History of the Trap: December Stars Part 5

5

It is hard to look back, some ten years later, and realize what a spoiled, selfish child I was.  Here I was, one of the few students in the trap with a parent (there were a few teachers that had some of their children in the Trap as well, but they were very few), and I had decided to stop talking to him.

I could not listen to reason.  I was angry that he declared Robert Pelley not guilty.  He said he was obligated to rule on the evidence presented.  I could not convince him of the conspiracy that was overwhelmingly clear to me.  So therefore, I shut him out.  My own father.  I just stopped talking to him.

I told you, Dr. Duncan, I had regrets and misgivings of what I did in the Trap.  I was no saint, which I am sure is what most people believe anyways, now that we are out of the Trap.  My turning my back on my father, especially later when he needed me so much, is the thing that haunts me the most.  As you will read later, the consequences were devastating.  If I only knew....

A few days later, as if to confirm the verdict, poor David Garvey was found dead.  He had slit his wrists and found dead in a boy's shower.  There was a note confessing his crime.  I DID IT.  I'M SORRY, it said, in big block letters, as opposed to the flowery cursive found in his notebook.  This put it to bed for many.  Not for me.  It just increased the darkness of the conspiracy.

Robert Pelley did not come after me.  Maybe I heard him wrong at the end of the trail.  Maybe it wasn't 'You're next".  Maybe he just changed his mind.  The only thing that was clear was that he was spending more time with Mark Granite.  He had become a closer associate of their army of jocks.

The big pre-Christmas event was a graduation for the seniors.  It was supposed to have been months ago, way back in June, but with the events of the Trap, it just got pushed off.  It seemed odd to have a graduation without one's family and friends to share it with.  But my father finally decided it was an important rite of passage that should be held anyways.

The band tried to play cheery music at it, and the TV station recorded the whole thing.  I begged off so I could concentrate on The Sands of Loren Christmas special (featuring the surprise guest return of David Deneau as Detective Haskins...Artie was right - no body meant they could come back).  Despite the upbeat attempts, the event came off as somewhat depressing.  My father gave an inspirational speech (or so I've been told - I kind of tuned him out).  Franny Cranfield was entertaining as the Valedictorian speaker.  Bob Short spoke, but he was more somber than I expected.  Leave it to Bob to nail the real mood of the place.

Christmas was also a little somber as well.  The choir had a concert that focused on cheery secular music as opposed to more religious songs.  Deck the Halls, Jingle Bell Rock, Rudolph and Santa's Stuck in the Chimney were some of the selections.  There was a Christmas Ball (a dance with a fancy name), and even a massive Secret Santa activity for those who cared to participate.  It was hard to come up with gifts in the Trap, but there were a lot of home made crafts and some food treats made in cooperation with the kitchen and home ec staffs. 

I pulled the name Jerry Mack, which was amazing, because most people drew names of people they did not know.  I am not a craft-y person, nor am I cook, so my cheesy out was to write a small part for Jerry in The Sands of Loren Christmas Special.  He played a hobo who finds Detective Haskins washed ashore on the Huron River, and calls in emergency services.  He had all of three lines, but he was delighted beyond all belief.  I was just grateful that shy Jerry was able to mutter the lines I gave him.

I received an unexpected present from Lindsay Starn, the sophomore student council representative who had attended the last council meeting.  She had somehow been able to obtain all the copies of my scripts for The Sands of Loren, and bound them neatly together in a special notebook, and presented it to me as if it were a real book.  She even kissed me on the cheek.  After Lisa, I had little interest in anyone else, but I did appreciate Lindsay's kindness.

I'm trying to be quick, Doctor Duncan.  I really am.  But there is so much to tell.  And I don't want to leave out things that may be important to understand what I have to tell later.  But before I leave 1974 and move on to the New Year, there is one more thing I have to tell you about.

It has to do with the stars.