Tree Frogs

Part Three

Abel Lynch, twenty-one, was the eldest of three. By all accounts, the entire family--with the exception of the middle brother, Devin--was genetically-challenged, from their regretfully bad looks to their unfortunate dearth of intellect. Abel and his sister Eva, who, although several years younger, was nearly identical to Abel in appearance and manner, were victimized almost daily, on the receiving end of the verbal, often physical, cruelties reserved for those who don't fit in, and at which kids are particularly adept. That Devin, attractive and charming, had escaped the shallow end of the Lynch gene pool was a running joke in town, and there was a marked degree of irony in the fact that Devin's "normalness" made his siblings' tormentors all the more vicious.

Abel often wandered down the buckled concrete sidewalks of town, collecting bottles and aluminum cans, stuffing them into the large, beat-up Hefty bag he always carried. He rarely looked up, even when neighborhood kids hurled insults (or rocks), and while Lisa never actively participated in taunting him, she saw no harm in giggling with her friends behind his back. No one laughed at Devin, though. No one even teased him about his "weirdo" brother and "ugly-ass" sister, usually fair game in the world of teenage boys. But it was a small town; he must have been aware of his siblings' notoriety, though it never showed.

When Bobbie Mercer was found, suspicion fell squarely on Abel Lynch; it was common knowledge that he frequented the woods near the school. What he did there was anyone's guess; speculation ranged from devil worship to sexual deviations, the descriptions of which were unfathomable to Lisa's then five-year-old brain. It was Devin who had found Bobbie that day, catching a glimpse of blonde hair and red sweater as he cut through the woods, late for baseball practice; Devin who had run, breathless, to the police; Devin who had seen his brother go into the woods the afternoon Bobbie disappeared...