SHORT STORY :)
Dear Sidney,
If it feels like a trap, you’re already in one. We only have 2 days left to figure out a 13-day puzzle or we lose or rather, I lose my life or something like that. I want you to figure out where I am, and we can figure out this crazy mess I’m in.
I’ll give you a clue. I can’t risk them finding this, then me.
I’m just around where we first saw each other. We became friends shortly after. I know that’s not the case anymore but if I had anyone else on my side I’d reach out to them. It wasn’t my intention for our friendship to end. You changed when you started dating Remena. I left because I couldn't bare the pain of losing someone else. Anyway, I met an unknown man a couple of nights ago, he told me I have 13 days to figure this out. I don't even know what it is I am supposed to figure out. Help me.
Jodie.
I looked at myself in the mirror as I slowly placed the letter on my dresser. I had dark circles under my eyes. I was tired. Why would she ask me for help anyway? We stopped being friends and from what I remember it was her fault. She cut out everyone she used to talk to except her best friend, Brian. Why didn’t she ask him instead? Deep lines started to show up on my forehead as I tried to solve what was going on. I sighed and went to school to find her and give her a piece of my mind. At least people are still good for that.
I walked through the empty school hallways. It was Christmas break, no one was going to be here. I searched through every single room on all floors. No sign of her. At least I tried, I told myself. I was in the basement when I felt a door at the end of the hallway move. I didn’t see it but the feeling hung around. I felt as though there was someone inside the room I was heading to, or someone behind me. It was haunting, but death wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to me, so I walked in. I looked around. No-one. Nothing. I slowly closed the door behind me, turned the lights on and kept looking around. No one still. Just empty containers of paint and old furniture. I turned to leave the room and saw a bracelet, awfully familiar beside the door. I knew it wasn’t Remena’s because I would have recognized it right away. I picked it up and stared at it. Then it all came to me, the reason the bracelet was so familiar…
****
I had gone for a run in the trailer forest near my house. It was a chilly evening. Jodie was seated on a rock along the path, sobbing. I intended to pass her, but I stopped right in front of her. She looked up to me, with very red eyes. I only see her in school nowadays. In her soccer uniform, from a distance.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her as she quickly recognized my voice and wiped her tears, her hands really wet from all the tears. And then I saw the colourful bracelet.
“Nothing,” She answered with a straight face.
“You’re in a forest, crying. How is that nothing?”
“It’s a hobby. I do it all the time. "she said, smiling. It was so genuine, I almost forgot that she was crying.
“Do you always do that? Smile so much that no one sees how sad you are?” I asked. She just looked at me after standing up.
I was now staring at her.
“See you in school.” she waved at me as she walked away, smiling. How does she do that? I wondered as I continued with my run.
***
I met her in the woods, right. I drove to the edge of the forest. It was dark now. I was insane. I walked to the rock she had sat on. I was insane, I told myself again. I was in the middle of a forest, with dark circles, no sweater, looking for someone I didn’t even know would ever talk to me again. I was supposed to be focused on finding Remena, my girlfriend, and here I was, looking for…I found my fist clenching round the tip of the rock. I didn’t hear the breaking of branches behind me, or her footsteps. I just felt her touch my shoulder. I wasn’t startled when I felt her hand on my shoulder, I turned around to see her. That’s when I got shocked, or disappointed. It was Jodie, yeah sure. I found her. She looked perfectly fine. She was dressed up warmly, she looked happy, her eyes twinkled in the night. Why did she need my help if she seemed great?
“I didn’t think you'd come find me.” she whispered as she hugged me.
“I seem to be looking for people lately.” I answered sarcastically as she let go. She smiled at me. Was her letter a joke?
“You seem really fine unlike the contents of your letter. Why would you choose to write to me anyway? You stopped talking to me! You have a million friends in school and I was the one you chose to get tangled up in your sad mystery! You actually don’t have friends really, you just have your mean teammate friends who you don’t like.” I was now yelling. It felt really great actually because I hadn’t had anyone to talk to.
“I didn’t cut you off. You stopped noticing anyone ever since you started dating Remena. She was like a god to you. I’m shocked you didn’t bring her along. I only wrote to you because I can’t find Brian.” She told me. She didn’t raise her voice at me. You could feel her emotions, but she didn’t yell out her anger.
“Great, another person is lost.” I said, rolling my eyes. She stared at me like I was mad. She had no idea what I was talking about.
“Remena has been missing for the last 13 days,” I told her. How ignorant can she be?
“I can’t believe I’m going to lose Brian.” she sighed as she turned her back on me. It’s like I didn’t say a word about Remena to her. She was shallow. I decided I was done.
“It's not the first thing you are losing,” I said, referring to her bracelet, which I started to get out of my pocket.
“I didn’t choose to lose my father, and neither have I chosen to lose Brian, it just happens to me okay!” she yelled at me. This was the second time I had seen beyond her all perfect, very happy girl. Right by the same rock.
Then I remembered her crying by the rock. Her father. Of course it was her dad.
“On the brighter side, here’s something you lost.” I said, handing her the bracelet. She had a questioning look on her face.
“School. I found it in school.”
“Drive me there,” she said, not asked.
“And why would I want to do that?”
“I gave this to Brian, if he is still there, you’ll be off this mystery, and I’m sure that’s your wish.” She said smiling.
I led her to my car. She sat in the backseat. When we were good friends, she and Brian would sit in the back seat while Remena sat at the front with me. For a second, I felt her there. I gripped the steering wheel tightly, as I tried to remember her. I’ll find her. I found myself hoping for a second. I didn’t see Jodie slip into the front seat. I just heard her say drive, and that is exactly what I did.
It was no trouble finding Brian for Jodie, maybe because they knew each other inside out. I found myself wishing that I found Remena as they hugged each other, and Jodie was telling him of the thirteen-day mystery story.
“I’m going to go.” I said awkwardly as I walked past them to the door.
“What’s up with you, you look dead.” Brian said to me.
“He’s been looking for Remena for the last thirteen days.” Jodie said, then suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Brian. Brian was counting his fingers and looked at me.
“That was the last time we also saw her.” Brian said. I rolled my eyes. You would think that the way they looked at each other they had something very important to say.
“The only thing is, we know where she went.” Jodie said. I looked at them confused and Jodie began to tell me the story of what happened that day.
“Brian and I were walking out of the school door, fairly happy that we were about to break for Christmas. I noticed Remena entering a black SUV, with a strange man. I had seen that strange man before though. I saw him in the streets outside my house, sometimes in school. Brian and I decided to follow them. We were almost on the outskirts of the city when they stopped at some shady building. He was joined by a few other men. They saw us, we weren’t able to catch any of their faces, because we drove off fast, even though they didn’t pursue us. The next day, Brian was scared off by a man and he didn’t come to school. I went to look for him and that’s when I met a man who also threatened me. I’m not sure why he told me I needed to solve whatever but that’s the story Sidney.” Jodie said.
“I need you to come with me.” I said. I was scared, I was showing it. Jodie’s eyes reflected what I felt for a second before she looked away. She knew what it meant to lose someone, or to hope not to lose someone, or to know you were going to lose someone. She just didn’t show it often.
We are all in our twenties and in a fairly small college in our town, so we all think we know each other’s business and names because in some way, we do. I know who has a mistress, and when someone gave birth. Jodie has been great at hiding that her whole life was flipped upside down when she lost her dad. We are all good at thinking we know she’s okay.
We drove to the building. We sat the same way we would sit when Remena was around.
“Dude, drive.” Jodie said, smiling at me. I had stopped the car, in the middle of the road. I shot her a small smile before starting to drive.
“Remena was always close with her dad, even as he was growing old and about to die. She was going to throw the most memorable funeral for her dad, as weird as that sounds. She was going to be the heir of his company after the guy who was supposed to run the company was killed. She was going…”
“What’s the name of her dad’s company again?” Brian asked.
“Krystal Tees.” I answered. Brian looked at Jodie. I checked from my rear-view mirror. We locked eyes for a second, then she turned to look at Brian, before he hugged her. She didn’t cry though. I watched her shut her eyes painfully. She stayed in that position until we reached the destination.
“How many days do we have left?” I asked Jodie as we entered the building.
“Just tomorrow.” she said. She seemed okay. At least from her voice.
The building was old. The wooden ceiling was falling apart and the place reeked. It was dark, and we were using light from Brian’s phone. There was only one floor on this building, even though from outside, it seemed to be a tower. They must have blocked the upper floors, I thought. We were now exiting a room and entering the last one on the floor. As we got closer, the smell got stronger. I was breathing heavily, and honestly, I could hear my heart beat. Jodie held my hand as we got nearer, even though she looked disgusted by the place.
“Are you sure you want to enter?” Brian asked me. I nodded slowly but he entered first, then Jodie then me.
There she lay. In the same clothes she wore the last day I saw her, now covered in blood and dirt. She was rotting. She was smelling. She normally smelled of lavender and now she smelled like a dead rat. It was a sight to take in. It was a sight that was hardest to take in. My lungs were working overtime at this point to catch up with my heartbeat and to replace my shortness of breath. I cried. Not one tear or a couple, I was sobbing. I threw glances at Jodie and Brian. Jodie looked at her dead body without an expression. Brian was staring at me, before he walked up to me. Brian dragged me out of the place. Jodie hadn’t let go of my hand. She would have never done that before, I thought as I looked at her hand intertwined with mine. We were in the car again. I was in the backseat and they were in the front. Brian constantly looked at Jodie as she drove. He really did take care of her. Jodie, on the other hand, for the first time, looked sad and a hint of anger as she drove the car. We stopped, we were now outside her house. She seemed relieved that she had reached in one piece. She peered at her house and saw one light on. We walked towards the door, but she stopped before turning the knob, and turned to us.
“Do you think the same guys that did…” she failed to continue her sentence when her voice began to crack. Brian nodded, and we all entered her house and her mother came running downstairs and hugged her tightly.
“You’re going to send me to the same place dad went if you hug me any longer.” Jodie complained, pushing her mother away. It didn’t take a second glance to see how messed up her mother was. She looked like she hadn’t slept for years. She had the messiest bun and the room was a mess. She stared at her daughter, held her cheeks and cried.
“I didn’t think you’ll come back, why did you run away?” the mother cried. Jodie hugged her mother tightly.
“I don’t want to die.” She whispered into her mother’s hair. The mother looked at her again, breaking the hug.
“What do…?” Jodie didn’t let her mother finish her sentence.
“I’ll take care of it, I’ll leave tomorrow and come back later in the afternoon, I’ll explain everything to you.” Jodie said heading upstairs and Brian followed her. I looked at her mother one last time and she seemed as if she was praying. She was praying. It is all we can do.
We never grew up with a lot of freedom. We had love and trust though. And that felt like freedom to us. Our parents let us run around, have fun, and play in the trees and under the sun. It was a quiet, fun and relatively safe place. It’s not the same anymore. And it scares everyone. It is easy to get used to the fear when you know when you are about to run. Otherwise, count yourself dead when you do not know when your devil comes running around.
I walked into a brightly lit room and saw Brian, on the floor, Jodie on the bed, looking through a bunch of documents.
“If you want to sleep, there’s an air-mattress underneath my bed.” Jodie said.
I sat next to her and watched her quickly skim through her father’s documents. She pulled out his will.
“That’s why they are after you.” I said, and she said nothing back.
Like I said, small town, known businesses. She never would have known that without me telling her about Remena, and I never would have found Remena without either of them. Small town, same businesses.
She was to inherit her father’s wealth, which was 50% of the Krystal tees. And Remena was to inherit the rest. It all made sense now.
Brian held a business picture and pointed the guy to the left of Remena’s father. Jodie walked slowly to the picture then to the farther end of her room. She lifted a lamp and smashed it on the wall. She threw herself against the wall and slid to the floor and buried her head in her hands.
“I think I have a plan to catch the guy tomorrow, go to sleep.” Brian told her and put her to bed. She slept on the same bed as him and I was on the air mattress next to them. I didn’t sleep much. Jodie was right. I worshipped Remena. I didn’t notice that they hadn’t shown up the last few days of school. I didn’t notice how masked Jodie had become. She was definitely good at hiding that but good friends know. Good present friends know. I was the one who cut her off. I had placed Remena so high and mighty in my life, and now I had to fix myself and broken friendships. I was staring at her this whole time. I stood up, looked at her and Brian. Brian held one of her hands and the other fist was clenched. Then I went to lie down in the same bed, next to Jodie. She didn’t wake up, but she moved. She made space for me.
It was 3 am. I watched Jodie slowly walk out of her bed and go to the window. Her back faced me, but she was wiping tears. Brian woke up not long after and hugged her. She didn’t hug him back, but she didn’t hold back tears this time. I watched her cry. I started to cry.
“This might seem like a lot to ask, but talk to your mum tomorrow. She’s always meant the best for you.” she nodded and wiped her tears. They both stared outside for a while and went back to bed. Now, I was crying. I was about to sleep, when Jodie woke up, slipped some object in her bag. I didn’t see it clearly. I just pretended to be asleep.
The next morning, I found Brian and Jodie having breakfast. They had her bag halfway open, and the file right next to it, on top of the table.
“Of course, you would play sleeping beauty on possibly the most important and maybe the last day of my life.” Jodie said, rolling her eyes.
“Grab some breakfast, we need to leave.” Brian said with much less sass.
I took a granola bar and watched Jodie re-arrange her bag as she fit in the files, she slowly touched each one gently as she inserted them into the bag. She looked at me, and once again, flashed me a bright smile then went upstairs.
Brian and I went to the car and waited for her.
“This is the first time I've seen her like this. She’s always fine.” Brian told me, from the backseat as she approached the car.
Brian gave me directions to where we were going. None of them had told me why or for what. I didn’t bother asking. Both Brian and Jodie in the backseat, didn’t look at each other or talk. It was normal, I thought. Jodie was just being in a mood.
We stopped right outside a fancy glass tower. Jodie walked out first, then banged the car door behind her. Brian rolled his eyes and quickly followed her inside, so did I.
“We’ll carry on with the plan, but don’t you think you need back-up, like the police. It’s foolish for the three of you to do this by yourself.” Jodie’s lawyer said.
“That’s what I was trying to tell Jodie in the morning.” Brian sassed back, looking at Jodie.
“We’ll be okay.” Jodie said, laughing sarcastically.
“You are a freaking mess Jodie, who knows what will happen!” Brian told her. He seemed way too concerned.
“Well this ‘mess’ doesn’t need to be reminded of that, and you don’t need to come. I’m good.” She responded angrily , air quoting the words mess before walking away.
“Do the right thing, kid.” the lawyer said, handing me the documents, as Brian ran after her.
I joined them in the car and looked through the rear-view mirror. Jodie was crying and was facing the window. Brian was still looking at her.
“Let’s go to school, he’s there.” Brian told me.
She cried, the whole time. It was scary for me, I don’t know why.
We were outside school. I sighed. I hope it ends today. Now.
“I’m sorry.” Jodie said to Brian. Her eyes were red and swollen. She looked so sad, but really frustrated.
“Just go do what you have to do. I’ll stay in the car.” Brian said, not even looking at her.
Jodie looked shocked, devastated and scared as she stared at his back. She took her bag and left. I decided to follow her in a very impulsive second, and we walked into school together.
“Instead of meeting this killer, can we pick somewhere and just run away?” I suggested frantically, and she stopped to look at me.
“If it already feels like a trap, then we are already in one. I’ll run when I can, but sometimes you gotta snap.” She replied after a lifetime, and kept walking.
He was there. The minute we opened the school door, we saw him at the end of the school hallway. He was dressed casually in all black, and had a cigarette in his hand. He looked really clean and well-kept for someone who went around murdering girls and human beings. He smiled when he saw us. He never looked familiar. As we walked towards him, Jodie slowly removed the documents and rested them against her chest as she put her backpack on her bag.
“You are really smart. I don’t know why you waited till the last day. Give me the documents and you are free.” He said smiling at Jodie.
She was crying. She looked scared. She walked toward him slowly and handed him the documents. I can’t believe that’s all she wanted. Why were we doing this? What were we supposed to do after? I watched her walk away from the man who was about to take everything from her family, from Remena’s family and from me. She was calm. She was collected as she paced herself slowly, walking towards the door.
“Stop!” The man called out.
“You think I wouldn’t notice these are fake? The signature is his initials, He had a signature. Don’t play with me kid. I want the real documents!” He continued. He was now yelling. Jodie continued walking away calmly. Didn’t she realise we were caught? I was panicking. You never realise how much you want to live until you are about to die.
The man ran after her and pulled her to face his direction forcefully, then he moved back rapidly with his hands up.
“Don’t. Touch. Me.” she breathed, pointing her gun to him. I also moved away from her fast.
“Jodie… what the…” I started but she cut me off by pointing the gun in my direction.
“Don’t you dare say another word Sidney.” She said dangerously. I raised my hands slowly.
“I’m going to destroy your life.” She said, now facing him.
“What do you want, Jodie Kinses? Kill me? I have nothing to lose.”
“Neither do I. You took everything away from me. You killed my dad.” She says weeping, still pointing the gun in his direction.
“I’ve thought about it everyday, you know? You were able to tie his death neatly to make it seem like it was all a dead man's fault that got him killed, but the people that know him, know he wouldn’t be found on a boat.” She continued, and when he opened his mouth to answer, she inched closer to him.
“With all his perfection and drive, my dad hated the ocean. That was your loose end. And I will tie it right now.” She said, placing her hand on the trigger. She was crying. she seemed terrified, but she was also angry. Really angry. And she wasn’t going to listen to any logic right now. Except when he pulled out his gun smiling.
“Or maybe instead of tying it, I send you to the same place he is.” He replied, snickering and loading his gun. Jodie took a step back. He cackled. She lowered her gun, surrendering. Or at least I thought she would.
She ran and hit him to the ground. Her gun slid off a few metres away as she hit him continuously on the ground.
“Freeze!” said a voice down the hall. It was the police, Jodie’s mum and Brian. She got off him and wiped her tears as she raised her hands.
“Who’s gun?” One of the policemen asked, pointing to the gun Jodie had.
“He had two guns.” I quickly answered, and looked at Jodie, she was looking down. They picked it up, and we followed them to write our statement. Our parents were present. Some parents more calm than others. My mother was going to throw a fit in the house. I knew it by the way she kept staring at me. We were now waiting for Jodie.
She finally walked out of the interrogation room. She looked fine. The officer behind her didn’t look so amused.
“I’m letting you guys off with a warning. These cases aren’t for you to handle or play around with. You can take your children home.” He said pointing to us as he looked at our parents. Brian and I had sat on the floor facing our parents. Jodie did not even acknowledge us, she walked right past us, her mother behind her.
We had a funeral for Remena. Jodie wasn’t there. Just her mother and Brian and his parents and a bunch of friends and relatives.
“Have you talked to Jodie?” I asked Brian, as people passed us slowly walking back to their car.
“Take care of yourself. She’ll be fine. Trust me.” Brian said, rolling his eyes at his last words, patted my back and left.
I was in my house, I had dark circles around my eyes and looked really tired. I decided to sleep until I was woken up by a loud tapping on my window. Jodie. I got up grumpily and let her in and she sat on my bed while I mindlessly stared at her. The moon lit her hair, and she looked back at me. We held each other’s gaze for a while before she looked away.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to her funeral today.” she finally said, breaking the silence.
“It’s okay, I haven’t really been the friend of the year as well.” I replied, also looking away after a brief moment of locking eyes.
“It’s not that. It’s just, I can’t go to another funeral. I couldn’t get myself to do it without feeling like it should be someone else in the grave and not her, or him.” She answered and I turned to face her. She was already looking at me.
“They knew it was my dad’s gun, by the way. They just won’t charge me for having it. Thank you for standing by me then. I should have been there for you today.” She continued, and then there was silence between us. There was space that the moonlight shone through. There were low light reflections of the streetlights from outside, and threw as my lamp that stayed on throughout the night.
“You could have texted me that, you know? Or since it’s you, maybe write me a letter?” I tried to joke, and she smiled at my joke.
“I could have,” she responded in agreement, and then continued to stare at me. And we both held eye contact for a little while, before she got up.
“I should probably go, it’s pretty late.” She said, offering me a wide and bright smile. I looked at Jodie. I really looked at Jodie. She seemed hopeful. She seemed generally happy and excited about life, but there was a sadness that always stuck. A sadness she laughed off as irrelevant.
“You think we’ll be able to get over them?” I ask her, and she stops to think for a second.
“I don’t think you do. You just hope to get to the point where the sadness doesn’t control your life anymore.” She answers politely.
“So it’s always going to be there no matter what?” I reply, and she nods.
“I call it the infinite sadness.” She answers, and within a second I wrap her in my arms and just hug her. I smell her hair. I rest my hand on her lower back, and she wraps her hands around me, soothingly rubbing my back. I pull back slightly and she does too and it feels like hours of staring into each other's eyes. She doesn’t have hair on her face, but I pushed back something behind her ear, before gently running my fingers down her face. I glance at her lips and then back to her eyes. Her eyes were kind. her gaze was warm, even before she smiled at me.
“We’ll both know when it is time. For now, let's mourn the ones we love.” I find myself saying, and she nods, and everything in me agrees, but we keep hugging anyway. We do not let go.
I lost my girlfriend to the same tragedy that caused her to lose her father. I’ve known her since we were kids and I’ve loved before we declared each other best friends. I don’t know when she always felt this way about me, and that’s fine because I do not know when I started to feel like this. It just happened. Maybe it is all a distraction. A fine distraction
. The days leading up to the first day of school were bleak. We rarely talked and that was fine. We had a three way call with Brian included, but you could tell that it still felt grey. It was lighter, but it was still grey.
I was nervous. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked all freshened up and alive, but my hands showed what a nervous wreck I was by their shaking.
I walked through the school corridors. I closed my eyes tightly to try to forget what was going down the last time I was here.
“Dude, I know, being here again is not easy for me too.” Brian said from in front of me, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we walked to class.
Jodie’s seat was empty. She always sat next to Brian. Brian frequently looked at her empty seat. We both wanted her here.
I sat with Brian during lunch when Jodie showed up. She looked like a mess. She was always in school with the trendiest clothes and now she was here in pyjamas.
“And your new year’s resolution is?” Brian asked, staring at her, pointing at her clothes as she smiled at us before she sat.
“Look what I feel. If I’m a mess, I’ll look like it, because I do need help.” Brian lit up and hugged her and she hugged him back.
“Welcome, until you get a girlfriend and leave us.” Jodie joked to me.
“Well, we’ll see how long this new year’s resolution will last.” I laughed back.
“You’re right. I already have a cute outfit for tomorrow.” Jodie said, laughing and actually sounding happy.
“Maybe you’ll get a boyfriend with that outfit and you’ll leave us.” I laughed back and she shook her head smiling.
There we were. For the first time, as ourselves. Jodie getting over her sadness in the right way, Brian always taking care of her, and me, finding myself. Maybe the whole mystery wasn’t about the father and the will, it was me and her. We were the mysteries we were solving. We all got up to go separate directions for our next classes, and a couple of minutes later, I found myself running after Jodie and screaming her name from down the hall and handing her a note.
“Maybe you can wear that cute outfit on a little date tomorrow?” I asked in the note, and she smiled and nodded.
That’s all I needed. If it doesn’t feel like a trap, then it probably isn’t. I remind myself.
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