Chapter Six
Rani
At school the next day, I expected to see Tyler in our homeroom, but he wasn’t there.
“Is Tyler sick?” I asked Mr. Peterman.
“Not sure,” replied Mr. Peterman, not appearing very worried about it. He’d actually stopped taking our class attendance last week, and none of us were really sure why. John Oliver, our class president and honor roll student, had asked him why he no longer took attendance. Mr. Peterman’s response had been - “What's the point?”
It was weird.
Where was Kelly? I thought, watching the door nervously. I hoped she wasn’t sick with the flu.
Kelly Newsauer was my best friend and I’d met her when we’d moved from Minneapolis to St. Paul at the end of fourth grade. My dad had been hired by a large engineering corporation, and wanted to find a place closer to his work. He had said that the commute from Minneapolis to St. Paul had been too chaotic. Not only would he spend almost an hour in traffic, but when there was a snow storm, that time usually doubled. He’d had enough.
Unfortunately, we’d been unable to find a house right away in St. Paul, so his company had put us up in an apartment building while we’d continued our search. It was where I’d met Kelly.
I’d loved the apartments. The best part had been the pool right in the center of the complex. We’d had a pool at our old house, and I’d been a regular little fish, often daydreaming about living under the water like a real mermaid. I thought it would have been such a cool life and spent countless hours at the pool, pretending to be one. One day, in June, I’d been jumping off the diving board when I’d noticed a red-haired girl in a red, white and blue striped bathing suit, who seemed to be about my age. She, and a few younger kids, had been playing Marco-Polo. Wanting to join in, I’d swum to the shallow end where they were.
“Hey, can I play, too?” I asked eagerly.
“You bet,” the red-haired girl answered. “But all newbies have to start off by being ‘Marco’.”
I agreed. “Marco!” I called out.
We’d spent the rest of the summer attached at the hip. We would pack lunches, and ride our bikes all the way to Como Zoo, which was at least ten miles away. We never even told our parents where we were going- we were ten years old and we were free.
Countless hours we’d spend at each other’s homes and boy had I loved going to her place. Her family had the better snacks, while at my house you’d open up the refrigerator, only to find fruit and healthy stuff, like cottage cheese or carrots.
Kelly, on the other hand, had the good stuff. I used to love opening her cupboard and seeing all the things that my mom had banned in our place - like Twinkies, Ho-Ho's, and other sugary goodness. Now, those were the things that I really enjoyed sinking my teeth into. Many times we’d both load up on snacks and soda and drive everyone crazy with our sugar high. It was innocent and a lot of fun, but then one day in late August, Kelly had snatched a cigarette from her Aunt Carol who was in town visiting her family.
“Come on, Rani,” Kelly said excitedly, grabbing me by the hand. “I have something cool to show you!”
We raced off to our secret spot, which was actually a brick wall behind our apartment building.
“What is it?” I asked breathlessly, as we’d reached the wall.
“Sit down,” she commanded, “and keep a look out!”
I looked around and saw no one.
“We’re in the clear,” I whispered.
She pulled something out of her shorts pocket and along with a book of matches.
A cigarette!
“Are you crazy?” I yelled at her. “No way am I touching that.”
“Come on,” she pleaded. “Don't you want to know what all the fuss is about?”
“Nope!” I protested, crossing my arms. “Those things smell horrible.”
Kelly sat for a minute, staring at the cigarette, her wheels turning. I could tell that she was up to something, and that something usually ended up getting me grounded.
“OK,” she started. “I’ll make a deal with you- you take a puff of this, and I’ll sneak you out a whole bottle of root beer.”
Crap.
I gave her a dirty look. She knew exactly what to say and that my love of root-beer would surpass any reservations about cigarettes.
“Fine, one puff but that’s it,” I replied sternly.
Kelly put the cigarette into her mouth, lit the end, and took a long puff. Then, she immediately started coughing and hacking. When her coughing fit had ended, she handed me the cigarette. “Your turn,” she ordered with another cough.
I grabbed the cigarette and just the smell had made me want to throw up. After I took a puff, it seemed as if I was swallowing fire. I threw the cigarette behind me and immediately puked my brains out.
Kelly laughed so hard that she actually peed her pants. What a pair we were - her with the pee-stained shorts, and me, with chunks of nasty vomit all over my shirt. Still laughing, we rushed to her apartment where I changed into one of her shirts while she changed out of her pee-stained shorts. When she finished, she walked out of the room and then returned with the glorious two liter of root beer.
Life had never seemed better.
Today, I would have given anything to go back to those days.
Thankfully, Kelly made it to class right as the bell rang. Her red curls bounced as she rushed to her seat.
“Ah, hell,” she said, setting down her backpack “Who are the idiots that think we really need to be at school by seven-thirty every single morning?”
“No doubt,” I replied.
Kelly was my one friend who could always make me laugh. She had the quickest wit, and never seemed to care what anyone thought of her.
“So, Chicken,” she asked while putting on a layer of pink lip gloss. “What's shakin', besides my ass?”
Chicken was the nickname she’d given to me after I told her about the horrendous chicken ordeal at my house.
“I need to talk to you about something very serious,” I said in a hush toned. “But not here. After school.”
“Oh, come on. You know how I hate waiting,” she said, with a pouty look. “You’ve got to tell me now that you brought it up.”
I shook my head vehemently. “No really, Kelly after school.”
She sighed.
“I’m serious. God, I should have waited to even bring it up.” I turned my head back to the front of the class, hoping she would get the hint.
My cell phone buzzed and I winced, hoping the teacher wouldn’t hear it. I carefully slid it out of my pocket and noticed that it was a text from Kelly.
I hate secrets.
I shook my head and replied - NOT Now.
The phone buzzed. Come on.
No, I typed back.
Buzz. Fine! But be warned… I am going to keep bugging you all day!
I slipped my phone back into my jeans.
It began buzzing again.
Clenching my jaw, I glanced over at Kelly.
She quickly put her phone away and then feigned innocence.
I mouthed stop. I knew that if Mr. Peterman saw us using our phones, they would both be confiscated for the day, and our parents would have to come to school and pick them up. The last thing I needed was to have my phone taken away. I was just hoping among hope, that Tyler would call me. The fact that he wasn’t in school was now scaring the crap out of me.
I couldn’t wait to get out of school and find out what was going on, but, it seemed to last forever. When the last bell of the day rang, I ran to my locker and grabbed the books I would need for the weekend. I had a huge calculus test on Monday and I knew that I really wasn’t as prepared as I should have been.
As I closed my locker, I saw Kelly rushing toward me, looking very determined. She was short, around five feet tall and had an athletic build, thanks to all the years of gymnastics. I used to envy her so much when we were little, because she was so petite and small. I’m medium built, not too fat or too skinny, and stood five-foot-eight. I always felt like Sasquatch next to her, however.
“Tick-tock, Chicken,” she said breathlessly. “Time to spill the deets! What is this big secret of yours?”
For someone small, she was also very loud and boisterous. You could actually hear her coming a mile away. I only hoped that once I told her about my encounter with Tyler yesterday, that she wouldn’t freak out and let the entire school in on what had happened.
“It's Tyler,” I began.
“Oh my God, I knew it!” she exclaimed. “You finally let Tyler hit it! I knew it.”
I took a step back. “What?”
She grinned wickedly. “It's about time, Rani. That poor guy looks like his pants are going to explode every time he looks at you.”
“What in the hell are you talking about, Kelly?” I whispered loudly. You could say that I was a bit irritated with her assumption. “First off, no one has ‘hit’ this yet! And second, for the millionth time, Tyler and I are just friends and his pants have never come close to exploding.”
Kelly started to laugh. “Okay, okay, so you still proudly have your ‘V’ card. If your cherry is still intact, then what could possibly be such a ‘hush-hush’ secret?”
I looked around the halls, they were still buzzing with kids. “Let's walk to the park and we can talk there,” I said, grabbing my backpack.
“Okay.”
On our way to the park, Kelly's boyfriend, Wade, saw us walking and slowed the car
“Hey, Chicken,” he said, looking my way.
I gave him a quick wave hello. I liked Wade, but I knew as soon as he and Kelly got together, it would take a hose of cold water to pry them apart.
“Hey, sexy,” he said, to Kelly. “You want some candy?”
Kelly giggled and nodded.
“Well come over here then, Hotness,” he said. “I've got something sweet for you.”
I groaned loudly.
“Rani, I promise, I will be back in two secs,” she whispered, and then bounded for his car.
Right.
She opened the passenger door, and as soon as her butt hit the seat, the grope-fest started.
I tried to look away, but it was like watching a train wreck, I just could not stop staring. Kelly had squirmed over the front seat and was now directly on top of Wade, kissing and dry humping him. My eyes actually felt like they were bulging out of my head, as I stared in shock.
I knew Kelly and Wade had had sex before, but they weren't going to do it right here, were they?
I finally had to look away, my inexperience with sex bothering me more than I’d ever let on. Most of the girls in my graduating class were no longer virgins. I, on the other hand, was as close to a virgin as they came, although, there was that time I’d gotten my boobs groped by Bobby Linn in the tenth grade.
I thought back to that day. Kelly and I had gone over to Chris Stein’s for her sixteenth birthday party. She had invited most of our classmates, which included Bobby Linn, who I had been secretly crushing on for over a month. The night had been pretty tame at first. We’d played some music, danced, had cake and Chris had opened her presents. The action really started when her parents went upstairs and left us alone.
“I know,” said Kelly in a hushed tone. “Let's play Seven Minutes in Heaven.”
“What's that?” Chris asked worriedly. “It can't be loud, otherwise my parents will come right back down here.”
“Seven Minutes in Heaven,” Kelly began explaining, her cheeks turning slightly pink. “Is… cool. We all sit in a circle, spin the bottle, and whoever it lands on, you go in there,” she said and then pointed at the closet.
“What are we supposed to do in there?” asked another classmate, Erin.
“Whatever you want to do,” replied Kelly coyly.
None of us were really sure how this was going to pan out, or what exactly we’d do behind the closet door. We agreed to try it out, however, and slowly got into a circle.
Kelly grabbed an empty plastic two-liter bottle and looked at Chris. “I’d say that the birthday girl should go first,” she said, smiling wickedly.
Obviously nervous, Chris grabbed the bottle and set it on its side. Then, after a few seconds of hesitation, she gave it a spin.
Around and around it went as we all watched in anticipation. When it finally stopped, it pointed toward Tyler.
He quickly looked over at me.
I gave him a “thumbs up.”
He looked away and his cheeks began to turn the cutest shade of pink. Then, they both slowly got up and went into the closet.
Kelly watched the time on her watch as we all stared at each other, smirking. Once the time was up, and the door opened, we all silently cheered them on.
Then, they sat down and I noticed that they both refused to even look at each other. Tyler later told me that she’d giggled the entire time, and that when he had tried to kiss her, it had been so dark that he’d missed and was pretty sure he kissed her eyeball.
“You’re up next, Rani,” Kelly said, tossing me the bottle.
My heart pounding, I spun the bottle, hoping it would not land on Scott. Scott was notorious for having the worst breath. It smelled like a mixture of moldy cheese and feet. I closed my eyes and soon heard the others make a collective gasp. When I opened them back up, I was thrilled beyond belief.
Bobby Linn!
Bobby Linn was one of the most popular boys in high school. He played football and hockey and excelled at them both. He was just a bit taller than me, with the coolest California blonde surfer hair. Even though I have actually never been to California, I assumed that all the boys there looked like Bobby. I actually had him in a few of my classes, but never really thought he was hot until I saw him play hockey one day. Watching him on the ice, the way he’d been able to skate effortlessly, how he’d held his stick with such authority, and the ease of how he’d handled the puck had really impressed me.
“Okay, you two,” said Kelly, smiling wickedly. “Have fun.”
I looked over to Tyler for some type of encouragement, but he didn’t even look my way.
Gee thanks, I thought.
My legs started to shake as soon as I stood up, and I prayed that the others couldn’t see how nervous I was.
Bobby stood up and followed me into the closet.
“Now what?” I asked him after we closed the door and sat down. It was so dark inside the closet that I could not even make out his face. From his heavy breathing, however, I knew he was close.
“What do you wanna do?” he asked, sounding almost as if he was out of breath.
“Umm…. err, we could talk?” I said rather quickly. “So, what's your favorite color?”
I could feel Bobby shifting a little closer to me.
“Or, we could do this,” he whispered as he felt around in the dark for my face.
I held my breath as he moved closer.
When his hands finally found my face, he traced a delicate line from my nose to my mouth.
I swallowed nervously. I could feel his warm breath on my skin as his lips gently touched mine. They felt nice and soft. He opened his mouth slightly and slid his tongue into mine.
My stomach tingled with excitement and I shivered.
It felt so good and so wrong at the same time. I barely knew this boy, and here I was letting him stick his tongue into my mouth.
Bobby must have felt me tense up. “Relax,” he said softly.
I took a few deep breaths and we continued our kiss. His hands were on my lower back massaging me in a way that I have never felt before, and soon I was like putty under his fingertips. Then, his hands moved to my waist and I could feel his fingers slowly making their way north. When he cupped my left breast with his hand, I quickly pushed him away.
“Too fast,” I said breathlessly.
Just then someone knocked on the closet door.
“Time’s up, lovebirds!” another kid shouted in the background.
I opened the door and stepped out. The light from the basement seemed as bright as the sun, compared to the blackness in the closet. I quickly took my seat and could tell that I was at least thirty shades of red. Even the tips of my ears felt like they were on fire.
Bobby, on the other hand, was giving high-fives to all his buddies, making gestures about my breasts, and smiling lecherously.
What a jackass!
That night was the end of my short time crush on Bobby.
As the memory faded, Kelly managed to peel herself off of Wade and then come running back to me.
“Sorry, girl,” said Kelly, as she tried smoothing down her tangled mess of hair. “Wade can be such an animal.”
“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. Let’s just get to the park, you little vixen,” I said, playfully nudging her.
When we finally made it there, we sat down at a picnic table and I noticed right away that the place was dead, which was odd because it was such a beautiful day. Normally the place was jam-packed.
I pulled out my cell phone to see if Tyler had called and noticed that it was two-forty-five. I knew we only had a little bit of time before the younger kids got out of school and we’d be bombarded by them.
“Spill it.”
“I had a talk with Tyler yesterday,” I began cautiously, “and he dropped quite the bomb on me.”
“What bomb?”
I looked at Kelly, and for the first time, had second thoughts of confiding in her. Tyler had been very clear that I was to tell no one, but… surely he could not have meant Kelly? He knew she was my best girlfriend, and my go-to gal, whenever I needed her. She’d been the only other person in my life, since meeting Tyler, who knew me better than my parents.
I looked at Kelly, my best friend, and just knew that I could trust her. We had been through so much together. She always had my back.
“Tyler called me yesterday, and told me to meet him here,” I said, motioning to the park. “We then took a drive and Tyler told me that he killed his parents.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Kelly shrieked. “That is not even funny! Not even a little bit!”
Then she started to get up to leave. I pleaded with her to sit back down.
“Kelly, I really believe him. You didn’t see how serious and frightened he looked when he told me,” I explained. “I thought he was kidding at first, too.”
Kelly sat back down. I could see she was trying to digest this huge bombshell I’d just dropped on her. “Where is he now?” she asked, sounding a little worn out.
“I don't know,” I answered honestly. “He told me his life was in danger, and that he had to leave town. He was also worried that somehow I would be hurt if someone saw him talking to me.”
“Danger? Leave town?” she sputtered. “What exactly did Tyler get himself into?”
“I don't know, Kelly. I went by his place yesterday, expecting to see cops surrounding the place, but it was quiet, no one seemed to even be home.”
“Well,” she said, sounding relieved. “That's a good thing. If Tyler really had killed his parents, the cops would be crawling all over his place.”
I smiled. That’s what I loved about her. She always pointed out the obvious and knew how to calm me down. She was confirming exactly what I wanted to believe. “Yeah, I kind of thought the same thing, too,” I answered, also feeling relieved. “Let's go over to his place right now. I think his mom's shift at the bakery ends at two p.m., so she should be home, by now.”
She agreed and we walked the short distance to Tyler's house. Just as I had expected, it looked the same as it did yesterday. No cops prowling around, no detective-looking guys combing the area for prints or suspects.
It looked like it always had – normal.
Kelly and I went up to the front steps and noticed that their morning paper was still outside of the front door. I picked it up and knocked on the door, but nobody answered. I rang the doorbell; again no, answer. Then I realized that I still knew their garage code.
I jogged over to the garage and quickly punched in the four-digit code. The door started to open and my heart dropped when I noticed that their parents’ car, the only one they owned, besides Tyler’s, was parked inside. When the garage door opened fully, Kelly and I exchanged the same freaked-out expression.
“We gotta get into the house,” Kelly insisted, her eyes filled with fear. “What if they’re inside, hurt, and needing our help?”
I had a really bad feeling about this, and my hands began to tremble. Although, I really did not want to break into their house, I knew Kelly was right and we had to see what was really going on.
“I know a way we can get in,” I said, sighing. “Follow me.”
Tyler had once shown me where they hid their spare key. He had a habit of losing his and his parents had gotten sick of driving home from wherever they were at, just to let him inside. So they’d kept one hidden in the backyard.
I went around the house to the patio and lifted up the lid of the grill. Inside, taped to the lid, was the key. I grabbed it, and motioned for Kelly to follow me. We then unlocked the front door and quietly entered the house.
I wrinkled my nose. The house had a funky smell to it, but I wasn’t sure exactly what it was.
“Smells weird,” whispered Kelly.
“I know.”
As we walked into the dining room, we noticed the dinner table - there was still food on it and it definitely wasn’t fresh.
We then glanced down at the plates and noticed enchiladas of some sort. As I peered into the glasses, I saw that they were still filled with milk, but it was now thick and obviously stale.
“Rani,” Kelly whispered behind me in a shaky voice. “I am getting really freaked out.”
“I know, me too,” I replied, sounding much calmer than what I actually was. “Let's just finish looking around and then we will get the heck out of here.”
“Okay.”
We walked up the staircase that led to the second floor and noticed that the majority of the pictures on the wall were crooked. Then I saw Tyler's door and immediately felt sick to my stomach. It looked like someone had broken it because it was only hanging on the hinges and there were pieces of broken wood and bolts lying on the carpeting.
“What the hell happened here?” Kelly asked mirroring my question.
Not knowing what else to say, I simply shrugged my shoulders and walked into Tyler's room.
“What a mess,” said Kelly.
Actually, it looked like it usually did - as if a tornado had gone through it.
I walked around the room, not really sure exactly what I was looking for.
“Listen, I’ll check the downstairs and then we are out of here,” Kelly said.
I continued to look around Tyler's room for a few minutes more when I heard Kelly yell from downstairs.
“Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!” she screamed. “Get your ass down here, Chicken!!”
I flew down the stairs, two at a time.
Kelly was standing in the middle of the living room pointing at what looked like two piles of dirt.
I touched my chest. “Jesus, Kelly, you almost gave me a heart attack, it’s just dirt.”
“No, come and take a closer look at this pile of dirt,” she replied shakily.
I walked over and stood beside Kelly, staring down. “Dirt,” I repeated.
“No, Rani, look into the dirt,” she said impatiently.
I got down on my knees to get a better look. It certainly looked like dirt with some white rocks. Then, something caught my eye. Near the top of one pile were strands of what looked like blonde hair.
The same color hair Tyler's mom had!
I stood up so quickly that I felt a wave of vertigo.
“See, I told you it was more than dirt,” Kelly said matter-of-factly.
I tried to compose myself and once again and got back on my knees. I carefully touched some of the dirt with my fingertips.
“Oh my God! Are you crazy?” Kelly yelled shrilly. “Don't touch that shit!”
I looked up at her and frowned. “Calm down, Kelly, I just want to get a better look.”
She shuddered. “Fine, just hurry up.”
Looking around, I reached over and grabbed the poker from the fireplace, then started sifting through the dirt. As I examined its contents, I could see what looked like more clumps of blonde hair. Then, I picked up one of the white stones for closer inspection.
It was a tooth.