Chapter 10
Psychedelic Hollow
"Colin gave me the Ecstasy. I told Joe."
"Did he just give them to you, or did you ask?" Frank probed.
Justin visibly tensed up as his eyes darted from Conrad then back again to Frank. "I can't remember the… the… specifics."
"Did he say anything else after he gave you the pills?"
"Why?" Justin sat up straighter, defensiveness lining his words. "What difference does it make?"
"Justin, just spill it out." Conrad snapped, "You want to be free from this, right?"
Justin looked at the three detectives dubiously before hunching over, sulking at the floor, "I asked Colin and he gave them to me, telling me to have fun at the party with Kimberly. Then he disappeared."
"You asked Colin for the pills?" Nancy asked again for veracity. Justin glared at her and folded his arms sullenly.
"Yes! Now can you guys just leave me alone, damn it!"
"Penny for your thoughts?" Nancy waved a hand in front of him and he jumped in his seat, shaken off-tracked by his recollection. The three of them had gathered back in Frank's living room after all the questioning. Outwardly, it had seemed like a cozy, late afternoon tea owing to the impromptu offering of snacks which Joe bought on their way back from Port City and the never ceasing supply of soda in Conrad's flat.
And the façade was good. Justin was unperturbed for most part and extremely forthcoming until they hit the sensitive questions- and most of those had something to do with Colin.
"I'm just wondering why my question on Colin's offer of Ecstasy to Justin would get him all testy."
"He has something to hide? I noticed it too." Nancy concurred, sipping some water, "But didn't he say that he was the one who asked for it?"
"Only until I double-checked with him. All the time, when the offering was mentioned, he always said Colin gave them to him, not he took them from Colin."
"Maybe it was a just a figure of speech…" Joe opined, munching on a celery stick with some low fat cheese spread on it, "Justin's grammar not that great."
"It's not a matter of grammar. It's a matter of how Justin perceived it to be, until I asked. He realized, from my tone, that it could mean something, and that led to him to automatically protect his best friend, even though he didn't know what I could be driving at."
"And the fact that he said after he asked Colin for the pills, Colin told him to have fun at the party with Kimberly is rather disturbing. What if the truth should is Colin gave them to him and told him to have fun at the party with Kimberly?'" Nancy chewed on her pen tip, "Then the angle will have skewed completely. Colin is Justin's best friend and they are at the age where somehow, scoring with girls seemed to be extremely important. He must have known about how Kimberly always told Justin that she wanted to wait until she was married and probably decided to help his friend out a little. Some kids don't know where to draw the line- they think this is fun, cool and completely all right when it is not. If Kimberly didn't die, she would have been raped and Justin would have becoming the unwitting assailant. Either way, lives are ruined. Whoever did something like this can't see past their selfishness and have no sense of respect for themselves or others."
She dropped her pen down on the table and stuck a tongue in her cheek, disgust hooding her summer's eyes, "Infantile."
Joe arched a brow, staring at Nancy questioningly, "I am disgusted with it as well but you seem to have a personal vendetta."
"Rather. One of my course mates was date raped. She wasn't drugged but it didn't matter. It's the same thing- rape." Her incensed eyes flashed lethally, "The guy was her boyfriend of two-years who didn't know that 'No' means 'No'."
"Maybe he thought she was playing around… sometimes when someone says 'No,' followed peals of giggles or actions that say otherwise, it's rather hard to judge." Joe shrugged, his brows furrowing with bafflement as if he was re-living an incident similar to that he had just recounted. Frank wanted to call a truce, knowing that Joe had inadvertently stepped on land mines. However, before he could even say or do anything, Nancy glared at Joe and snapped irritably, slamming her hands on Frank's modern dining table.
"No just means, No! I don't know why you guys just can't get it! It's only a two letter word, hardly a Gordian Knot! I mean, some of us just want to kiss and cuddle, not have sex. That's why we said 'no.' Doesn't mean after we say 'No' to sex and then cuddle means we are actually receptive to the idea of intercourse, like what you guys like to think!"
"I didn't mean to start an argument. Okay, I know. 'No' is 'no'. I'm one of those guys that always respect a lady when it comes to this. Don't jump on me like I raped somebody!" Joe was working into a rage as well, getting all heated up from this argument. Walking away from a fight wasn't Joe's style, no matter who was his sudden adversary. "And you have to admit that some girls should really watch the way they dress and act! If they are not looking for it, don't act like they are!"
"So you're saying it's our fault?"
"No! I'm not giving excuses to the trespassers! I just…" Joe threw his hands up in the air, "Forget it. But you know something? When Hallie hit puberty, I will never let her wear a skirt that barely covers her butt. I'll never let her wear anything that exposes her cleavage. I will never let her attend rave parties and if I can't stop her short of chaining her to her room, then I'll do my best to drum the idea of safety and precaution in her head. When she goes to pubs, I'll make sure she knows better than to get drunk. And I sure won't allow her to be in the same room as another guy alone. It's the menace of close proximity to such temptations and dangers that I'm talking about, not passing the buck! And as a guy, I'm telling you straight off that we do infer from your body language and dressing. And like verbal communication, it's easy to misunderstand especially when such sexual nuances are so heavily layered on! Like it or not, everyone is responsible for their own safety! Let me present you with an analogy so you can understand…" Drawling the last word sarcastically, Joe's narrowed eyes pierced right into Nancy's burning orbs of blue flames which were challenging and intimidating him simultaneously to no avail.
"You can't walk in dark alleyways wearing a hair band for a skirt as you swing your butt to-and-fro and expect to not attract unwanted attention. There will always be bad people around with evil intentions. You just have to do your best to avoid their interest in you since you can't stop them from existing."
"You are a chauvinist!" Nancy snarled, stabbing a firm finger in the air at Joe, "Putting the blame on the victim!"
Joe simmered, his lips vanished in a thin, tight line, "No, you're dead wrong and myopic. I'm not putting the blame on the victim! I'm a realist!"
"Cut it out. You both have your point. No to sex, means No to sex, be it a girl or a guy who utters it, all right?" Frank stood up, stretching his hands out with palms upright. Once again, he had to be the peacemaker only this time, he was a little surprised that Nancy couldn't keep her cool. "Just like 'No' to drugs, to alcohol abuse, violence, etc. etc. Can we get back onto the case now? I need to get married on time! Do I have to ground the both of you?"
"You can't. You ground us and you work on this case alone- which means you won't get married on time." Joe muttered, ripping half the celery with his teeth and chewing furiously. Nancy downed her glass of water as if she was trying to extinguish the flames burning in her stomach.
"Good. Now, can we decide on our next course of action?"
"Isn't it obvious? Find Colin and get the truth out from him." Nancy remarked in annoyance, "And I suggest we go now but I'm not going to sit in the same car as him."
"Fine! Suit yourself! You know that I do make sense!" Joe stood up abruptly, causing his chair to topple onto the floor with a series of resounding clangs that caused Frank to grimace and fear for the pristine condition of his designer's tiles.
"Where are you going? Let's plan our actions…"
"Argh!" Joe stormed towards the bathroom, gesticulating wildly with his hands, "You can do all the planning you want! I'm going to take a crap!"
***
Frank didn't like having to deal with Marcie Brown again but it seemed like they had no choice, given that the importance of Colin's angle into the case was enormously upped by the Justin's divulgence. The atmosphere of the house hadn't changed- neither had Marcie's deposition towards them. Frank wasn't complaining; he wasn't expecting a miracle. However, he was rather frustrated that even when they deliberately emphasized that they needed to talk to Colin alone, the house help still brought them to Marcie.
This time round, it was Marcie the iron lady and only Marcie. Colin was nowhere to be seen.
"It's rather pointless for the both of you to come. Colin doesn't know your client and he's a decent boy. Why would he be hanging around with the likes of drug addicts?" Marcie set down her cup, a condescending smile dancing on the edges of her lips. Frank spotted her gaffe immediately but it was Nancy who highlighted it.
"Mrs. Brown, we have never mentioned that Justin was a drug addict."
Marcie shot Nancy a look that was almost murderous. Expecting an acerbic tongue-lash, Frank was taken aback when she laughed instead, as if amused by what had just transpired, "Well, I see I have a couple of intelligent guests. I'm so sorry. Just hang on…"
"Marcie, actually, we just want to speak to Colin." Frank prompted her gently, thinking that the domineering matriarch might have lost it, "Get some questions answered and we'll leave."
Marcie snapped a finger at one of her uniformed maids waiting at one side and turned to Frank, "I said hang on, sonny. Anne, please get my check book."
"Marcie…" Frank decided to warn her before the situation became more complicated, "If you're going to offer what I think you are, I'll advise you to think twice."
"Oh, don't be such a righteous man, Mr. Hardy. And please, call me Mrs. Brown. Everyone has a price, name yours."
"I'm sorry if you still don't catch our drift, Mrs. Brown. But I can easily charge you for attempting to bribe an officer of the law." Nancy cautioned, steel hardened her tone and gaze. Marcie narrowed her eyes shrewdly as her servant, Anne, halted in her steps, awaiting her next order.
"Anne, leave us. Colin is out but I'll see if I can help with anything. What are your questions?" Marcie crossed her legs which were initially slanted to one side. Frank wondered if Marcie dressed like an accomplished business woman all the time- even in her own home. Appearances obviously mattered enormously to Marcie and Nancy's cautioning was working very well. Marcie Brown wouldn't be caught dead charged with a crime that could render her reputation to moldy rags.
"May we know where's Colin?" Frank asked. Marcie leaned to the side of her velvet armchair, smiling tediously.
"From my conversations with the both of you, I can tell that you two are very observant. Surely you can tell that Colin and I have a rather superficial relationship? He's not easily… controlled…" Marcie knitted her brows, speaking as if Colin was a dog she failed in toilet training. Frank was inwardly appalled by her tone. "Not obedient like his siblings. But he's a good boy and I'm very certain that he wouldn't have done whatever the both of you think he did. Having said this, I hope you understand that I do not know where Colin is. If he ever comes back, I'll let him know the both of you called though I probably wouldn't be here for a while."
"Wait, Marcie, can we see his room?" Nancy ventured and Marcie let out a sharp, mocking laugh.
"He doesn't stay here. If he does sleep here, it's on the couch. You were lucky the first time. He came back for money when you called on me."
"Did you give it to him?" Nancy probed- steely concern in her voice. Marcie arched a brow, mildly bemused.
"Why would you need the knowledge for?"
"Because if you did, then you're supporting his drug habits."
"Colin doesn't take drugs, Miss Drew. I may not know my son very well but I trust he's sensible."
Nancy smiled mirthlessly, "We have sources that tells us otherwise."
"Justin? The kid who led my son astray? Well, Miss Drew, get your sources right first. How can you believe a seasoned drug abuser?"
"Through thorough investigations, of course," Frank half-lied. Marcie stiffened. Next, her chastising gaze swept across them and Frank suddenly felt rather intimidated, like he was in his principal's office.
"Are the both of you parents?" Marcie asked and smiled knowingly when the both of them shook their heads.
"Then do not lecture me on what I should or should not do. Colin's my son and I'm his mother. If I want to give him money so he doesn't starve or be killed by his debtors, then that's my business. If I throw him to the wolves…" Her smile vanished and her mien grew somber and yet, inscrutable.
Frank shuddered before she even complete her sentence, subconsciously comparing her with Laura and thanking God for his blessing.
"That's my business too."
Smirking as though enjoying their aghast, Marcie picked up her cup of tea and took an appreciative whiff, "Not that I will, of course. But if he is insistent on emulating his malingerer father, tinkering with cars, motorbikes and other icky pursuits he calls a life worth living, there's nothing I can do."
"Marcie, is Colin's dad in Bayport? Maybe he's with him?" Frank hazard a guess but Marcie shook her head, setting her cup of tea down.
"I don't know. Really. I don't care. I no longer have anything to do with the idler…" She scrunched her face at her own silent thoughts, "But he may still be in Bayport. Or maybe he's dead."
"What's his name?" Nancy asked, her pen readied on her notepad. Marcie threw her a deadpanned look.
"I forgot."
"Marcie, please… just a name."
Her dispassionate face crumbled for a fleeting moment, "His name is Harold Wain. Don't tell me anything you find out about him."
"We won't, Marcie." Frank promised, managing a genuine smile, "And thank you."