His face got red.
'Don't say that.'
'Sorry,' I said.
'I love her. She loves me. When people love each other, that's what they do.'
'Go to bed,' I said.
He nodded firmly.
'When did you start to love each other?' I said.
'Since ninth grade.'
'Wow,' I said.
'Where does Mr. Garner fit in.'
'Fuck him,' Jared said.
'He knew you and Beth Ann were in love,' I said.
'He was going to not let us,' Jared said.
All of a sudden I saw it, all of it, full-formed, as if a magic lantern threw the patterns on a screen.
'You had to stop him,' I said.
'Yes.'
'She wanted you to,' I said.
'Yes.'
'But you didn't know for sure how to stop him, so you went to Dell, and he helped you.'
Jared nodded.
'But when you went to do it, Garner wasn't there.'
He nodded.
'And things got out of hand,' I said.
'Dell kept shooting,' Jared said softly.
'And you never said why you did it, because it would hurt Beth Ann.'
There were tears now. I didn't blame him. I felt like crying, too.
'So you got the chance to be a stand-up guy,' I said.
He nodded. He was crying audibly. The tears were rolling down his face.
'You were going to shoot Garner.'
Nod.
'And Dell was going to cover you.'
Nod.
'Dell plan this out mostly?'
'Yes. He knew about things like that. From Animal.'
'You didn't plan on getting caught.'
He shook his head.
'Dell had a different plan,' I said.
Jared looked at me blankly.
'You shoot anyone?'
'No.'
I could hear myself breathing. I needed more oxygen than I was getting. My throat needed to loosen. My stomach needed to unclench.
'We was going to get married,' Jared said, 'when I was eighteen.'
'Next year,' I said.
He nodded. 'You think she still loves me?' he said.
I took in some more air.
'Absolutely,' I said. 'She loves you, and adores you, and admires very much how brave you are.'
He nodded his head and continued to nod it while he sat there and cried.
Chapter 62
RITA WAS WEARING a black pantsuit today,
