Page 86 of Little Shattered Dreams

He clenched a fist.

He knew about Karl.

“She showed an interest in Karl,” I said. “Didn’t she?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“I bet it would be hard to find out the person you liked had an interest in someone else, someone much other than you. It’s natural. Normal, even. Jealousy is a part of life. It’s just … I wonder. Jealousy can sometimes be managed. It’s when it turns into something more that there's a problem. When jealousy turns to rage, for example.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m not accusing you of being jealous, and I'm not saying you have issues with rage. From what I’ve seen, you’re quiet but observant. I do wonder if there’s another side of you though, and if the man on display for all to see is the man you really are. Or is there someone else beneath the exterior, someone no one else is aware of except for you.”

“Not sure what you’re trying to say, but I’m done talking.”

“I’m not.”

He threw his hands in the air and shouted, “What do you want me to say here? Whatever it is, just tell me, and I’ll say it just so you’ll leave me alone. Do you want me to say I loved her? Fine, I did. And she loved me too. She just couldn’t admit it to herself.”

“Why couldn’t she?”

“Clara was always too caught up in her head all the time, thinking she was damaged goods and only deserved to be with someone who was damaged just like her.”

His comment had me thinking.

If she pursued people who were damaged, why did she pursue Karl?

I was sure Karl had another side to him too.

Everyone did.

Tyler bit down on his lip, and for a moment, I thought he was about to get emotional. He breathed out a few times, settling himself, and then said, “I didn’t kill her, and that’s all you need to know.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“For what?”

“Answering my questions. Well, most of them. You still haven’t told me your thoughts on whether Clara dated both men and women.”

“Why does it matter?”

“I don't know that it does. I'm just trying to piece it all together, and to do that, it helps me to know as much as I can about the person.”

“We didn’t talk a lot about it, but one night, after a few drinks, she made a comment that made me think she went both ways.” He pushed himself off the back of the car and reached into his pocket, pulling out his car keys. “I’d like to go now.”

“Before you do, I have one more question. Every time I see you, you're always fiddling around with the beaded bracelet on your wrist. It’s almost like messing with it calms your nerves. I get it. I have ways of calming my nerves too.”

“What about it?”

“Where did you get the bracelet?”

A long pause, and then, “I’d rather not say.”

“Why?”

“Old memories.”

Painful ones, no doubt.

---