Chapter forty four
That was the day I started seeing things.
The ride back to the gym was nothing less than a total nightmare. About two hours later, I'd filled up some paperwork and claimed custody of my older brother, quite ready to drag him off that suffocating shell of death and give him the life he deserved.
Apart from fire, something else I hated was a hospital. The mere fact I thought it produced more corpses than recovered people.
Or maybe it was because Mr Allendro died there. Maybe.
I had a thing that stopped me from forgetting things.
Gladly, I rolled him upon the wheelchair through the halls. All the while, passers-by were gawking at two brothers who had loud conversations and laughed improperly in public. Well, we didn't care, did we? It was supposed to be the start of something new.
But then, nothing good lasted forever, did it?
Noah was narrating a story about some friends he'd made at the hospital while we'd begun the ride.
It was pretty fun until a strange sight passed my eye on the road. Although my brother was right beside me on the passenger seat, his voice drowned on the vacuum that suddenly surrounded me.
Was it just my brain's reaction to guilt or did I see Max standing by a store I just passed? From where it'd hidden for the past two hours, fear returned to me, stopping my breathing and causing all existence around me to seemingly cease.
I didn't have the courage to turn back and confirm my sight. However, I slowly faced Noah who was smiling and saying words that never seemed to reach my ears.
Here I was keeping a secret this vital from him because of the certainty he'd hate me if he found out LITTLE JONES had murdered people. Wow…I needed therapy.
"Are you alright, Jeff?" Noah finally popped my cloud of guilt. His eyes were on me; narrowed, worried and cautious.
Sucking in a gasp, I hit the brakes suddenly, bringing the car to an abrupt stop.
But then, a second car did same some meters behind me. Cautiously, I watched it in the rear mirror as the driver set it to park, pushing the car open as he alighted.
"Yes, Noah," I smirked and looked at him. "I've never been better."
By the time Simon had walked the distance between both our cars, he bent over to my side of the window and propped his elbows upon it, almost sticking his head in.
Simultaneously, my brother and I glared at him. While Noah was confused, I was overly disdainful.
"Hello Jeffery," he flashed his teeth at me. Soon though, he looked past to stare at my passenger. "Noah, I've heard so much about you. I'm certain you'd be elated to hear what Jeffery's been up to since you left."
Finally, Simon looked upon me again. When our eyes met, he smirked an evil kind of thing, his eyes speaking w kind of language that told me it was payback time.
Without fuss, I returned my gaze to the road and sighed.
This wasn't happening.
***
"Ah," Alan smiled cheekily like he'd never done before. "So unlike Simon to decide to play the villain in the midst of a happy ending."
I let an easy laugh out when I remembered it all. Back then, I did see it as one of those punishments for all I'd done; but now, I totally realised he was just being a piece of scum.
"Emily could hear my heartbeat when we all arrived at the gym and Simon asked to have a private "chat" with my brother." Sticking my pen between my teeth, I looked into nothingness. "I aptly remember literally shivering that moment."
"While Simon had only been telling me how dexterous of a boxer you are," Noah finally chose to speak up.
He had one cheeky smirk on as he sat right across from me.
"The guilty are always afraid; first lesson," Simon faked the tone of a student, probably penning down what he'd just said. However, when the act was over, he rested a hand on his thigh, glancing up right afterwards. "Actually, that was my own attempt at revenge. Like, why not mess with that kid's head until he apologized?"
"It's about time you stopped calling me "kid". And playing with my head like that wasn't funny," I rolled my eyes with a sigh. About now, I was getting exhausted from the entire day. With my fingers on my lips, I watched my notepad.
" Uh…is this supposed to be the end of the story," Noah raised a brow, glancing from side to side in wait for some sort of confirmation.
"Jeff here has this attitude of unnecessary suspense," said Mrs Harper as she faked a yawn.
"Nah," lowering my fingers, I gazed at my brother. "Actually, this part is worth that suspense. Redemption."