintances

“Why?” I beg.

“Johnny told us not to tell you.”

“What? Tell me what?”

She squishes up her face. “Tucker was arrested after your accident. I don’t think he wants you to know.”

Arrested? That’s not possible. Tucker’s a lot of things, but reckless with the law is not one of them. I would have known something like that.

I argue, “No. My parents would have told me.”

“Wouldthey? Is it something that would have wanted you to know about when you were in rehab?” She shakes her head. “You would have freaked out, Ella, you know it. He spent ten days in jail, if I remember correctly. But I know it could have been a lot worse if you guys didn’t live in a small town and his dad wasn’t fishing buddies with a judge.”

The thought of Tucker in jail made no sense to me. It didn’texplain why he didn’t see me in the hospital, why he didn’t call, why our parents kept it all secret.

Serena continues, “We all understood it. Johnny thought it was stupid and he was mad at him. It took him a little while to cool off, but I know why Tucker did it.”

“Did what?” I ask. “What did he do?”

She sighs. “He beat the livingshitout of the guy that hit you. Third-degree assault, I think.”

I look out at the horizon line and thought about how the dark sky could have seemed like a void if the stars didn’t shine so brightly.

“Assault?” I repeat.

At first my accident was classified as a hit-and-run. Then, the police were able to track down camera footage from the gas station I stopped at and identified the car that hit me directly after. The driver was a single, middle-aged man. He had been stopped after crashing into me, his car barely had a dent, and was arrested for drunk driving, three times over the legal limit. There had been no connection between me and him for several weeks.

I could see Tucker learning his name and address, coming to his front door and beating him up. I could see him wanting to hide that information from me.

I take my phone out and ask Serena, “Can you give me a minute? I need to make a phone call.”

“Sure.” She kisses the top of my head and the planks squeak when she walks back.

I call my mom.

“Hey Ells!” she answers. “How’s your trip? You know I was just looking at the weather report –”

“Mom,” I interrupt. “Tell me about Tucker going to jail.”

She’s quiet. “He finally told you?”

“Serena did.”

She exhales. “Well, it was bound to come out eventually. It was awful and stupid, but you know, it just made your father love that boy even more. Hal wanted to get his hands around that man’s neck so badly. We all were just so angry that he was allowed to roam free, driving back and forth to the bars, while you were busy learning to walk again.”

I listened to the sound of her comforting, steady breath.

“Anyway…that poor boy had so much pent-up anxiety from the accident and Lori tried so hard to get him into therapy before he did something like this. He just didn’t get it dealt with fast enough.”

I wonder, “Why would he have anxiety about my accident? He never evensawme in the hospital. He never even called.”

My mother is quiet. “You said Serena told you about the jail thing?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re going to go talk to Eli about it, huh?”

“Yes.”

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