He held his breath and stared at the phone, then turned and looked at the microwave again.
Still 11:29.
The clock changed. 11:30.
He stared at the phone intently. It stayed silent.
He looked back at the microwave. 11:31.
He breathed a sigh of relief. He'd tried. Maybe tomorrow. Or never.
He headed downstairs, needing to take care of something before finally heading to bed.
He headed to his bathroom and removed his bathrobe, gazing at himself for a long time in the mirror. He sighed. Pathetic. All of him.
He put the toilet seat down and sat down, nodding off as he took care of things, wondering what he even had inside to get rid of.
A shrill ringing jolted Charlie awake. He looked around dazed, wondering what was going on. The ringing stopped. Charlie jolted. Fuck! The phone! Charlie wiped himself frantically.
"Charlie! Phone!" his mom yelled down the stairs.
Charlie quickly washed his hands and dashed for the stairs. His mom gave a little shriek as Charlie flung the door open. Charlie looked down at himself and gasped, dropping his hands in front of his crotch. Laura blushed, looked away, and set the phone on the counter. "I'll get a towel."
Charlie nodded, then warily approached the phone, sure it would strike.
He picked up the phone and sat down on the chair he'd left by it, crossing his legs.
"Hewwo."
Laura threw a towel on Charlie's head and backed away into the living room as Marisol's tired voice came on the phone, her accent heavy.
"Who are you, and why am I supposed to call you?"
Charlie pulled the towel onto his lap.
"It's me, Charlie. Charlie Thompson."
"Who? Is this a prank?"
"Wemembeh? I was in schooh with you. Wast yeah."
"I'm sorry, kid, I have no idea who you are. What do you want, and why are you talking so weird?"
Charlie started sobbing.
"Charlie, wemembeh? Johnny's fwiend."
Marisol sighed. "Johnny had a lot of friends, kid. Please get to the point. It's been a long day."
Charlie choked out a tear. "What happened to you last yeah... was my fauwt."
"What are you talking about?"
Laura stalked back toward the kitchen. She didn't want to eavesdrop, but something was clearly terribly wrong, and she wanted to know what was going on with Charlie. He hadn't been himself for a while, but today, something was definitely off.
Charlie started sobbing. "It's aww my fauwt. I did it to you. I didn't know what was going to happen. I'm so sowwy. Is... the baby ok?"
Laura gasped quietly and retreated to her bedroom, trembling.
Marisol snapped. "Anna is fine. I don't know what kind of sick prank this is, or what you are talking about, but you need to leave me alone."
Charlie steadied himself just enough to blurt out, "I gave Whitney... some information."
The line went silent. Finally, Marisol, accent even thicker, voice trembling, responded. "You mean to tell me that you, some boy I don't even know, are the reason that bitch Whitney found out! You... sick little bastard! You ruined my life! Don't ever, ever call me back again, ¿entendido?"
Charlie heard a click and the dial tone. The phone slipped from his hands and thudded to the floor. He slumped down in his chair, head in his hands, sobbing.
Laura came in and put her hand on his shoulder. Charlie flinched and stood up, clutching the towel in front of him. Rich came into the room.
"Sit down, now," he commanded sternly.
Charlie sat down and huddled up in a ball on the chair. Laura touched Charlie's shoulder again, but he flinched away again, and she pulled her hand back.
Rich, pale, and trembling, but trying to stay calm, demanded, "You need to tell us what is going on, Charles."
Charlie flinched, but stayed huddled up.
Rich raised his voice. "Did you do something to a girl?"
Charlie curled up more.
"Did you?" Rich demanded.
Charlie nodded.
"And you just told her."
Charlie nodded again.
"And she has a baby now."
The blood drained from Charlie's face. He looked up at his dad in terror. "You think... that I... got a giww... without hew knowing..."
He looked back and forth at his parents, panic on his face, then bolted from the chair, leaving the towel behind.
Rich started after him, but Laura put her hand on his shoulder. He gave her a troubled look and stormed back to their room. Laura sank to the floor, sobbing.
Charlie started sobbing as he rushed down the stairs, slammed his door, and dashed through his living room. He flung his curtain aside and dove onto his bed, grabbing Winston and burrowing under his covers. He closed his tear-filled eyes tightly, trying to block out the horrified look in his mom's eyes.
********
Rich sat on his bed, hunched over.
Has my past caught up with me?
Nonsense. This has nothing to do with what happened then.
How do you explain what is going on?
He's his own person, making his own damned mess.
Could he have done something like that?
Do I even know him?
What if Phil was right all along? What if he's been going down a dark path, and I never noticed?
Charlie though? Kid can't even kill a damn mouse.
Maybe he fell in with the wrong crowd.
Who? He doesn't have any friends anymore, does he?
Maybe that's why he did it. To get in.
Could he do something like that, though?
He's almost a man. He's developed enough to do it.
Of course, he could do it. But... to a helpless girl?
******
Laura stood up and leaned against the wall. How could Charlie have done such a thing?
The answer hit her clearly, and made her sick and relieved. He couldn't. She knew he couldn't. It wasn't him. How could she have believed for a second that her gentle boy could do something so terrible? Something happened, but not that. Poor Charlie, how could she have done that to him?
And what happened, then?
Laura walked over to the phone and checked the call history. Rojas, Jairo. Rojas? Why should she know that name?
She headed to her bedroom and sat beside Rich.
"Rich, we've made a terrible mistake."
Rich sighed and lay back on the bed. "I hope so, Laura, but what else can you make of what you heard?"
Laura lay next to him. "I don't know. Something terrible happened. But I don't think Charlie could... would... do something like that."
Rich sighed. "I hope not. But... what do we really know about Charlie anymore? Who does he hang out with? What does he do after school? What's he like at school?"
A tear trickled down Laura's face. "I don't know, Rich, but this is Charlie we're talking about. He's a good kid. He's always been a good kid."
"I know. But things can change. What if he got in with the wrong crowd? He hasn't been hanging around Phil anymore, so who does he even spend time with?"
Laura rubbed her forehead. "I don't know. He's never had anyone over since Phil. He didn't last long in scouts. He hasn't joined any clubs, and he quit track. He's never really clicked with the kids at church." She sighed and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I'd hoped that the accountability partner thing with Curtis would at least give him someone to talk to..."
Rich snorted. "Laura, you know what he was supposed to talk to Curtis about..."
Laura blushed. "Ok, I know. But at least he would have been talking to someone about something. And maybe they could have become friends?"
"Laura, he said he didn't want to go. You know as well as I do that we can't push him to do something he doesn't want to do."
Laura slugged Rich playfully. "Like softball?"
Rich rolled his eyes. "But I learned my lesson there, didn't I?"
"Yeah. For the most part."
They stared at the ceiling for a long time.
Laura leaned up on her elbow. "Rich, I think I need to come home. Or at least cut back."
Rich sighed. "I know. I want you to. But you know we can't afford that right now."
"But he needs me. He needs us!"
Rich groaned. "I know. But with the bills and the pay cuts and restoring that damn rental and the property taxes on all the empty lots and the car payments... I honestly don't know how we're going to make it through the year as it is."
"I know. But Charlie. What if he doesn't..." Laura started to sob, "What if he doesn't make it through the year? What if he did do something to that girl and the police get involved and... What if we've lost him already?"
Rich held her close. "Shh... It's going to be ok. It will all work out."
He desperately wished he could believe it.
Charlie stared at the stars on his ceiling, tears streaming down his cheeks, holding Winston tight.
"I twied, Winston, I weawwy twied. But I think I just made things wowse."
---------------------------------The end of the Core Sample-----------------------------------