by Rua Hasan
Matt would try to decrease the tension with his usual stupid actions while Troy would make up some kind of joke. When Jasmine would come over, she’d bring her delicious chocolate cake that Tyler loved so much. The twins also tried to help me around, giving me advice while Naomi prayed for the best. But still, none of us were able to bring a smile back to Tyler’s face.
Not even me.
The only time I noticed Tyler’s eyes shine was when he was holding his mother’s hand, waiting to see whether it would move or not.
So as you can see, it’s been a hectic week for all of us. The only thing I used to look forward to on a heavy day was to get into bed and sleep but unfortunately, things have changed with all the nightmares Tyler has been having. Every single time I close my eyes, I fear that I’d wake up to a screaming Tyler.
“Gem, Troy is coming to pick me up. He’s taking me to the hospital. Do you want to come?” Tyler asked popping his head into my room. My head lifted up and turned to look at his tired face but knew all too well that once he sees his sleeping mother he’d feel better. I nodded my head and smiled.
“Of course. Let me just change quickly.”
Tyler nodded.
“I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”
“Okay,” I muttered, watching him as he tried to force on a smile but it didn’t reach his eyes so instead he walked over to me and kissed my forehead. I held his hand and gave it a squeeze, hoping that this simple gesture would somehow comfort him. He nodded his head slightly before turning around and walked of my room so I could change. Once the door closed, I walked into my closet and grabbed some simple clothes to change in. Right when I was about to take off my pajamas, I heard my phone buzz on the counter.
Placing the clothes on my bed, I walked over to my phone and picked it up, realizing it was a message from Dan. I started reading the message which brought a frown to my face.
‘Troy is on his way to take Tyler to the hospital. But don’t go with him. I need to see you immediately. It’s important.’
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, wondering what was so important that I couldn’t go with Tyler when he needed me the most but I knew that Dan wouldn’t stop me from going for no reason. I replied a quick ‘okay’ and turned off my phone before putting my clothes away. I walked down the stairs to see Tyler sitting on the couch, waiting for Troy. Once he noticed me in the room, he looked up and realized that I still haven’t changed.
“Why aren’t you changed?” he asked, tilting his head. I bit my lip nervously, not knowing what to tell him. What can I tell him without having to lie? It was obvious that Dan didn’t want Tyler to know that he wanted to tell me something or else he wouldn’t have wanted to come when Tyler wasn’t here. I gulped down my anxiousness and walked over to where he was sitting. I sat down beside him and took his hand in mine.
“Tyler, I was thinking of driving myself there after half an hour. I have this major headache and I think I’d like to rest a bit.” The lie slipped out of my tongue in ease and I couldn’t help but feel the uneasiness, not liking one bit that I was lying to him. I never lied to him. Tyler didn’t seem suspicious at all but I could see the pain in his eyes. Maybe he thought that he was the cause of my fake headache? He nodded before kissing my nose.
“I’m sorry I’m keeping you up all night because of me,” he whispered.
I shook my head and took his face in my hands.
“You know it’s not your fault. Besides, I’d do anything for you,” I whispered back before kissing his lips. I felt his lips tremble against mine before pulling away. He rested his forehead on mine as we stared into each other eyes for what seems to be forever. If only time could stay still so we could treasure moments like these. I sent him a small smile as I cupped his cheek with the palm of my hand.
“She’ll wake up soon. You’ll see.” I assured him.
Tyler’s eyes began to water but I knew he was holding himself back. He slowly nodded his head and pulled away once his phone began to ring. He flickered his eyes to his phone then back at me.
“It’s Troy. He must be outside,” he muttered, before getting up. He then answered the call and placed the phone to his ear.
“Yeah hello? Okay I’ll be right there.”
And with that Tyler hung up and turned to me.
“He’s waiting for me. Text me when you decide to come―” He paused, taking ahold of my hand before giving my knuckles a kiss.
“Thank you so much Gem for everything you’ve done for me,” he said sincerely, taking my head in between his hands and leaning over to kiss me. “You mean the world to me. I don’t know what I’ll do without you,” he whispered.
I rested my head on his chest and wrapped my arms around him.
“I’m right here. No matter what happens I’ll still be there.” I lifted my head to look up at him and kissed his jaw. “I’d do anything to see your daily grin once again,” I whispered sadly.
Tyler’s lips twitched up but it wasn’t a smirk or anything like that. Instead it was a sad smile.
“You’re the only thing right now that’s keeping me sane,” he told me. I gave him a smile and kissed his cheek as I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. I ran my hand through Tyler’s hair and kissed his lips before pulling away.
“It’ll all be over in a blink of an eye. You’ll see.” I assured him once more. He nodded before kissing my forehead and pulled away. He waved at me and walked towards the door but stopped suddenly and turned around once again to look at me.
“I know you’re tired. Sleep as much as you want. You deserve it.”
And with that Tyler walked out the door before closing it.
It was really hard for him. Everything was. I wanted to tell him that he deserved the world. That he was so strong with dealing with the plague that spread through his life, especially when he was living right next to the house that burned down only a week ago. I can tell that living here wasn’t easy. But he wanted to do this. I asked countless times if he was okay with it and he gave me the same answer over and over again.
His answer was that he lost too many people and couldn’t afford to lose me. So he stayed over at my house instead of Dan’s, making sure that I was by his side. Besides, Dan’s mother wasn’t in the best state. She was still mourning for Thomas’s death, now she had Paul on her conscience as well. I guess Tyler and I weren’t the only ones who had a bunch of problems on our plate.
I snapped out of my own thoughts when I heard the doorbell ring. I turned around facing the door and began walking towards it knowing that it must be Dan. I started to feel nervous all of a sudden. My heart began to beat against my rib cage for some odd reason and I couldn’t shake the feeling away. Dan was here for something important. I don’t know what it was but if he wanted me to lie to Tyler then I had to see or at least know the reason why.
Opening the front door, my eyes met a pale Dan who looked as if he just saw a ghost. He had dark bags under his eyes which meant that he wasn’t sleeping well, or at all, and gave me a grim look. My mouth fell open anxiously as I opened the door wider for him to come in. He immediately walked in and sat down on my couch, waiting for me to sit down as well.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Dan closed his eyes before taking a deep breath.
“I needed to show you something very important but you have to be seated,” he said.
This confused me even more but I merely nodded and sat down beside him.
“It’s that important?” I asked.
He nodded.
“I’m afraid so.” He breathed out before taking out something from his pocket. I lifted an eyebrow and saw Dan holding a phone.
“Crystal.” He started as he passed me over the phone. I took it in my hand, still very confused and began to inspect it. “That is Paul’s phone.”
I lifted an eyebrow.
“How was it not burned with him?” I asked.
“The police searched Emma’s car for any clues
and found his phone inside. I guess he left it there,” he explained.
“Okay but how is this important?”
“I’m getting there.” He let out a breath before he started. “The police handed it over to my mom since they found no clues of the suicide attempt. My mom thought nothing of it when she saw the picture inside. I didn’t either until I looked really closely and figured out something which got my heartbeat to stop.” He gulped.
“What did you figure out?” I asked nervously.
Dan gestured me to open the phone. And so I did. But what I found inside made me wish that I never opened it. Once the phone was unlocked, I was already in the photo app. There were normal pictures of food and selfies inside but there was one particular picture that stood out and it made all the color from my face instantly disappear. One picture that caused more confusion and made my heartbeat stop for a moment.
It was a picture of a younger Paul, holding a beautiful woman in his arms. They looked to be very young, but that’s not what surprised me. It also wasn’t the fact that the woman seemed to be pregnant because her stomach was large. The fact that they seemed to in love and very happy in the pictures wasn’t what surprised me either. It was the fact that the woman looked awfully familiar.
The pregnant woman in the picture was my mother.
“I figured out that the girl in that picture looked exactly like you.” Dan’s voice brought me out of my trance. I looked up at him with shaky hands and blurry eyes.
“I-I I don’t get it,” I whispered. “Why is my mom in the same picture as Paul? Did they know each other? Why does he have a picture of her?” I asked, feeling a lump in my throat.
Dan shook his head slightly.
“I have no idea. That was the only picture I found. I was hoping that maybe you’d have more clues. If Paul has a picture of your mother then maybe your mother has a picture of him.” Dan suggested.
I let out a loud sigh and ran my hands though my hair in frustration. Several thoughts were clouding my mind along with multiple possibilities.
“You might be right.” I bit my lip at the thought and got up, looking at the picture once again. “My mom was certainly a person who loved to treasure things. She might have some clues on what happened. But what really shocked me was that they know each other.” I shook my head in disbelief.
“I had no idea they were friends,” I said more to myself as I stared at the picture which seemed to be taken from an old photo album since it wasn’t the best quality.
Dan got off the couch and took the phone in his hand.
“I have to go now, but please tell me if you find anything that might clear this up.”
I nodded.
“Okay, I’ll searched through my parents’ stuff. I’ll see if I find anything useful.” I assured him.
Dan gave me a small smile and waved goodbye before disappearing out of the door. I took a deep breath and placed my hand over my beating heart, still not believing what I just saw.
Something was definitely suspicious.
Something snapped in me, a part that wanted to look for answers, so I immediately dashed to the closet where my dad used to keep all his stuff in. That was the first place I was going to look in. If I couldn’t find anything in here then I’d have to kick it up a notch and look in my parents’ old bedroom which I hoped I really didn’t have to do because it felt wrong going in there and looking through their stuff.
I opened the closet and took out my dad’s toolbox. I then set aside a couple of books he used to read along with some dusty shoes before I basically went through all his things at every corner. I opened all the boxes only to found more books.
Well that’s what I thought until I suddenly noticed the last thick book in the bottom of the box. Only it wasn’t a book.
It was a photo album.
I opened it in a hurry and looked through every page, hoping to find something that would catch my attention. Unfortunately, the only things I found were pictures of me and my parents along with a couple of baby pictures some sightings my mom took when we were on vacation.
Letting out a sigh of frustration, I closed the album and shoved it back into the box along with all the others. After five minutes of just placing everything back to where it was, I closed the closet in defeat and took a deep breath.
This could only mean one thing.
That I had to search through my parents’ old room.
Knowing what had to be done, I forced my legs to move, despite the fact that I didn’t want to intrude. Deep down, I knew I had to do this. It’s been years since they’ve been gone but I could still feel their presence in this house. Even though I cleaned their room every now and then (some dusting and sweeping here and there), I still didn’t went through the room thoroughly, but that will have to change.
After what seemed like forever, I finally found myself standing in front if their door. I slowly lifted my shaky hands and clenched the handle tightly. I gave myself one final pep talk before I took a deep breath and yanked the door open. The sight in front of me will forever haunt me.
It was an empty room.
I closed the door behind me and looked around the place in sadness. I tried to push away the depressing thoughts because I knew I was here for another reason and not to mourn for their death. I knew that was very hard to do, but I had to be strong.
I lifted my head up high and began to walk towards the drawer which was placed right beside the bed my parents used to sleep on.
I opened it slowly for the first time in years and welcomed the dust that hit my face. I probably should have went through and cleaned them back then, but I guess I just never had the guts to open their stuff. which didn’t belong to me.
After a moment of just staring at a couple of pins, hair clips and some keys, I closed it and opened the drawer under it. The same thing went on with all the other two. I found nothing that would help me, not even a clue. After looking under the bed, I only found a couple of bags and shoes my mom used to keep under there but nothing interesting at all. So I went over to their closet and opened the door. I walked in to see many of their old clothes hanged onto the rack. I looked through the dusty clothes and into all the shoeboxes but once again found nothing which frustrated me.
Getting back up from my knees, I was about to give up and walk out the door but stopped immediately when something caught my eye.
Something silver.
I kneeled down and got closer to the shiny surface which was hidden right behind all my dad’s large coats. I moved them to the side and gasped when I saw a small silver door attached to the wall. It seems to be a safe because when I tried to open it, it wouldn’t budge. There was a lock but the problem was that I had no key. Maybe this was where all the money was kept?
I was about to give up and walk back downstairs. I was ready to tell Dan that I found nothing when I suddenly remembered the random keys I found earlier in the drawer. I got up and ran out of the closet and to the drawer. I opened it and took all the keys in my hands before running back to the safe, all while praying to the lords that one of these keys would work and open the safe. I wished and hoped that there would be something in there that might ease the confusion.
Finally, my silent prayers were answered. After trying the third key, I heard a click. I opened the safe to see a brown shoebox. I blinked once more before taking the box into my hands and placed it onto the floor. After taking a deep breath, I opened it to see countless pictures.
They were almost the exact same ones that Dan showed me before.
I took all the pictures in my hand, ignoring the small book right beside them and looked through each and every one. As I examined every photo, I felt the colors from my face disappear once again.
All the pictures were my mom and Paul smiling to the camera. Some where they looked to be young, while others were Paul holding my mom in his arms as his hands rested on her large pregnant stomach. I felt my stomach clench in confusion as confused tears blurred my eyes and I sud
denly found myself wondering what the hell was happening! Why the hell was Paul holding my mother in his arms as if they were lovers?
I was starting to fear the possibilities that clouded my mind. I examined every single picture, and looked at every corner but found nothing that could answer all my questions. I swallowed the lump in my throat and rubbed my eyes with the palm of my hands. I placed the photos down to my knees and clenched my fist as I again, looked through every picture but found nothing.
Well, that was before I looked back into the box and noticed the small book inside. The same one I paid no second glance to until now. I averted my eyes away from the photos and immediately grabbed the book. I opened it to see something that could probably answer all my questions.
A diary.
I flipped through every page, reading through the pages when I noticed that it belonged to my mother’s. Her name was written on the front page in bold letters:
‘Ruby’
I couldn’t help but feel like I was intruding in my mother’s personal life but I knew that nothing could stop me at this very moment, especially after seeing countless pictures of Paul hugging my mother. I flipped through the first couple of pages, and stopped halfway through. As I turned every page, I read the first line before I continued to skim.
‘Today’s weather was very gloomy but I couldn’t help but notice something strange in the sky. I could already sense a storm coming.’
Flip.
‘I should have never eaten that pie I bought from that old lady who was selling them right outside of Walmart. Right now I have a really bad stomachache. I can’t stop throwing up.’
Flip.
‘I’m not sure why but the days have been getting too long for my liking. I’ve noticed that I’ve become a very lazy person, always sleeping.’
Flip.
‘Today might be the best day of my entire life. It’s been a very long week for me but it seems as if things have finally been getting better. Paul decided to move in with me and our love has been growing by the second. You can say that a future with him was sure to happen.’