GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT

Prologue

My brother Joey is my best friend.

Up until a year ago, he was my hero.

What happened?

That's all I have been thinking about lately. What happened those nights when Joey and Erin went to the river? What happened those nights when Joey lay awake in jail, lost as a freshly hatched chick. But a chick has a mother's pure unconditional love. Joey had Mom's love, but her love came with doubts, insecurities, and restrictions.

At least after September 24.

What happened?

What happened on September 24? What happened after Joey left the house, to spend a night with his lover under the wide skies of Kansas? What happened that made his lover die on the very spot where she and he had made promises of never-ending love?

What happened?

Who did it?

Is my hero a murderer?

I was only fourteen when it happened. Still a child, yet blooming, slowly into an adult. That night, the innocence of my family, myself, and mostly, my brother was lost. Joey, already imperfect and flawed in the eyes of Greenville, turned into a monster, meant to be locked up tight until his eyes lost all lust for life, all hope, all happiness.

What happened?

What happened to Erin?
What happened to me?

What happened to Joey?

CHAPTER 1

On September 24, the Kansas sky was as clear and blue as could be. The sun did not beat down on us, but shone brightly and gently. There was not a cloud for miles around, and a gentle breeze pleasantly drifted by.

It was a Friday, and Joey and I had a date at the river.

That's what we called our afternoons by the river. Our "dates" were not really romantic, obviously. Joey was my older brother, sixteen to my fourteen. He and I were best friends, literally. Some people whispered about us, clucking disapprovingly when they saw Joey and me deep in conversation by the river. Although I was popular at my school, and had plenty of friends, Joey was more of a loner. He had some guys he would go skating with at the playground, but besides that, it was just me.

And Erin.

Erin was one of those life size Barbie dolls who catches the attention of every hormonal teenage guy within a five mile radius. She was a cheerleader, honor student, and one heck of kisser, from what Joey said.

She was also my brother's girlfriend.

Needless to say, with my brother's reputation in Greenville, my parents were completely thrilled when Joey made Erin his girl. Her parents…not so much.

All because Joey was different.

Not special-ed different, just different.

Joey didn't fit the Greenville mold. He wasn't an athlete by any means other than skateboarding, which in our town, wasn't considered a real sport. Joey got Cs in school, except in English, where he was one of the top students. Joey was a serious, free-thinker. He thought long and hard about what he believed and said. And when he said something, he meant it. Often, Joey would launch a discussion in class about some controversial current event. When there was a bill proposed by the City Council to add creationism to our science curriculum, Joey went to the meetings where he argued that creationism was a belief that dealt with a religion that some might disagree with or not believe. Despite Joey's efforts the bill was passed. The Council said his claims about religion were ridiculous because there was only one church in Greenville, and everyone attended that one church.

Except for Joey.

It wasn't that my brother was an atheist; in fact he was very religious. He just had his own set of beliefs that mixed and mashed together until he was satisfied that he had explained it all. Sure, he went to church every now and again, but he spent most Sunday mornings in the river, strumming his guitar or writing poems. Sometimes he didn't do either one of those, he just sat and thought.

Now you have to understand that Joey wasn't a druggie, he wasn't a felon, he just had the guts to show the way he thought and felt and viewed the world around him. I agreed with most of what Joey thought. I liked his idea of blending religions together. I backed him up when he went to the City Council to speak out against creationism. But there was one major difference between Joey and I.

I fit in.

I took all honors courses in school. I had tons of friends and was secretary of the Greenville Middle School Student Council. I went to church and played the cello and took dance lessons in Matilda Horner's basement every Tuesday night.

Needless, to say, I was accepted in Greenville.

But the town still peered at me and whispered behind my back with suspicion after they saw Joey and I deep in conversation at the edge of the river. They clucked their tongues, and quietly murmured when I skipped a church service to spend the morning with Joey. And some of the braver souls warned me.

"Be careful," they said. "Watch out for Joey."

I thought this was ridiculous. My brother was the sweetest person I had ever known. He genuinely cared about everyone and everything around him, and when he loved, he loved with a passion.

Joey was my hero because he was the only in Greenville who had the courage to stand up and say what was really on my mind. I did not have that courage, but I wanted it. God knows I wanted it.

Which is why I clung to Joey for dear life.

And because I clung, I too, was brought down when he lost his grip on our small ledge on the cliff of Earth. I tumbled into the darkness with him.