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Good question. And the answer is a long boring lesson in character development.

You’re right in that it is a boy thing, based on minding one’s own business, and leaving other people’s problems up to those other people. But it’s not just that. First of all, the secret is C.J.’s, not theirs. Plus going to the police breaks up a marriage and a home, albeit a miserable one. Even C.J., who really needs to be protected, is afraid of what will happen if Marcus is removed from their lives — how will his Mom feel about it? How will they live? Where? What about the scandal among the people they know? How they might fare financially, which is a real consideration. Plus Marcus’ behavior isn’t just mean; it’s sick. Do they owe him more loyalty and forgiveness? Breaking up a family when there’s no clear path to the future is a scary business, not straightforward at all. PLUS, they’re kids. And C.J. has a Mom. Isn’t it her duty, and not theirs, to protect her son?

AND how would the police react to a group of kids telling them stories about someone’s stepdad? Kids that age and in those circumstances often feel that they’re on their own, they have only one another, and that adults don’t listen and believe them. Plus Marcus was such a nice person on the surface. He probably had plenty of buddies on the force. What if he denied all the charges, was believed by the police, and then took it out on his wife and C.J.?

Now I ask you: Is it complicated to b a writer and to have to take all these circumstances into consideration???

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