Listen for the Lie(17)

“Hi, Nina.” I try to smile. I haven’t seen or spoken to her since before Savvy died. If I’d run into her two days ago, I might have still been bitter about that.

After listening to the podcast, I’m finding it harder to hold a grudge. And I’m usually so good at holding grudges. It’s one of my best talents.

“Well come here, girl, give me a hug!” She steps forward and wraps her arms around me before I can react. Her long, wavy dark hair smells like fake coconut.

I don’t know what to do with this friendliness from Nina. It could be a Texas thing, I guess. The fake-friendly “pretend everything is fine even though I hate your guts” thing that Texans do didn’t apply to me last time I was here. But maybe five years is too long to keep up that level of hostility. Texans are nothing if not polite (to your face).

But on the podcast Nina actually didn’t sound like she hated my guts. She wasn’t passionately defending me, but she wasn’t throwing me under the bus either. There are plenty of high school stories she could have told that would have made me look terrible.

I don’t know what to do with that. I’d be much more comfortable if she’d shouted “I hope you get hit by a truck!” at me from across the store.

But hugging? Hugging is weird.

I pat her on the back and try not to look uncomfortable as she pulls away.

“I heard you were coming to town but I honestly didn’t believe it.” She points her finger up and then down my body. “You look great, by the way. How’s Los Angeles?”

“It’s … good. You know, sunny.”

“Oh, I bet. I visited there once. Did the whole tourist thing, saw the handprints and all that.” Her eyes flick to something behind me, and I turn to see two women staring at me. One glares when our eyes meet.

She’s standing next to a rack of scissors, and I imagine ripping the plastic off and jamming it into her throat.

“If you slice it like this there’s so much blood, let’s kill—”

Shit. The voice is back. Shit.

I’d hoped that by pretending it wasn’t happening, the voice would fade away again. It had been so quiet since I left Plumpton.

“Let’s kill—”

“How’s your mom doing?” Nina asks. “I heard it was a bad break.”

I turn away from the hostile ladies, and the voice quiets. “She’s good, I think. You know how she is.”

“I sure do.” She laughs. The woman in front of her moves forward, and Nina pushes her cart up and then turns back to me. “Are you just here for your grandma’s birthday or…?”

“Why else would I be here?”

She looks flustered. “Oh, well, I just thought that with Ben back in town … you know about him, don’t you?”

My stomach dips to my feet at the mention of the smug podcaster. I take a swift glance around, like he might be lurking.

“Yeah, my mom told me he was around.”

Nina chews on her lip, and then looks relieved to move her cart forward again. She leans around the rows of snacks and lip balm. “Let’s get together soon, okay? I’ll call the house. You have to come by, see the kids.”

There’s no way she actually wants me to see her kids. I am not child appropriate. She really is just being polite this time. “Sure.”

She smiles. “I’ll talk to you soon, Lucy.”





Listen for the Lie Podcast with Ben Owens EPISODE TWO—“SHE WOULD NOT HESITATE TO CUT A BITCH”

I spoke to many of Lucy’s former friends and people she grew up with, and a theme emerged in our talks.

Jill:????????????????Lucy had a temper. She would not hesitate to cut a bitch.

That’s Jill Lopez. It was actually her wedding that Lucy and Savannah attended the night of the murder, a fact that she doesn’t appreciate me bringing up.

Jill:????????????????Yes, it was my wedding. And yes, I’m pissed at Lucy for ruining that memory for me forever. I didn’t even know her all that well. I shouldn’t have invited her, but my mom wanted to invite like, all of Plumpton.

Ben:???????????????But you knew Lucy well enough to know that “she would not hesitate to cut a bitch”?

Jill:????????????????Everyone knew that.

Ross Ayers, a high school classmate, personally got a taste of Lucy’s temper.

Ross:??????????????See that? Right there?

Ben:???????????????Your nose?

Ross:??????????????That bump? That’s Lucy. She broke it senior year.

Ben:???????????????She broke your nose?

Ross:??????????????Yep. I wish I could have testified at a trial, tell everyone how crazy she was. I wasn’t even the first guy she hit! She decked a dude at the CVS a few months earlier.

Ben:???????????????What happened? When Lucy hit you, I mean.

Ross:??????????????We were in the parking lot after school—me and some friends—just hanging around, waiting for our rides, when Lucy comes out. Lucy sees me and she just totally freaks out. This chick has murder in her eyes. Some guys nearby had just come from playing basketball, and she snatches the ball out of their hands and chucks it at me. From like only a few feet away. Hits me right in the nose. Then she screamed something—I don’t even remember what she said—punches me, and leaves. Well, no, she didn’t leave. A friend dragged her away.