Page 39 of Finding Our Reality

He’s talking about hydrocodone.

Ry gives him the next two pictures. “Hey, it’s me!”

Duh.

“What can you tell me about these pictures?”

“Well, that’s me. Carrie’s probably laughing at something I said. She was always real fond of me, you know.” He glances up and winks at me. “Not sure who that other person is. Can’t see his face.”

We figured out it was that Tyler guy based on the color of his shirt.

“Your hand is on her thigh.”

“Yeah, I’ve told you a hundred times, we were friendly. Touching someone’s leg isn’t a crime.” He looks over at me. “Is it, Ella?”

Ry grinds his teeth so hard I can actually hear the sound. “Keep your answers on topic and address only the interviewer, please.”

Trash chuckles. “Testy, testy.”

“So, despite this display of affection, things were never sexual between you and Carrie? No kissing, no sexual activity?”

“No, she didn’t want me like that. It’s fine, though. I had my fair share of women to pick from.” He narrows his eyes and points at his brother. “But, if I remember correctly, she did have a thing for you. Didn’t she make a pass at you once? Didn’t things getsexualbetween the two of you?”

Ry ignores the question and hands pictures four and five to Trash. He laughs and kicks his legs up on the coffee table. “Well, there’s some faces I haven’t seen in a while.”

“Can you detail that picture?”

“Well, that’s Tyler and Holly and James. And of course, there’s Trey.”

“Tell me about them. Last names, jobs, what did they do, do you still see them, where are they now?”

We know a lot already, but we want to see what we may have missed.

“Tyler Spangler and Holly Yates. They had this on-again, off-again thing. They partied with us quite a bit. They were hardcore. He was some kind of welder, and she was on disability for something. Her back, maybe? Got into a car accident when she was little. I haven’t seen them in years. Last I heard, they weren’t together anymore. I think they still live in the area, but I don’t know for sure. They were mostly Trey’s friends.

“And this other guy, his name is James. I don’t know his last name. He was a tool. Tried too hard to be funny. He just wanted a good party and a pretty woman by his side. He was more of a drinker, anyway. I heard he got scared shitless when the rest of us got busted. Cleaned up his act and moved away.”

“Do you remember this night?” Ry asks. “Now, that you’ve seen who all was present?”

“Yeah. We partied good that night. Trey was waiting on his supplier to show up, so he let us clean out the rest of the old inventory he had on hand. Carrie paid for everything. That rich chick always had money on her.”

Bastard. He talks about Carrie like she wasn’t even a person. She wasmyperson. My sister.

“None of you are concerned that Carrie is unconscious?”

He snorts, “You can’t get concerned every time someone passes out. That happens all the time. There’s a big difference between a ‘normal’ pass out and an ‘OD’ pass out. We were all pretty good at telling the difference. Carrie just got some really good shit that night.”

Ry presses him, “What happened when the supplier came? You all stayed at Trey’s? Kept partying?”

“We kept partying alright, but down here. You know Trey never let anyone meet his supplier.”

“So, everyone left before the supplier got there, including Carrie?”

“No, Carrie was out like a light. We couldn’t get her to move, she stayed. But there’s no way she saw the supplier. She took enough meds to be in dream world for hours. Trey knew that. That’s why he let her stay. The rest of us were too wasted to pick her up.”

“And what about Christina? Did she stay?”

Trash rolls his eyes. “Of course not. Trey never let her stay. Doesn’t matter they were together. Rules are rules.”

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