Other ways to think about the Tea situation.
1) Candus is telling the truth, she bought the tea for Grandma (or herself), she helped Grandma and Summer down to the water, Summer was splashing around having fun, while Hunter ran off into the woods with the tea and vapes which he did not have permission to take, because it was for the grown ups!!
The only real scrap of possible "evidence" is Hunter sneaking up on Candus from the direction of the trail, which is where she said he went. She's taking a video of Summer swimming, and he's putting the can in the garbage. Notice you do not see the can, Candus panned around and just caught the second when he had dropped the can and stood up.
Then giving the "gang! gang!" sign, and flashing the smile and walking into the water, Like I'm a 15 year old boy you do not want to know what I just threw away. best just leave it be.
Fifteen year old boys who already do a little drugs and drink a little some some, and get in a little trouble, that could land one with a judication of, in house probation, where your mama is responsible for your whereabouts, or you go down to "juvey". Those kids (not just boys) got some "slight of hand skills" you would not believe. They get a lot of practice passing drugs and ciggys at school.
She was worried about what Hunter told LE because he is on probation, and would possibly try to throw her under the bus, and make it look like it was less his fault, as if the poor boy was coerced!! And because, him asking her for it, and her saying "sure", is different than him, asking for it, and her saying NO!, and then stealing it, and running into the woods to drink it.
Of course unless Hunter did something to Summer what other reason to lie? No one in the whole world would have known anything at all about the tea if Summer had not got gone!
Candus "giving" him alcohol would be a violation of his probation, her contributing to the delinquency of a minor, with a alleged pending visit from CPS. Hunter stealing the drink and vapes would be just on him and Ally would be complicit for letting Hunter go with her that day, knowing that, Candus might be carrying illegal substance, that she was intending to be carrying a prescription drug from Walgreens, maybe carrying alcoholic beverages, or other legal products that are not legal for minors. And she is known to Ally to be a heavy drinker on a daily basis, and allegedly gives alcohol to kids all the time.
I have wondered why these people who do not like each other can't even settle on where 2 jugs of milk were, were they in the middle were they in Hunter's lap, did he set them in the middle or on the other side of Summer? whether or not Hunter was in the middle or the outside, did Summer get out of the car first or Hunter? Did Summer get out of the car? Was Summer in the middle, was she by the door, was she asleep or awake? Was she dead or alive?
Why do you sit there stone faced while your son blurts out a drug dealers name? How does he know the drug dealer's name? And why bring Billy to the table?
Wait! Hunter said she (Ally) was dead asleep, in the bathroom, she didn't know Summer got dressed or if Candus took the clothes she was wearing with her when they left. Hunter says, Candus asked Summer if she wanted to go "fishing or swimming" and so he asked Candus if he could go because Summer was going. But Ally knows which direction the car was parked and she also says Candus asked her if Hunter could go fishing. There were no fishing poles. Hunter did not grab one to go with either. When she says Hunter "loves Summer to death, because she's like his little sister" and "she's like a daughter to me!" her tone is so defensive. No one has accused Hunter of anything, so far (other than the internet madness.. or LE?), he is at this time supposedly just a witness to the timeline of that day BEFORE Summer went missing. An innocent bystander. He's not even an alleged witness to a crime. Why the lies and defensiveness? The rationalizations, and deflections. Why was he questioned so many times, why was his phone taken and Candus still had hers.
I believe that Candus is a compassionate woman, the way she cares for her mother. I have thought about this as well. Another thing that hits me is the fact that she took Ally places. I don't mean to "body shame" anyone but her weight is definitely a hinderance to a lot of things, she is probably pretty high maintenance and maybe a little needy. If you've ever lived with someone that is obese, you know there are things they cannot do for themselves, and a lot of things that can do but ask for someone else to do because... hey since you're up...bring me another soda? You know it's not just spontaneous, lets go have some fun.
There are photographs of Ally sitting in a kayak with kids and Candus. You know for sure that Candus helped her get in that little boat and she made her feel safe there (carney girl skills!), if not that little boat's would be tipping over if Ally got spooked, then you have to save her and the kids and ain't nobody got time for that! Plus Candus probably encouraged her to get out of the house or off the porch and make some memories with the kids. It looks like Candus took better care of Ally, than Ally did of Candus. Looking through the photos you can tell Candus was very active, and she had the kindness to befriend Ally with all that baggage.
The followers of chaos out of control.
