Riverside novel Chapter 3

"I'm so mad," Peggy said as she and Colette sat down at the cafeteria table Ronnie and I were already sitting at.

"Why?" I asked.

"Apparently, someone hired my mom to get that River Gillespie out of prison," she said, followed by a scoff. "He killed his family and someone wants him to be free?"

That was exactly why I didn't want anyone to know I visited River in prison yesterday. Peggy was just jumping to conclusions, thinking that what she heard about River was actually true. I knew I trusted people too easily, but I know for a fact that River was innocent.

I was glad that Peggy's mom didn't tell her that it was me who hired her. That would have caused a lot of drama and no doubt a lot of yelling from Peggy.

"Really?" Ronnie asked.

"Yeah," Peggy said. "Can you believe it? He murdered his family and someone wants him out of prison. He's a dangerous person."

"Well, if someone hired a lawyer, wouldn't that mean that there's a possibility that he didn't do it?" Ronnie asked. "Everyone is just jumping to conclusions."

"Yeah, the conclusions of what really happened," Peggy said. "He was found alive in his home while everyone else was dead. If that doesn't say murderer, I don't know what does."

"Exactly," Colette said. "Seriously, Ronnie. There's proof he did it."

"What proof?" Ronnie said. "Him being alive? That's not really proof." Peggy opened her mouth to say something, but Ronnie continued talking. "Look, I'm not immediately saying River is innocent. I'm just thinking of all the possibilities. You know I'm studying to be a lawyer and that's what they do; think of all the possibilities."

"Whatever," Peggy said before looking at me. "What about you, Arden?"

"Huh?"

"What do you think of all of this?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I wasn't there when it happened so I'm not going to immediately assume that he's guilty."

Peggy rolled her eyes and opened her can of Diet Coke. "You two are unbelievable. You'll be proven wrong when the court proves that he's guilty."

"Didn't you say it's your mom trying to prove his innocence?" Ronnie asked. "Don't you want your mom to win?"

"Of course I do, but not when it gets a murderer out of prison," Peggy said. She and Colette then went on and on, trying to convince Ronnie that River was guilty, but Ronnie refused to believe anything until the court decided.

I was glad at least one of my friends didn't assume everything she heard was true. It got really annoying when Peggy and Colette gossiped about every single thing they heard, assuming that it was true.

When lunch ended, Peggy and Colette got up from the table and left their garbage. Even though it was the janitor's job to clean up, I felt bad every time he had to clean up someone's lunch garbage when the trash bins were nearby, so I always ended up cleaning Peggy and Colette's mess, same with Ronnie.

"You've been awfully quiet for all of lunch," she said as we picked up the garbage.

I shrugged. "I just don't see how it concerns me."

"I wish the others would see it that way," Ronnie said. "What happened with River and his family is none of my concern, but I honestly think there's a high chance that he's innocent."

"Really?" I asked.

"Obviously," Ronnie said. "For one thing, what's the point of hiring a lawyer when you're already in prison if you're guilty? There's going to be evidence proving it and it would be just a waste of time."

Exactly what I thought.

"And second, remember how I went to the other middle school across town?" Ronnie continued. "Because I lived on the other side of town and not closer here?" I nodded. "Well, I knew River in middle school. He didn't talk much but in one class, everyone had to partner up so I went with him. He seemed like a very sweet guy. I know people can change fast, but....I don't know. It just seems hard to believe that he did it."

I didn't really reply. I just dumped the trash in the garbage can nearby the table.

Ronnie didn't think anything of my silence as we began walking to the lockers. "So, we are performing at the basketball game tomorrow, right?" she asked when we reached my locker.

I nodded. "Yeah, and we'll practice...." I stopped mid-sentence. "Is there cheerleading practice after school today?"

Ronnie raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah. You should know. You're the captain."

I sighed and rested my forehead on my locker. "I completely forgot."

"He doesn't talk," I said. "All I know is something happened and he chooses not to talk, and it was before the murder even happened. It sucks, though, because when he was arrested, he didn't say anything to the police officers, which made them think only more that it was him who did it. So, will you be able to cover for me at cheerleading practice?'

"Yeah, of course," Ronnie said. "Tell me everything that happens there when you're done."

After school, I quickly went to the parking lot and drove to the prison before Peggy could see me leave. If she did and even if I told her I had a dentist appointment, she would drag me to the practice and give me a lecture on how to be a good captain.

I got to the prison and waited outside for Marilyn to show up. We then went inside the prison and she talked to someone there before they led us to a bland room with a table in the middle. Soon enough, a guard led River into the room before standing by the door.

Marilyn introduced herself to River and began asking him questions, which didn't really help since River still refused to talk, so I had to tell her to ask yes or no questions.

Marilyn basically asked the same questions I had already asked River. She did get some new information, though. River did not get along with his dad at all, and that was only going to make River seem even more guilty.

"Is your dad the reason you don't talk?" Marilyn asked in a soft voice and River nodded. "Did he ever hurt you?" River hesitated before nodding again.

"River, I'm so sorry," I said. River only shrugged in reply.

"Did you ever think about getting revenge on your dad?" Marilyn asked and River shook his head. "Would you ever resort to violence to get revenge on anyone, not just your parents? My daughter told me that you got expelled for getting into fights."

River quickly shook his head, then sighed.

"Were you expelled?" Marilyn asked and River shook his head. "Did you drop out?" River nodded. "Why?"

River sighed again, closing his eyes as if he were trying to find a way to tell us why. He then opened his eyes and pointed to my hand. I furrowed my eyebrows and held out my hand. He opened my fingers and began writing softly on my palm with his finger.

B-U-L-L-I-E-D

"You were bullied?" I asked and he nodded. "So you dropped out?" Another nod.

River couldn't catch a break at all.