Swallowing Stones

Michael

Michael feels there’s nowhere to hide from the people whose lives he’s messed up, with Darcy, Amy, and Jenna attending the pool regularly. Joe was arrested the night he attacked Amy’s car, while Michael followed the ambulance with Amy to the hospital. Amy’s grandfather prevented Michael from seeing her, and he hasn’t been able to reach her since.

When Michael gets home from work, his family tells him about Joe being taken in for questioning. Michael drives straight to Joe’s house, desperate for answers. Before knocking, he thinks he sees Jenna behind a tree but convinces himself he’s just paranoid. Joe is standoffish. The boys go to Joe’s old treehouse to talk. Joe says it was routine questioning, but Michael knows that no one else was brought in. Joe explains that they can’t pin anything on him without the weapon and rants about the police targeting him because of his reputation. Joe calls Amy a derogatory name. Michael feels the urge to reply, but he allows Joe to speak. Joe says a few kids from the party said they saw Joe with the gun. Michael says that’s not possible, but Joe admits to messing with it while Michael was with Amy.