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Inside, he toed off his shoes, watching Mowgli follow Ali about the kitchen, tail wagging aggressively as she put food into his bowl.
A force of protectiveness Cornell hadn’t felt for months struck him, and suddenly he was back in time, feeling desperate to fix the situation, so that Graham would pay, so that no one—not a victim or her family—would have to go through what they had.
“I have to tell you something.”
Ali stood at the sink, filling Mowgli’s water. “You really hate the curtains, don’t you?” she asked over her shoulder before turning, pausing when her eyes met his. “What’s wrong?”
Cornell pressed his lips together, trying to find the right words.
“Cornell?”
He stepped toward her, taking Mowgli’s bowl and placing it on the floor. “Come sit.” He took Ali’s hand and only then realized how clammy with nerves his own was.
“What is going on with you? You’re freaking me out.”
Reaching, he grabbed both of Ali’s hands, his thumb stroking his mother’s ring on her finger.
“Cornell?” Ali shook her head, her voice stern. “Did something happen?”
Yes, he wanted to say. It happened again.
“Um. I… ” He blew out a heavy breath and tightened his hold on Ali’s hands when she tried to pull them away in frustration. “I’m going to tell you something and… I wish I didn’t have to, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t.”
He looked up into her eyes. I want to protect you so badly.
“Tell me.” There was a nervous agitation to Ali’s voice that almost made him change his mind, to crack a joke that the curtains were hideous.
Cornell cleared his throat, looking down at Ali’s hands in his own. “Graham Jones was charged for sexual assault.”
Even though his hands were cold and clammy, he could feel the chill take over Ali’s own.
“What?” Ali croaked.
He lifted his eyes to hers, looking at her mouth agape, the smallest quiver of her bottom lip. “Last week,” Cornell said again. “It happened at his new school.”
Ali shook her head, breaking their gaze before returning to focus on him. “How?” she forced out. “How do you know that?”
Cornell wanted to lie, to say he saw it in a newspaper, online, on Facebook. Anything.
“Benton told me.”
Ali’s mouth closed, and Cornell watched as the tiny muscles of her jaw tightened in apprehension. “And how does Benton know Graham?”
“This… what happened… ” Ali’s eyes bore into him. “It stays between us, okay?”
Cornell couldn’t look at Ali any longer and dropped his head.
Immediately, Ali pulled her hands from his and stood.
“Ali—”
“You told him?”
Cornell folded his hands over his mouth and removed them. “I… yes, I told him. I was trying to help. I wanted to help—”
“Help me? You think talking to a district attorney about this is helping me?” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration and turning from him.
Cornell stood, approaching her. “Ali, I didn’t know what to do! It was right after. You weren’t talking to me—”
