Pinky Promise

[Trigger warning: Inappropriate language, suggestions of violence]

“Why am I here?”

“Hello, Miss Jackie. Please, have a seat. My name is Officer Jones. I have a few questions to ask you regarding a recent event.”

“What event? I don’t think I should be talking to you without my mom here.”

“Don’t worry about that. She’s on the way over as we speak. In the meantime, can I clarify a few things with you? Your name is Jacklyn Milan, you’re a 16-year-old high school junior at Piedmont High…does all of that sound about right?”

“...”

“These aren’t trick questions, Miss Jackie.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Ok then, let’s stick with first names only. No titles. I will call you Jackie and you can call me Tracy instead of Officer Jones. Are we good?”

“I already told you. I won’t talk until my mom gets here.”

“That is very unfortunate. Especially since you probably don’t want your mom to see this…”

“What? How did you get access to that?”

“I’m a detective. It wasn’t that hard really. It won’t be the first OnlyFans account I’ve ever uncovered, and it certainly won’t be the last. But a raunchy account that belongs to the daughter of a pastor? Well…that is rather interesting, I must say.”

“Are you going to show my mom?”

“Why are you scared of your mom finding out? She’s a good Christian woman, I’m sure your religion teaches patience, love, and tolerance. Won’t she understand?”

“She would never understand.”

“Ha! Oh, I know. She’s as strait-laced as they come. And I’m sure she thinks the same of you. How dreadful it must be to live in your fantasy land, under the same roof and yet worlds apart.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I just want you to answer some of my questions. If you talk now, your mother won’t ever have to learn about your…ahem…hobby. Do we have ourselves a deal, Jackie?”

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Never said you did.”

“Then what do you fucking want?”

“You and Melanie were pretty good friends, correct? Some would even say, best friends?”

“Melanie? Why are we talking about Melanie?”

“Answer the question.”

“Yeah I guess. I mean she…was my best friend.”

“You’ve been to her house at 1665 South Downey Lane?”

“Of course, many times.”

“From what I hear, she didn’t have many friends. Except you. In other words, not many other people knew where she lived.”

“Um, ok?”

“Please tell me about her family.”

“Um, I don’t know. They are like, nice, I guess? Why are you asking so many questions about Melanie? Are we in trouble or something?”

“You truly don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“There’s no easy way to say this. But this past Sunday morning, Melanie’s body was found in the woods nearby her house.”

“Body? What do you mean her…body…what are you saying? Melanie is dead? What the fuck!”

“I know it’s a lot to process. But that’s why it’s important for you to answer my questions.”

“Oh my God…this is so fucked.”

“Here are some tissues Jackie. I’ll give you a moment to sort yourself. I’ll be back in a moment.”

***

“She seems genuinely shocked.”

“Yeah. She seems.”

“Do you really think you can get her to admit to anything?”

“All signs point back to her. She knows that I know about her online account. She knows that I can eventually piece it all together. She’s not as smart as she thinks she is. Or that great of an actress.”

“Alright, well…good luck.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need it.”

“I was wishing the girl good luck. Not you.”

“Screw you.”

“Love you too, Jones.”

“Let me know when her mom gets here.”

“Copy.”

***

“Hello Jackie, I brought you some water.”

“Thanks…”

“Are you ready to continue?”

“You think that I killed her, don’t you?”

“Did you?”

“No! Of course not!”

“Well, I heard that you two had a big fight recently.”

“Yeah I was, like, mad at her. But I wouldn’t kill her!”

“Never said you did. I’m just asking questions.”

“She betrayed me. She broke a pinky promise that we had since kids.”

“You’re graduating next year, you’re nearly a grown woman…you two were fighting over a damn…pinky promise? Care to elaborate?”

“You can’t break a pinky promise. Those are the rules. She knew that!”

“Is it a boy thing? It was probably a boy thing. Look, it really doesn’t matter. Because luckily for you, I don’t think you killed Melanie.”

“Thank God…”

“But I do think you know who did it.”

“Wait, what the fuck?”

“Do all Christians cuss as much as you do?”

“Officer Jones. Mrs. Milan has arrived.”

“Copy that. Send her up right away”

“My mom’s here?”

“Yes. She will be here in a few moments. Jackie you better listen real close to me right now. All we need is a name. The name of the man you catfished into believing you were Melanie.”

“What?”

“Time is ticking. We don’t have time to play around. Who was the man you tricked into believing you were Melanie?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Like, I seriously don’t know anything!”

“Do you think this is a game, Jackie? We already have evidence linking back to you. If you don’t start talking, not only will your Bible-thumping mother learn about your smut account, but I will dig through every nook and cranny of your perfect little existence until I get the answers I want.”

“I...I don’t know…”

“I will get my answers. It’s up to you whether we do this the easy way or the hard way. What will it be, Jackie?”

“Please don’t show my mom, Tracy. I don’t have a name right now, but I will figure it out, I promise! I will get you whatever you need, just please don’t show my mom.”

“Ok, princess. You have until the end of the week. I am not playing around.”

“I know, I know…”

***

“Please, come in Mrs. Milan.”

“What is going on? Oh my goodness, Jackie, what are you doing here? And why are you crying?”

“Mrs. Milan. Thank you for coming on such short notice. I’m sure you are familiar with Melanie Wilson, Jackie’s friend.” 

“Yes of course. What happened? Was she murdered?”

“Yes, but...wait, how did you know that?”

“My daughter is crying in an interrogation room regarding her close friend. Doesn’t take a genius to figure it out, does it? You can’t possibly think Jackie has something to do with this?”

“Nothing to worry about, just following protocol, ma’am.”

“You were questioning a minor without a parent present? What kind of protocol is that?”

“You must forgive me, I am dedicated to getting Melanie the justice she deserves. And your daughter was eager to help us with this investigation. Right Jackie?”

“Yes…Tracy…I mean, Officer Jones.”

“Tracy? Sounds like you two had a lot of time to become buddies. Your game of twenty-one questions ends now. Come on Jackie, let’s go.”

“It won’t be the last you hear from me, Mrs. Milan. We’ll be in touch.”

“Looking forward to it, Tracy.”

***

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Um yeah! I’ve never been interrogated by a detective before! Give me a break.”

“What exactly did she ask you?”

“She just asked about Melanie and her family and stuff.”

“This is serious. Do not lie to me!”

“That’s all...”

“Jacklyn Marie!”

“I…I don’t know. I still don’t understand. She thinks somehow I am connected to Melanie’s murder, but I don’t know what she’s talking about. I hated Melanie, I hated her guts, but I didn’t kill her, I swear! I had nothing to do with it.”

“I know, honey. I know you are innocent.”

“How could you possibly know?”

“Because…it was me. I’m the one who lured that man into her home.”

“What?”

“You say you hated her. I loathed her. And that fake family of hers.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know. I told you not to lie to me, it’s only fair if I do the same, so here goes. Melanie’s father and I…we were seeing each other.”

“You have GOT to be kidding me!”

“And that little weasel friend of yours found out about the affair and was threatening me. Threatening us.”

“Threatening us how?”

“She said if I didn’t stop the affair, she would put your business out for the entire church to see. Don’t believe me? Here, look at my messages.”

“She sent you my OnlyFans account? So you already knew this entire time?”

“Yes.”

“And then…what happened after you found out?”

“I was fuming. I started going through your account…”

“Mom! How did you get into my account?”

“Oh sweetheart, you’re not that creative. I guessed your password right away.”

“Are you kidding me…”

“But that’s beside the point. I read the comments and messages of some of these strange men. Many seemed very eager to make contact with you. Especially one man in particular. It was highly disturbing. But then, I finally knew what I needed to do.”

“What was that?”

“Ruin Melanie’s credibility first before she could ruin us.”

“How?”

“You made it very easy, to be honest. You didn’t use your real name on your profile. Your face was cropped out of the photos. I always said you and Melanie were like two peas in a pod. How would this desperate man ever know the difference? I started writing him. I told him my name was Melanie. I made plans for him to visit Melanie’s house this past Saturday night. I told him her parents wouldn’t be home. There would be no way to tell since they park their cars in the garage.”

“This is crazy…this is so crazy…”

“I never meant for things to happen the way they did. I had only meant to embarrass her. Humiliate her. To put her in a situation where she would have to explain to her prudish parents why this weird man showed up to their house looking for Melanie. That tightwad Barbara would blow a gasket! It was my desperate attempt to get ahead of Melanie’s childish threats. To show her that we are not to be messed with.”

“And her parents weren’t there?”

“No. Bill apparently made last-minute plans to take his whore wife out on a date. ‘Getting a divorce’ my ass.”

“I see.”

“You must think I’m a monster.”

“No mom. I understand why you did what you did. All this time I thought that I was the monster.”

“Look, I’m not thrilled about your little side hustle, but it’s not like I would ever disown you.” 

“No, it’s not just that. I mean, like yeah, I was mortified. Even Officer Jones was using that account against me.”

“What an awful piece of work that woman is.”

“But m-mom, there’s more to the s-story.”

“Oh honey, please don’t cry. What is it?

“I was there.”

“You were what? There? At Melanie’s house?”

“Y-Yes…”

“Why on earth were you there?”

“She said she had something to tell me. Something important. Now that I think about it, she was probably going to tell me about the affair between you and her dad. But of course, she didn’t want to tell me right away. She’s always playing some fucking game…Anyway, I drove to her house on Saturday night. I was going to, like, talk to her face-to-face. Get it all over with. And then…I get there, and like…”

“Oh, honey…”

“I saw it mom. I saw him taking her to his truck. I probably could have yelled and scared him off. I could have called the cops. I could have done something.” 

“You were scared.”

“No. That’s not it. I know you think I froze in fear, I know that’s a normal reaction. But it wasn’t that. I was actually feeling…excited. I knew it was wrong. It is wrong. What is wrong with me?”

“You thought she was getting what she deserved.”

“That’s horrible isn’t it?”

“It’s ok honey. It’s ok. I actually felt the same way when I heard the news. I should have felt regret. I should have felt remorse. Officer Jones was talking about justice for Melanie. Well, I think justice was served, all right.”

“I never thought I could tell you any of this mom.”

“I can’t blame you. I never knew we were so similar.”

“Like two peas in a pod?”

“Yes, except for real this time.”

“I love you, mom.”

“I love you too. Now get yourself sorted. We can still make it in time to bible study.”

“Really? After all of this?”

“That little harlot tried to take our lives away from us. When she died, her secrets died with her. The least we can do is go to church and give our praise to God for sending us a miracle.”

“And what about dad?”

“Dad can’t know about any of this. We will also need to deal with that slimy detective Jones before she learns the truth. It’s you and me against the world, baby doll. From here on out, we have to promise each other: no more secrets.”

“Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise.”