Page 65 of Did You See Evie

“We’re on the same team,” Tara says, “but basketball is, like, the only thing we have in common with her. That’s not our fault.”

“And it took all of us to win that game,” Beatrice adds.

“You’re right,” I say. “But Evie is the only one missing, and she’s the only student another teacher has said was being bullied.”

“No one bullied her,” Amber says. “She’s just different from some of us. We can’t help that.”

“You didn’t have to always point it out to her,” Beth says, almost under her breath.

“Don’t start pointing fingers just because she isn’t here,” Beatrice warns.

“I’m not pointing fingers,” Beth says. “I’m telling the truth. Everyone treated her differently, and you three were the worst.”

“We didn’t do anything to her!”

“Beatrice, I remember hearing you call Evie SoEd,” I say. My voice wavers on that last, ridiculous word. I’m disgusted by the sheer cruelty of such an insult, can only imagine how humiliating it must have been for Evie to hear it. “Can you tell me what that means?”

Her cheeks blush, as she starts squirming even more.

“It’s just a stupid joke.”

“Same outfit every day,” I say, pointedly. “That’s what the other teacher told me it means.”

Another girl, a seventh grader, laughs. My eyes dart toward her. If looks could kill, she’d be a goner. She immediately looks away from me, and I don’t pity her embarrassment. I’m using what little patience I have left to control my fury.

“It was only a joke,” Beatrice says. I can hear a quiver of emotion in her voice. “And I’m not the only one who said it to her.”

“I believe that’s true,” I say. “But what about that is funny? Did Evie ever laugh when you called her that?”

I already know the answer. Even before I knew what the word meant, I’d seen the soft sadness in her eyes. If I could have gone back, I would have done more. I would have asked her why the term bothered her, and maybe I could have put an end to the bullying right then and there.

Was this what she’d been so close to telling me about on the night of the lock-in?

“You all say Evie was different from the rest of you,” I say. “Was any of that ever her fault? Did she have any control over what clothes she wore or who her parents were? Everyone else on this team is lucky to have stability and security and parents who look after them. Evie didn’t have that. A lot of kids don’t have that.”

I never did, and I realize I’m addressing the same tormentors from my own childhood as clearly as I am the girls in front of me.

Some of the girls are openly crying. When they’re caught up in the moment, relishing the laughter of their peers, it’s easy to pretend their words don’t have an impact. Now the cruelty of their words is unavoidable.

“It was stupid,” Beatrice says. “We shouldn’t have said it, but it doesn’t mean any of us would do anything to hurt Evie.”

“You were all just jealous of her,” Beth says. “You weren’t making fun of her because of her clothes. You were making fun of her because she was the best one on the team, and you hated it.”

“We didn’t hate it,” Amber says. “We’re all winners.”

“Yeah, but Evie was the one who got all the attention. She’s the one who scored the winning shot.” Beth looks at Beatrice. “How many times have you brought up the fact you passed her the ball? You can’t stand that she was getting all the credit.”

Beatrice grits her teeth and looks away, confirming the truth of what Beth just said. Tara has her arms crossed, refusing to look at me. When she pulled me aside at the prayer circle, was she only trying to distract me? Give me another lead to follow so I wouldn’t trace Evie’s disappearance back to the bullying? I wonder if Beatrice and Amber put her up to talking to me.

“There’s a lot of toxicity on this team,” I say. “More than I ever knew. And part of it is my fault for letting it get this way for so long. But I need to know everything now. I called this meeting because I thought you all might be more comfortable talking to me than the police.”

“The police?”

“Evie has been missing for days now,” I say. “Up until yesterday, you all said you had nothing against her, and that isn’t true. I need to know what else you’re lying about.”

“No one is lying!” Amber yells.

“You’re not telling me everything.”

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