Page 192 of Scrimmage

“So your family didn’t pay him off?”

“No way. My dad would have left me there.”

“I was pissed,” Alexi adds. “I wasn’t bailing him out. I guess it’s weird he didn’t press charges, but I think he just wanted to appease Ashy. She stopped being friends with him anyways.”

“Hm,” Jeremy hums. “Who are her other friends? Where does she generally hang out?”

“She knows a lot of people. She goes to the library. Any place Penny goes. Late Night Pizza. The tattoo shop she works at, and the bar beneath. Sometimes parties.”

“Do you and Ashland drink a lot? Any drugs?”

“Not really. We socially drink, but when it’s just us it’s pretty rare. I’m not a drinker. She smokes weed, but we don’t do drugs. She hates them, and I’m not interested in them.”

“When she drinks does she get out of hand?”

“Well, she and Penny are wild in general, but I would say it’s more about them having fun with each other. All they really want to do is dance for a little bit, get some pizza, then go home.”

“So much pizza,” Alexi laughs. “They do movie nights on Fridays at their house, but we’ve only been to one. It was Ashland’s birthday.”

“And when would that be?”

“November seventeenth,” I say automatically. “Cuntsgiving.”

“Interesting,” Jeremy says in thought. “And you two are dating?”

“She’s…was…my girlfriend. We broke up.”

“When?”

I wince. “Right before she was shot. We broke up, and I…” My voice cracks. “I left her there. Then she called me and I ignored it, but she left a voicemail. It sounded like she fought someone, and he said she was shot. So we went to her house, saw it all, and Alexi called the police while I…I tried to keep her alive.”

Jeremy doesn’t bat an eye. “Why did you break up?”

I don’t want to fucking go over this again. “Because of Damien. I found a letter in a book in her room from him. I thought he was her husband and that she’d been lying to me.”

“So it was a lover’s quarrel then?”

My body goes rigid. Maybe I should have asked for a lawyer. “Are you insinuating I did something to Ashland?”

“No,” he says. “Should I think that you have?”

I lean my forearms on my knees, shoving my face into my hands and pressing my eyes until I see stars. “I love her, and I never got to tell her.”

“Listen, Mr. Pilsner, I understand that you’re here to help Ashland, but my brother is going through it right now.”

“Where were you when these events occurred, Alexi?”

“I fell asleep playing video games and woke up when Koda called me.” He doesn’t say it defensively, but I know he’s feeling the underlying accusations.

“Very good. Well, if you don’t mind, I’d like to speak with your brother a little longer. Why don’t you go home and get a shower?”

Alexi looks like he’s going to protest, but I intervene. This isn’t optional.

“I’ll be fine,” I assure him. “Take my phone.”

“The one with the voicemail?” Jeremy raises a brow.

“I presume you’ll be taking it?”

---