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While I knew Walker to speak to, our relationship was otherwise nonexistent During my senior year Walker McNally and I had been in the same American history class At the tih school), so I’d beenAs a result, I hadn’t done well Then again, I didn’t do that hen I wasn’t truant, so no harm accrued as a result of my bad behavior The only history class I remembered was the day we discussed the differences between the English and the American social structures The teacher wanted us to appreciate the reasons the colonists had established this brave new land of ours and why they’d eventually broken away froidly class-conscious, while in Aine e of opinions, most of them voiced by the kids from Horton Ravine, whose families ell-off and therefore deeply committed to the notion that life was equitable Of course, everyone in America was afforded equal opportunities! It was just that the Horton Ravine kids got more of theant, with a certain preppy nonchalance that I aduy, aloof and self-aware He and his entire social set took privilege for granted, and ould they not? Trips to Europe, Ivy League schools? Ho-hum for them What piqued my interest was his wild side He was into excess--fast cars and fast girls The fast girls hadcheap about them--but they were reckless I resdale, with their perfect skin, perfect teeth, and triirls who know they’re better than you Walker had dated Rebecca and then he’d broken up with her when Cassieout was a hilltop pocket park dubbed Passion Peak On Friday and Saturday nights the parking lot ed over andabout in the front and rear seats Those seeking greater comfort and privacy would climb to the top, where the city had installed picnic tables and benches and an oversized gazebo that served as a bandstand for summer concerts The park had been closed to the public for the past two years because a group of teenagers had taken to building bonfires up there, one of which had set the autuazebo to a charred shell

By the end of the school year Cassie was pregnant and attended graduation in a robe that suggested she was hiding a basketball she’d stolen froym Rebecca died that October in a fall fro to the gossip, the accident occurred while she and a Delta Upsilon pledge were having sex on the balcony, but surely he hadn’t propped her up on the rail It wasover the side

As for Walker, he sht dope from the very loallers I considered h I never saw proof of it I never even considered selling dope because I knew if I were caught, the penalties would be far ent than the shit that would rain down on his head if he was busted for doing the sa This didn’t strike me as unfair It was just the way of the world

So as I going to do here, call the guy and reintroducehiuefield was level now or, perhaps, at the very least, I wasn’t standing in the same deep hole I picked up the phone and dialed

A woman answered and I said, "May I speak to Walker?"

"He’s not here You can contact him at Montebello Bank and Trust later in the week" Her tone was abrupt

"Thanks I’ll try that Is this Carolyn?" Little Miss Perky here

"Yes"

"Could I leave a e in case I miss him at work?"

"Fine"

"Great My na class at Santa Teresa High I’ to contact his father He’s a veterinarian, isn’t he?"

"He was back then, yes, but he retired"

"I gathered as es Is he still here in town?"

A silence and then she said, "What’s this about?"

"Look, I know this sounds odd, but I’d like to talk to hi he put down"