When I heard on yesterday's news that Karla Homolka just had a baby, I was reminded of the slim connection I had to her ex-husband and partner in crime, Paul Bernardo.
My initial reaction to the news that Homolka had gotten pregnant and given birth surprised me because I'm generally a "live and let live" kind of person. I was outraged. I am completely offended that this person who kidnapped, sexually assaulted, tortured and then murdered 2 young women and drugged, sexually assaulted and murdered her own sister would have the nerve to HAVE A BABY. And I can't actually define why. It's not because she took away someone elses children. It's not because she denied those girls the opportunity for families. Nor is it because it's completely possible she may torture, sexually assault and ultimately murder her own child. That's the way the world wags, people are strange, shit happens or whatever. My reaction was visceral and defies logical analysis.
Honestly, on the day that Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka were arrested I was annoyed by the number of phone calls I received from family and friends. They were almost identical to the last word. "Oh my god! Did you hear? The guy who killed those girls grew up down the street! His family still lives there! We went to HIGH SCHOOL with him!!" I had seen the news so I already knew these details. I also knew that Bernardo was a few years behind me - in grade nine when we were in twelve. What senior ever notices a minor-niner? Why would I try to form an association between us?
My mom's call didn't surprise me because as a stay-at-home housewife she would have semi-justifiable, retroactive concerns about a serial killer living in the neighbourhood. I was disappointed with my brother but gave him the benefit of the doubt since he was only one year ahead of the guy. However, when I asked if he even knew him, the answer was no. By the time my best friend Karen called, I was trying to figure out why people with no involvement try to connect themselves to a tragedy when the people at the centre of it would do anything to have some distance. However Karen reminded me that her younger sister, Vanessa, was the same age as Bernardo.
I had lost touch with Vanessa as we got older so could only recall a painfully shy, reserved blond who believed in Santa Claus until she was twelve and closely resembled Uma Thurman as she got older. I was stunned when Karen told me that Vanessa had just called her and confessed that, at 16 years of age, she had stalked Paul Bernardo for the better part of a year.
I don't think high school has changed much over the years - they still have a Sadie Hawkins dance and the SAC still has fundraisers. It was one of these, the Valentine's fundraiser, that sparked an obsession with Paul Bernardo for Vanessa and her best friend. For $1 dollar, student council members would deliver a rose directly (and anonymously) to a selected student's classroom. Bernardo purchased a dozen roses, 6 for Vanessa and 6 for Christine, and arranged to have them sent to the girls' lockers between classes. This way a much wider audience was aware of the attention they'd received. Also, instead of remaining anonymous he had added a signed card. As Vanessa described it, the girls were still flushed and giggling when Bernardo cruised by their lockers, winked and said, "Looks like somebody loves you." It's a testament to his cool factor that he could get away with something so cheesy.
Okay, so the thing about Bernardo sending roses is that he didn't really know these girls. There were a couple of hundred kids in their year and there was no overlap in their circle of friends. Of course, after he was arrested we debated that it was becasue they were his "type" but Vanessa said they didn't think it was weird at the time. They became fixed on the idea that he must be crazy about one of them. They began to follow him around at night in the family car.
I don't know what they were thinking since this was a '64 Falcon Country Squire. In 1978 this car stood out. There wasn't another like it in Guildwood and everyone knew who owned it. Vanessa and Christine just assumed they were invisible and that what they were doing was a bit of harmless fun. They waited in Vanessa's driveway until they saw his car pull out of his driveway up the street. Apparently he dated a lot of girls outside of school because she said they followed him all over the city - sometimes out to West Rouge, sometimes back towards the Beaches. He'd hang out in donut shops or in the parking lots of burger places and seemed to be a pretty popular guy.
One night they followed him out Kingston Road towards West Rouge. He was by himself so they thought it was strange when he turned into Colonel Danforth Park and headed down the steep winding drive into the woods. Leaving some space so he wouldn't see their lights (yeah right), they followed him, stopping just outside the entrance to the parking lot. They could see his empty car at the far end and were just trying to figure out what he was doing there and where he'd gone when there was a tap on the drivers window. The girls shrieked as Vanessa threw the car in reverse and gunned it back up the hill. In the headlights and dust, they could see Paul Bernardo standing with his arms crossed, grinning after them.
In the adrenaline rush that followed the girls giggled and chattered at how he must have known about them all along, he planned to surprise them, maybe they should have stayed, they could have gotten to know him finally, get in with the in crowd...In retrospect we were all creeped out about what could have happened, what his intentions really were that night but whatever, it was a non-event. Vanessa and Christine stopped following him and went on with their lives. They never stalked anyone again, not because they had learned a lesson so much as they just grew out of some phase.
All those years in between before they learned that, no matter what your intent, there's no such thing as harmless.