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CHAPTER 7 aetown is less than thirty min- Palm Beach. But in economic igh school is run by the county. ck. Thirty percent are Hispanic, school has a C rating, and lots unted lunches. Mary is one of 1, she’s working her way out of r teachers think. A kid with a her meeting with Epstein. She sit. Still, other kids at the high ‘that’s up with you anyway? m nice to mean, depending on Fittyy Ricu Still, a friend. “Nothing,” says Mary. “You got your period?” “Shut the fuck up,” Mary whispers. There have been rumors going around, she knows that. Rumors started by a girl who has eyes for Joe. “Whore,” her rival shouts in the hallway one day. “You're the whore,” Mary shouts back. Mary rushes the girl, who shoves back, grabbing at Mary’s hair, twisting and tugging. Someone yells, “Catfight!” By the time the bell rings for next period, Mary’s sitting in the principal's office. She shakes her head in reply to the questions, stays silent, feeling humiliated. Then, in her wallet, they find the three hundred dollars. Mary’s too young and too small to be stripping. Besides, the bills are all twenties, not singles or fives. When they call Mary’s par- ents, her teachers suggest a more obvious explanation: Does Mary do drugs or deal them? Mary’s father knows better than that. “No,” he insists. A psy- chologist is called in. And then, Mary does start talking. Once she does, she can’t stop. It's a wild story. Highly disturbing. A mansion in Palm Beach. A powerful man. This is all far from the principal’s wheelhouse. It's definitely a matter for the police. In the meantime, the school’s recommending a transfer, purely temporarily, to a facility for troubled kids—ones with “issues.” Mary’s a good girl, it’s true. But further confrontations at the high school will not be tolerated. 21 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019137