“How did you get it?”
“Let’s just say that kid killers aren’t very popular in prison. I didn’t even know the girl who cut me. It was my fourth year there when it happened, my face split open like a cantaloupe…”
Chrissy shuddered at the memory and I flinched.
“So, I guess I felt bad for Alison. She was quiet as a mouse, and I knew she’d get trampled over.”
“So, when did you fall in love with her brother? How did that come about?” I asked.
Chrissy snorted. “I didn’t fall in love with Dennis. Hell, I barely even like the guy. And that’s the problem in his eyes, I guess. He always wanted more.”
She went on, “He reached out to me in prison. His sister gave him my information. He wanted me to protect her, keep his little sister safe…”
“And did you?”
Chrissy grinned, her scar glowing in the shadowy living room. “I promised to keep her safe and watch her back if he did me some favors too.”
“What sort of favors?” I asked, reaching down for my coke. I was parched, my throat sore from screaming across the field last night.
“Well, she was severely mentally ill. I know the papers didn’t make it out that way, but she truly was.”
“Anyone who kills little kids is sick, I don’t think anyone is doubting that,” I said.
“Agreed. But Alison was delusional, and she heard voices. And she had trouble getting her anti-psychotics in prison. I helped smuggle them in through her brother, and I watched her back. We kid killers have to stick together,” she said, bitterly.
“How long has he been abusing you?”
Chrissy froze. Slowly, she said, “I didn’t know things would turn out this way. I thought I made it clear to him that I wasn’t interested in a romantic or sexual relationship. He agreed to help me get a place or set up a place for us to stay temporarily until I could get a job and get on my feet. That was the deal. I had to have somewhere to live, as a condition of my parole, and his little sister needed help. I thought we understood each other.”
“And that brings us back to the question: why here, Chrissy? Why return to Austin? You must know that getting a job in this town is going to be difficult.” I know my words must have sounded harsh, but they were true. Chrissy had no future in this town; surely, she must have known that.
“I have no plans of staying here. I wanted to come back for a couple weeks and connect with my brothers, then maybe head west and try to find a waitressing job.”
This is news to me.
“Your brothers? But surely you must have known they were gone.”
Chrissy shrugged. “Like I said, I refused their calls and visits for years. And by the time I wanted them back around, they’d moved on with their lives. Their numbers had been changed…”
“Your older brother is in prison in Georgia. Drug crimes, I think. And I’m not sure about your younger brother. I know he and your parents moved away shortly after your conviction. I’m sorry,” I said, softly.
Chrissy smiled, sadly. “I knew my parents left, but I guess I was still hoping Trevor might be around. I didn’t realize he was serving time at the same time I was… I’m going to write him, but I haven’t yet.”
“But beyond that, what else is here for you? You know the townspeople will never forget you’re here. They’ll harass you till your dying day.” Again, my words sounded harsher than I wanted them to. But if I couldn’t be honest, then what was the point? It made no sense for her to be here, and I wanted to understand WHY.
But Chrissy was ready to talk about Dennis now.
“The first time he hit me was my third night in the trailer. I guess he was pissed when he realized there weren’t going to be any perks of having me as a roommate.” Her mouth twisted into an O of disgust. She reached for her soda again, but then changed her mind. “I was going to take off the next morning, maybe try to hitch a ride at the truck stop in Newbury, make my way along with the little money I had in my pocket from Dennis. But then, I woke up that morning and I found your letter in my mailbox. It felt like destiny, as cheesy as that might sound to you.”
Destiny.
Such a strange thought … but how many times had I thought about this case? Lost sleep as I read through the dark web chat rooms and the wild theories that made no sense over the years? I’d wanted to write this story for so long … but now that she was here in front of me, I wasn’t sure how to get to the truth.
“Well, if you want me to write this story, then you need to let me ask you some questions. I feel like all I know so far is mostly what I’ve already heard. Can you do that for me?”
Chrissy stood up and grabbed her backpack off the lazy-boy chair. She unzipped it and pulled out two cans of Monster energy drinks.
“I got hooked on these in prison, what can I say?” She laughed, then popped the top on one can and handed me the other. “You ready to stay up late and do this interview? I’ll try to be more forthright this time.”
I accepted the can and gave her a wary smile.
Is she planning to stay the night here? I wondered. The thought of her sleeping inside my house made me a little uneasy.
“Okay. Let’s do it,” I said.
“That chess board over there…”
