Riverside novel Chapter 2

I didn't tell anyone what River wrote to me while I was in the back of the police car with him. I knew what they were all going to say. Arden, you're too gullible. Arden, you can't just trust anyone.

I didn't care if I was too trusting. Something seemed off about the way River was acting, and I wanted to find out if he actually committed the crime. If he didn't, which I really believed, then someone was getting off scot-free while River had to pay the consequences of being in jail and having his family members deceased.

I didn't want anyone to go through that, even if I didn't know them personally. Nobody deserved to go through it.

Since my dad gave me my car keys back, I was able to head there after school without anyone knowing.

Well, after Peggy tried begging me to go to the mall with her, Colette, and Ronnie. She was a bit mad that I refused, so I had to remind her that she and Colette were constantly canceling the plans we made.

Yesterday, when my dad came home from work, he told me that River was already in prison. He and a few other cops tried getting him to say anything, but he didn't say a single word. No It wasn't me, no I didn't do it. Nothing.

I pulled into the parking lot of the prison, taking a deep breath before stepping out of my car and locking the door. I walked into the building and told one of the guards I was here to visit River Gillespie.

"What's your relation to him?" he asked.

"I'm his friend," I lied. "I want to make sure he's okay after what happened."

The guard gave me a confused look, most likely because he must have thought River did commit the crime and nobody would be seeing if he was okay, but he thankfully led me to the visiting place. I sat down on a chair across from a glass wall.

On the other side, a guard led River to the chair across from me. He furrowed his eyebrows as he sat down and picked up the phone hanging on the wall. I grabbed the one beside me so I could talk to him. "You look confused to see me," I said. His only reply was a nod. "Look, what you wrote on that piece of paper, I believe you."

He looked shocked, and he still didn't say anything.

"What really happened?" I asked. "My dad told me you weren't saying a single thing to them."

River just looked down.

"Do you talk?" I asked and he shook his head. "Why not? Wait, you can't answer that. Do you choose not to talk or you actually can't talk?"

River held up one finger. So he chose not to talk.

"Was it because of what happened or because of something else?" I asked.

This time, he held up two fingers.

I nodded. "And do you know who....committed the crime?"

He shook his head and looked down again.

"I know you don't know me, but I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry this is happening to you," I said. "Nobody deserves to go through what you are and I promise I'll help get you out of here. Is it okay if I ask yes or no questions so I can try to find some things out?" He nodded and looked at me again. "Okay, so you were home when it happened. Were you upstairs?" He nodded. "And did you hear gunshots?" Another nod. "So I'm guessing you ran downstairs, and nobody was there." Another nod. "Okay, River, I know you're choosing not to talk, but talking would really help you right now."

River just shook his head again and leaned further back in his chair.

I sighed. "Sorry. So if you heard three separate gunshots, probably a bit spread out, how come you weren't downstairs in time to see who it was?"

River pointed to his ears and I titled my head, trying to understand what his reason was. When I didn't guess it, he sighed and thought for a bit before trying again, this time acting as if he was putting something in his ear. Maybe earphones....

"Were you listening to music?" I asked and he nodded. "So you were listening to music and heard the gunshots and...." I sighed. "This is not going to be easy. You know what would be easier? Hiring a lawyer."

Hiring a lawyer....

That's it!

"River, I am going to hire you a lawyer," I said.

River quickly shook his head.

"Yeah, because I know he didn't do it," I said before explaining exactly why I thought that and the fact that I visited him in prison today.

"Well, I'm not too sure if he is," Marilyn said. "But I always like a challenge. Okay, I'll do it."

"Really? Thank you," I said. "Any chance we can go to the prison tomorrow to talk to him more?"

"Yeah, sure," she said. "I'll get everything sorted with the court today."

I couldn't help but smile. "Thank you so much for this. I know it's probably weird because I don't really know River, but I do know that he's innocent. Oh, but there's going to be one small problem. He doesn't talk."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"I mean exactly that," I said. "He doesn't talk at all. I couldn't find out why, but he chooses not to because of something that happened. I just had to ask him yes or no questions and I got some information out."

"What do you know so far?" she asked.

"He was home, upstairs," I said. "Everyone else was downstairs and he was listening to music when the gunshots rang out. He went downstairs after he heard it, but nobody was there. I know right now, everything is pointing towards him, but you should have seen his face when my dad was driving him to the police station. He looked so....heartbroken and upset."

"Arden, I know you can be too trusting at times," she said. "Are you sure he isn't just....I don't know, playing to your disadvantage."

"He's not," I said. "He doesn't know me, so he wouldn't have known I was going to trust him."

"Alright," she said. "I'm not going to make any decisions yet until we visit him again tomorrow."

"Thank you, again," I said.

"It's my job," she said.