Chapter 25 - BRADY SAYS WHY HE NEEDED ROSALIE TO BE THE LIAR
Brady chose to speak.
His lawyer told the hearing officer the decision was voluntary.
He began:
“I did throw the backpack.”
“Did you make Rosalie record a statement?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she kept telling.”
Then:
“Telling the truth?”
Brady hesitated.
“Some.”
That answer irritated me.
Then he explained.
The six dollars.
He said he meant to borrow it.
Did Rosalie agree?
“No.”
Then not a loan.
The cards.
He said Milo sometimes traded.
True.
That day?
“No.”
Then the rules.
“I thought it was funny.”
Were younger kids laughing?
“Sometimes.”
All of them?
“No.”
Then the statement.
“Why make Rosalie say her father told her to complain?”
Brady looked toward me through the glass panel.
“Because adults believe adults.”
That was smarter than I wanted from him.
Then:
“If it looked like Mr. Hayes was angry at us, maybe people would think Rosalie only said stuff because of him.”
Exactly.
“Why did that matter?”
“Baseball.”
There.
Then more.
“My dad said if I got suspended, season was over.”
Eric sat in the back.
His face broke.
Brady continued.
“And everyone at the stop listened to me.”
Status.
“If I said one thing and some little kid got me suspended, then everybody would think I was weak.”
There.
Not money.
Not violence.
Rank.
A thirteen-year-old monarchy built from a bus shelter.
Then the hearing officer asked:
“Do you think Rosalie made you weak?”
Brady shook his head.
“No.”
“What did?”
Long silence.
“I got scared.”
That was the closest thing to insight he had shown.
The hearing officer did not praise him.
Neither did I.
May you like
Insight arrives after harm sometimes.
It still matters.
