Page 47 of A River Red With Blood
“Did he remain in touch with you after he arrived at Spero?”
“Only to ask us to allow him to come home,” said Rakestraw.“When we refused, he cut off all contact.”
“How long did you plan to leave him up there?”
“For as long as it took,” said Theriault.
“For what?”
“For him to change.”
“And suppose he didn’t?”
“Then he’d have to stay at Spero.”
“We could have sent him somewhere worse,” said Rakestraw.“There’s always somewhere worse.”
“I’m not sure there is,” I said.“Eventually, it all ends with a hole in the ground.”
Rakestraw let it go.
“So when was the last time either of you spoke to him?”
“August, I think.”Rakestraw looked to his wife for confirmation but received none.“Yes, late August.”
“And no phone calls, texts, or emails since?”
“None, not from Scott.We reached out but …”
Rakestraw trailed off.I waited for his wife to contribute, but she didn’t.Strike “mildly sedated” and substitute “heavily.”The silence rapidly became uncomfortable, even for someone who regarded silence as a weapon in the interrogator’s armory.
“How was your relationship with Scott, Mr Rakestraw?”I asked, when the sound of my own heartbeat began to bore me.
“Up and down.It started awkwardly when I married Hailee, improved for a couple of years, then deteriorated again.COVID didn’t help, what with all of us cooped up together.We got through it, but the damage was done.”
“Jerry tried hard with Scott,” said Hailee Theriault, “but he didn’t reciprocate.”
“He was young,” said Rakestraw.
“Not that young, not by the end.”
The dynamic here was not what I had expected, but I didn’t rush to judgment: There were as many ways to grieve as therewere to be bereaved.But if that was as much as I was going to learn from the trip, it would be wasted.
“Is Ward planning to sue Spero?”Hailee Theriault asked.
“You’d have to ask his lawyer,” I replied.“Do you intend to sue?”
“We could try,” said Rakestraw, “but it would be difficult.We signed a liability waiver.It was a condition of Scott’s acceptance as a student.We’d have to prove negligence, meaning the staff failed to meet the required duty of care.My lawyer isn’t confident of a result should we proceed.”
“We’re not going to proceed,” said Hailee Theriault.“What happened to Scott wasn’t Spero’s fault.He brought it on himself.You can tell Ward there’s no money in this for him, or you.”
I didn’t bother telling her that I didn’t think it was about money for Ward Vose.As for me, only the unimportant cases were about money.I liked being paid—sleeping on the streets had never appealed—but I was cursed with a conscience.I wanted to believe Hailee Theriault might be similarly troubled, no matter what indications she gave to the contrary, but being in her company was trying.I hadn’t anticipated a joyful encounter, but neither did I expect it to be so enervating.Here was toxic grief.I spent a while longer getting nowhere while the life was slowly sucked out of me before thanking Hailee Theriault and Jerry Rakestraw for their time and preparing to leave.
“Is that it?”Rakestraw asked.
“Yes, that’s it.”
I put my notebook in my pocket.I’d written about half a dozen words since arriving, and three of those were “Rakestraw/Theriault Interview.”
