'We reasoned together,' I said. 'Talk to me a little more about Jared Clark.'
'What's to tell,' Carly said. 'He didn't bother us; we, you know, didn't bother him.'
'Did he get bullied much?' I said.
The girls both deferred to Carly. It's good to be a football hero.
'No,' Carly said. 'Like, he didn't play ball or nothing, and he didn't joke around, and most of the time, he wasn't, like, even around. But nobody bothered him much.'
Carly looked at Erika and Janey.
'You think?' he said.
'No,' Erika said. 'He was just, like, around, and nobody really noticed him much.'
'Girlfriend?' I said.
Janey shook her head as she thought about it.
'I mean, he never asked anybody out,' she said. 'That I know about. Erika, you know anybody?'
'Nope.'
Erika had longish nails with the tips painted white, and she admired them unconsciously while she spoke.
'I suppose he might have hooked up with one of the loser girls, you know?' Erika said. 'But we wouldn't know that anyway. None of them hang with us.'
'Was Jared a loser?' I said.
Janey thought about the question carefully. Evidently, loser was a precisely defined category.
'Well,' Janey said, 'no, not exactly, I guess. I mean, he was shy and everything. And he wasn't popular, but he wasn't a geek. He was like more of a loner.'
'But people weren't actively cruel to him?'
All three of them shook their heads.
'How about Wendell Grant?' I said.
'He played ball,' Carly said.
'Any good?' I said.
Carly shrugged.
'He was okay,' Carly said. 'Big, you know. Took up a lot of room. But he was really dumb. Couldn't remember the plays. And clumsy. Coach designed a sweep right for me behind Dell, and Dell could never pull and get out there. He, like, messed it up every time. Coach finally forgot about it.'
'Was he dumb in school?'
'Oh, you better believe it,' Erika said. 'He was in my geometry class and he called that guy from olden times- you know, Pythagoras. He called him Py-tha-gor-us, and we all, like, broke up, you know? Even Mrs. Root couldn't keep from laughing. Dell was pissed.'
'That sort of thing happen a lot?' I said.
Erika shrugged.
'We all thought he was pretty dumb,' Janey said.
'He useta carry a knife,' Carly said. 'You know, one of those big hunting jackknifes.'
'A buck knife,' I said.
'Yeah. Like that. Comes in a little leather case?'
I nodded.
'He ever use it?' I said.
'Naw. He used to flash it around a lot when there was no teachers. But that's all.'
'He date much?' I said.
'Ick!' Janey said.
'That would be a no?' I said.
'He was creepy,' Janey said.
'Like?'
'Like, you know he'd say stuff. . . .'
'Hey,' Erika said, imitating a boy, 'you girls like it rough?'
'Did he play rough?'
'He was the kind of guy, you're standing in line in the cafeteria and he's rubbing up against you, trying to get a feel,' Janey said.
'Yeah, one of those guys accidentally bumps your boob with his elbow,' Erika said, making quote signs with her forefingers around 'accidentally.'
