A little later, Thomas asked to speak with me.
I said no.
He asked again.
I said no again.
Eventually he stood across the waiting area and spoke anyway.
“You’re making me look like some kind of monster.”
I almost laughed, not because anything was funny, but because even then his first concern was how he looked.
“I haven’t made you look like anything,” I said. “I told them what happened.”
“You don’t know what happened.”
“Then tell them.”
He looked away.
That was when Ellie stood up.
“Tell me.”
Thomas’s shoulders stiffened.
“Not here.”
“Yes. Here.”
People nearby pretended not to listen.
A television played silently above the waiting room.
A paper coffee cup sat untouched beside Thomas’s chair.
Ellie stepped closer.
“What happened in the bathroom?”
Thomas dragged both hands over his face.
“Mason wouldn’t stop.”
Nobody moved.
“He wouldn’t stop what?” Ellie asked.
