“I snapped at them. One of them almost punched me over it.”
“Initially, I tried avoiding you.”
Taylor stood behind us, quietly listening.
Caleb continued, “I didn’t ask you to dance because I felt sorry for you. I did it because I was tired of pretending I didn’t care about you.”
That truly surprised me.
He explained that after dropping me home, he’d gone to Taylor’s house because her parents were away and he needed advice about finally telling me the truth.
“I planned to come and talk to you today.”
I looked at him for a long moment before asking what still bothered me most.
That truly surprised me.
“Why would Mason do something like that?”
Caleb shook his head slowly.
“I honestly don’t know.”
Then his expression changed slightly.
“But maybe it’s time we asked him ourselves.”
***
An hour later, Caleb drove us to the correctional facility two towns over.
Taylor stayed in the car while Caleb and I went inside for the visitation.
“Why would Mason do something like that?”
The entire drive there, my stomach stayed in knots.
Part of me expected Mason to look terrifying after everything I’d heard about him over the years.
Instead, when he walked into the visitation room, he just looked tired and older than his age.
The second he saw me sitting beside Caleb, his face fell completely.
Nobody spoke at first. Then I leaned forward and asked the only thing I cared about.
“Why did you do it?”
Mason stared at the table for several seconds, clearly aware that the jig was up.
Part of me expected Mason to look terrifying.
“It wasn’t intentional. When I was 14, I used to sneak around neighborhoods at night doing stupid things. That night, I saw the garden gnome outside your house and walked over to look at it. Then I noticed the kitchen window was cracked open.”
Caleb looked tense beside me.
Mason continued.
“I climbed inside because I thought maybe I could take something small without anyone noticing. While I was in the kitchen, I lit a cigarette. After a few minutes, I left it on the counter while I looked through the living room.”
I felt sick listening to him.
“It wasn’t intentional.”
“Then I heard movement and panicked. I climbed back out the window and ran.”
Caleb stared at him in disbelief.
“You never meant to start the fire?”
Mason looked genuinely confused. “I didn’t even realize there was a fire until the next morning.”
For years, Caleb had believed his brother intentionally burned my house down. You could see it all over his face.
Mason looked over at me again, shame written all over him.
“I’m sorry, Cindy. About everything.”
Silence engulfed us.
“Then I heard movement.”
Then Mason added softly, “If you want to report it now, I understand.”
I looked at him for a long moment.
Honestly, I expected to feel anger sitting there, but mostly I felt sad.
Sad that one reckless decision from a teenager changed so many lives.
Sad that Caleb had carried guilt for almost a decade over something he barely understood as a child.
***
When Caleb and I left the facility, neither of us spoke much during the drive back.
But before heading home, we stopped at the police station.
I expected to feel anger.
***
I found the officers from that morning and told them everything Mason admitted.
And when they asked whether I wanted to move forward with charges, I shook my head.
“No,” I said. “I don’t, and I’m sure my mother won’t, either.”
Because nothing was going to erase my scars.
