Chapter 7 - Mason Let Nora Carry The Blame
Mason contacted me through the campus conduct mediator.
One permitted message.
He wanted to correct something.
I almost declined.
Then I thought about how much damage people had done by preferring the version already in the room.
We met with a staff mediator present.
Public office.
Door open.
Mason sat across from me.
No touching.
No performance.
He said:
“I lied about Nora.”
“I know.”
“No. More than you know.”
I waited.
“The morning after Emma left, campus police asked whether Nora had taken her.”
“And you said yes.”
“Yes.”
“But Emma went voluntarily.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Mason looked ashamed.
“Because I had helped set it up.”
I frowned.
“You said halfway.”
“I gave Emma Nora's number.”
That was new.
“How did you know Nora?”
“My uncle worked transport.”
“So Emma didn't find her.”
“I introduced them.”
“Why?”
“Emma needed a ride off campus.”
“How far in advance?”
“Three weeks.”
My anger returned.
“You knew for three weeks.”
“Yes.”
“And when she left, you acted surprised.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought she was leaving for a weekend.”
There.
“What changed?”
“She told me that night she wasn't coming back for the semester.”
“Did she say family?”
“No.”
“So you panicked.”
“Yes.”
He looked at the mediator.
Then back at me.
“When police came, your mother was there.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“Morning.”
Diane had driven to campus before sunrise.
“She was screaming at Nora.”
“About what?”
“Taking Emma.”
“Was Nora there?”
“Yes.”
Nora had returned to campus because police called the transport office.
Mason stood nearby.
He knew Nora had merely driven Emma where Emma asked.
He said nothing.
“Why?”
“Your mother kept saying Nora had manipulated her.”
“And?”
“I was angry at Nora too.”
“For letting Emma leave.”
“Yes.”
Mason stared at the table.
“And because if Nora was the person who took her, I wasn't the boyfriend who introduced them.”
There.
Self-protection.
He continued:
“I told police Emma had been emotionally unstable and Nora encouraged her.”
“Was that true?”
“Partly.”
“What part?”
“Emma was exhausted. Upset. Nora encouraged her to make her own decision.”
“That isn't the same as encouraging her to disappear.”
“I know.”
“When?”
“Now.”
The mediator shifted but said nothing.
Mason continued:
“Nora lost her transport job.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Not because of one statement. There were other issues.”
“Such as?”
“She used a campus vehicle outside assigned route.”
“True?”
“Yes.”
“She broke policy.”
“Yes.”
“So don't turn it into martyrdom.”
“I’m not.”
Good.
“Did my mother push for it?”
“Yes.”
Of course.
“Did you correct your statement?”
“Months later.”
“After Nora was gone.”
“Yes.”
“Why then?”
“Emma emailed me.”
I stopped.
“What?”
The mediator looked up too.
Mason closed his eyes.
I felt my pulse in my throat.
“When?”
“Six months after she left.”
I stood.
The mediator said my name.
I sat again.
“Emma contacted you.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told us.”
“No.”
“Was she alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“What did she say?”
Mason's face tightened.
“That I had made Nora pay for helping her.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“She asked whether you were still looking.”
My throat closed.
“What did you say?”
Mason didn't answer.
“Mason.”
“I said no.”
I stared.
“You lied to her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His jaw tightened.
“Because she asked if it was safe to email you.”
I stopped breathing normally.
“And you told her I wasn't looking.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was angry.”
Not enough.
He knew.
He tried again.
“I wanted her to contact me again.”
There.
He had not only hidden Emma from us.
He had made himself the safer door by lying about me.
“What happened?”
“She never emailed again.”
“You don't know where she is.”
“No.”
“Did you reply anything else?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Mason looked at me.
“I told her Nora had lost her job.”
“And?”
“That she had done this to people.”
I laughed quietly.
“You made guilt the leash.”
His face tightened.
“Yes.”
He knew.
I stood.
This time the mediator did not stop me.
At the door Mason said:
“Rachel.”
I turned.
“Your sister wasn't running from one person.”
I stared.
He continued:
“Every one of us found a way to make her leaving about what it did to us.”
May you like
I hated him for the sentence.
Mostly because he had included himself.
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