Page 48 of What Boys Learn

“That she and Izzy had been fighting, but she was still worried that Izzy wasn’t answering texts.”

“So you went over to Sidney’s house to make her feel better.”

“No,” Benjamin said, more calmly than I felt.

“But you did go to Izzy’s house.”

“Yes.”

He did?I tried my best not to look alarmed.

“Saturday, the day she died,” Hernández confirmed.

“Yes.”

“The house of the girl who called you ‘Shrimp’ and made fun of your appearance in her diary. The one you called thebword and thecword.”

“Yes.”

“And why did you do that?”

“I was hoping to have sex with her.”

My mouth fell open. Hernández reached for his pen.

Benjamin gestured to the binder. “I called her names because I was mad at her. It didn’t mean anything.”

“You were mad before you went to her house? After?”

“After. We had a disagreement.”

Hernández turned several slick binder pages until he came to the right one. “I hope you suffer. I hope you pick up a nasty disease. Serves you right for being a whore.” He closed the binder. “For two schoolmates who supposedly were friends—at times—you didn’t text her very often. But that afternoon and evening, you texted her nonstop.”

“Because I was trying to stop her from doing something stupid. Usually her boyfriend Manny was looking over her shoulder. He’d even ask to see her phone and open up her apps.”

“The controlling type.”

“Yeah. So me—and the older guy, she never told me his name—we didn’t text her, or not often. I don’t think you’re going to find him that way.”

“When was the last time you saw Isabella Scarlatti, Benjamin?”

“That was the first thing you asked me.”

“I’m asking again.”

“Saturday, around two. At her house.”

“Last time you said it was at the pool.”

“I did see her at the pool. But then we went to her house, after swim practice. I went hoping we’d hook up, like I said.”

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted. “I saw my son directly after his pool practice. He came home.”

Hernández looked disappointed, like he was quietly fishing and I’d just roared past him on a jet ski, scaring away all the fish.

“True?” he asked Benjamin.

“Yeah, I stopped home first. But then I went to Izzy’s. Like, five minutes later.”