by Donna Cain
Clara felt really bad for Jeremy, but she was glad that Hansen was gone. Angie and Emily started talking about the party again, so Clara decided to stay and wait for the bell. She looked around the cafeteria as she talked and finally she found him. He was sitting at the table by the doors to the gym with Eli. Hunter looked great today. He had on a moss green shirt that matched his eyes. He was nodding at something Eli had just said. As she watched, he glanced in her direction, and she shot him a big smile. He looked a little confused at first but then smiled back. Clara’s tummy did a little flip. “Hansen is history,” she thought.
By late afternoon, Clara was using a key while grading papers in Ms. Leezil’s classroom. She was having trouble concentrating, however. Her mind kept wandering, coming up with ways to break-up with Hansen. She thought the best idea was to do it when she was close to her house. Since he lived down the street, he would walk up to her house sometimes to see her. She could just tell him and go inside the safety of her home. Clara kind of hoped he would come over today. She was finally ready to pull the trigger. She hadn’t seen him after school and nobody knew what had happened after he had gone to Principal Harrison’s office.
Ten minutes later she found out. Her phone chimed an alert that she had a new text. It was from Hansen. “Had to stay after for detention. Can’t go to football till next week. Give me a ride home.”
“That’s nice,” thought Clara. “No hi, how are you. No please, no thank you. Well fine, I’ll give you a ride home. To my house. Then I’ll tell you it’s over and go inside. You can walk home from there.”
When it was time to quit for the day, Ms. Leezil and Clara walked out of the classroom. As Ms. Leezil locked her door, she said, “Thanks, Clara. Have a good night, Hon.” Then she walked over to where Mr. Just was waiting for her.
Hansen was there in no time. As they walked to the student parking lot, he gave Clara a play by play of his conversation with the principal. Clara didn’t care and only half listened. They made it out to her car and climbed in.
“Yep! They’ll be sorry when my dad calls the school tomorrow! He won’t stand for this! The coach’ll be mad, too. The team has NO defense without me.” Hansen’s tirade was unending.
Clara was more interested in why her car wasn’t starting. When she turned the key, a series of little clicks sounded instead of the purr of her little VW Bug’s engine. She tried it again only to hear the same little, “click, click, click, click, click”.
“Oh, great! Your piece of crap car is shot! That’s just great, Clara! What’d you do, flood it? Don’t you know how to drive? Geez! Women drivers!” Hansen railed at her.
“I did not flood it; it sounds like the battery to me.” Clara’s dad was serious about his little girl driving. Before handing her the keys, he had taught her how to change her own oil, fill the wash fluid and made her watch a DVD titled Automobile Care and Maintenance. She remembered the same sound coming from a car on the DVD that was having battery trouble. “And if you want to get out and walk home, be my guest!”
Hansen was about to respond when there was a tap on Clara’s window. It was Mr. Just. Clara opened her door since she couldn’t roll down the window. “Hey, Mr. Just. I think my battery’s dead.”
“Yeah, that’s what it sounded like to me, too.” He had just said goodbye to Julie and was walking to his car when he had heard Clara’s VW refusing to start.
“Can you call someone? I don’t keep jumper cables in my Jeep.” He looked over at Hansen’s angry face and was immediately reluctant to leave Clara alone with him. There were very few cars left in the lot at that time of day, and he didn’t see anyone else around. Julie had just pulled out, too.
“I don’t think so. My dad’s flying until Friday and Mom works at the courthouse in Glovercroft. I’m not supposed to call because she might be in the middle of a trial. She does the court reporting.”
Mr. Just looked over at Hansen and asked, “What about you?”
Hansen sneered and replied, “It’s not my car. My dad’s not gonna come over and fix it.”
“Yeah, I figured,” Mr. Just said. “Hansen, you’re really a piece of work, Man.” He was not about to leave Clara alone with that beast, so he did the only thing he could. “Come on, then. I’ll ride you both home real quick. Where do you live, Clara?”
“Oh! Thanks, Mr. Just! We live really close, just in Meadowview Acres. We both live there.” Clara was relieved not to be stuck alone with Hansen.
They walked together to the staff parking and got into Phillip’s Jeep. Clara got in front with Mr. Just, and, Hansen shoved his bulky self into the back. The top was off, and the fresh air felt nice. Clara closed her eyes on the way home and felt the wind in her hair. She knew Hansen was pissed in the back seat, but she didn’t care. She felt free. She hadn’t realized how trapped she had been feeling.
They arrived at the subdivision too soon. Clara could have ridden around in Mr. Just’s Jeep for hours, but reality came crashing back when she heard Hansen say, “I’ll just get out at her house. We have things to discuss.”
Mr. Just’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked squarely at Clara. “That okay with you? I can take him on to his house if you want.”
Clara said, “No, it’s alright. Really. Thanks a lot for the ride, Mr. Just. I’ll tell my mom about the car and we’ll handle it.”
“Ain’t nothin’ but a thing,” he replied. The kids were both getting out of his Jeep when his phone rang. Looking at the screen, he saw that it was Julie. He put the Jeep in park and took the call while still in front of Clara’s house. They had talked about getting together for dinner that night, and he wanted to know the plan.
Hansen was walking with Clara to the sidewalk in front of her house when she stopped. Turning to look him square in the face she said, “So here’s the thing. I’m done with you. I’m done with your stupid pranks, I’m done with your mean comments and teasing and most of all I’m done with kissing you. It’s gross. And if you ever try to grab my hair again, I’ll kick you in the crotch. Don’t think I won’t. So that’s it, we’re over.” She stopped talking and stared right at him. She could tell that he was furious, but he was shocked as well. She was a little afraid, but she knew that Mr. Just was still parked in his Jeep a few feet away, and she knew lots of her neighbors were home. When Hansen didn’t say anything, she turned to go into her house. That’s when he blew.
“You bitch! Nobody breaks up with me! Who do you think you are? You’re a nobody! I MADE you! You’re nothing without me! And you think you can just dump me? Think again!” He looked like he was about to lunge at Clara.
Just then, the door across the street to Hunter’s house flew open, and he came running out. He ran across the street and was about to run past Hansen and Clara toward the woods when Hansen reached out and grabbed his backpack. He gave it a hard yank causing Hunter to fall backwards onto the lawn. “What’s this, Sissy Boy? Did you come over to save your little friend?”
“Give it back!” Hunter yelled at him. “I have to go! Give me that back!”
Realizing that he had found a perfect victim, Hansen pushed Hunter back down again and decided to toy with him. “Why? What’s so important, Pansy Boy?” He started to unzip the pack and Hunter yelled, “Stop, don’t unzip that! Give it back to me!”
Hansen was having fun now. All the rage he had toward Clara was now being directed at Hunter. He unzipped the pack while still holding off Hunter. “Stop! No!” Hunter was almost begging him now.
“Oh,” Hansen said. “It’s a pretty widdle rock! Does the widdle Pansy Boy like collecting rocks?”
Mr. Just had looked up from his cell right as Hansen had called Clara a bitch. “That kid just doesn’t know when to stop,” he thought. He was telling Julie that he’d call her right back when Hunter Massey had run across the street and been snagged by Hansen. Mr. Just jumped out of his Jeep and walked quickly over to the scene.
He could tell immediately that something was terribly wrong. Hansen’s face w
as turning bright red and his eyes bulged. The other two kids were just staring, not knowing what to do. Phillip didn’t know what to do either. He thought that maybe Hansen was choking and was trying to remember how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver. Hansen started to claw at his throat frantically as Phillip ran to position himself behind the boy. He was reaching around Hansen’s generous middle trying to get a hold, when Hansen bucked Mr. Just off of him and fell to the ground. He lay there on the grass convulsing – his face turning purple. Mr. Just ran back to his Jeep to retrieve his phone and dialed 9-1-1. She answered after the first ring.
“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” Rachel’s voice was steady and calm on the other end.
“This is Phillip Just, I’m in the neighborhood of Meadowview Acres and there’s a teenage boy here having some kind of attack,” he relayed while his heart sped up.
“Meadowview Acres?” Rachel asked, stunned. “I just had another call not two minutes ago from there. “Is this about the Andrews girl?”
“The Andrews girl? No! This is Hansen Reynolds! He’s having some kind of problem breathing! Hurry, I don’t think he has much time,” Mr. Just said shakily. I’m getting a little freaked out here, Man.
“We already have a crew on the way. I’ll radio and tell them your situation. Sit tight. It won’t be long.” Then she was gone.
Phillip Just looked over to where Hansen had been scratching his throat and rolling on the ground. He saw that the boy was perfectly still; his throat was raw and bloody where he had tried to scratch open an airway.
Shocked, Mr. Just shook his head and thought, “Karma, Man.”
CHAPTER 17
Peaceful Hearts
Bug sat in an overstuffed chair in the foyer of the Peaceful Hearts Funeral Home. She was waiting for her parents. Unfortunately, they had two sets of families to console today. Since Peaceful Hearts was the only funeral home in Hallston, Hansen Reynolds had been laid out in one room, while Heather Andrews occupied the other. Practically everyone Bug knew had passed by her going to one viewing or the other as she sat. Most people went to both.
Bug had been curious about everything that had transpired the past week. It had all started with her decision to follow Eli and Hunter into the woods last Friday. She remembered the cold, clammy feeling that had come over her. She was sweating but still felt cold, and she remembered feeling weak. She also remembered Eli telling her about Mr. Jackson and the deputy driving them home. She didn’t remember fainting in his squad car, but they said she did. Super weird. She had never fainted in her life before that night.
Her parents had been so happy to see her that she didn’t even get in trouble for going into the woods in the first place. That was lucky. She knew Mr. Jackson hadn’t been lucky, though – Bug had read about brain hemorrhages in the same magazine that she had read about the migraine headaches. Her headache had gone away as soon as she had gotten home, though.
She also remembered something else. She remembered Eli and Hunter passing a shiny silver box back and forth to each other. She knew that they hadn’t had the box with them going into the woods because she had watched them. All they had with them was the backpack Hunter was wearing. Where had they gotten that box? What did they have in it? Also super weird.
Then, just a few days later, Heather Andrews had an aneurysm. That’s what most people were saying had killed her. At about the same time, Hansen died from his throat swelling. They were saying he had an allergic reaction to something. Bug felt bad for the Andrews family, and she was still trying really hard to feel bad for Hansen.
All in all, the last week had been very curious, and if there was one thing Bug Hamilton needed the most – it was answers. It was almost like some puzzle that she needed to solve, and Bug knew that she was up to the challenge. Knowledge is power.
She already had her first clue. Shasta had come to see her Monday, and they had talked about Mr. Jackson. Bug had asked Shasta for as much information as she knew about Mr. Jackson’s previous health problems. Was there any family history of stroke? Had he been feeling anything out of the ordinary? Shasta had tried to answer, but just didn’t have that kind of information. She did have some other information, though. She told Bug that Hunter had a theory that there was some type of chemical in the woods that the construction people had used to help kill vegetation and ward off animals. Bug slipped that bit of information into her iron-clad memory.
Next up was research. Bug searched online for any widely used chemicals that could be used in clearing vegetation that could trigger health problems. That was futile. Almost every chemical on the planet can trigger health problems. Next, she researched Gary Sam Construction and Oakwood Homes. There wasn’t anything in either company’s history that pointed to a similar occurrence. Then Bug hit a wall. She didn’t know where to go next.
That was, until Wednesday. Bug had been watching a documentary on the ecological ramifications of forest clearing when she first heard the commotion. Someone was yelling outside. She went to the front room and looked out the window to see who it was. The yelling was coming from further down the street, so she opened the front door and stepped out.
The scene was in front of Clara Stagg’s house. There was a Jeep parked on the street, and she could see a man getting out. Clara was there and her boyfriend, Hansen, was yelling at her. Bug was about to go back inside when she saw Hunter running across the street. She gasped as she witnessed Hansen first grab then yank Hunter’s backpack off of him. Bug, feeling a little ashamed for watching but unable to stop, sat down on the front step. Hunter was yelling at Hansen, and Hansen was unzipping the backpack. He reached inside and pulled out something. What is that? To Bug it looked like a piece of concrete. That’s when things went from bad to worse. Even from her house two houses up the street, Bug could see Hansen’s face getting red. Bug was suddenly afraid. Her instincts told her to go inside, and she listened.
Once inside the safety of her house, she decided to keep an eye on things. She peeked out of the side window that faced the opposite end of the street and had a clear view of Clara’s sidewalk. Clara and Hunter stood side by side. They were looking at the large, still form of Hansen sprawled out on the lawn. The man in the Jeep was on the phone. Bug saw Hunter turn away from Clara and throw up on the sidewalk. Then, he grabbed his backpack up off the ground, went over to where Hansen had dropped the rock, scooped it up and put it back in the pack. Once Hunter had zipped it up, he said something to Clara and then ran back across the street and down his driveway. Bug lost sight of him after that. Super curious. What’s that piece of rock thing? Why’s it so important? Was that in his backpack on Friday going into the woods – or was it in that box?
That was about the time the first ambulance showed up, and Bug got worried. She was worried because it didn’t stop at Clara’s house. It went to the Andrews’ house. Bug called her dad. He had been home within minutes, followed by her mom an hour later. By then, the neighborhood was crowded with people talking in little groups. Family members of the Andrews’ started arriving at their house. Hansen had been taken away in the second ambulance, and Clara’s house was relatively quiet. The man in the Jeep was gone. Bug didn’t know what was going on with the Reynolds family since Hansen’s house was further down Meadowview Drive.
Bug’s parents had quizzed her endlessly about what she had witnessed. Then she had been allowed to go with them when Mark and Ann ventured out to join one of the groups of neighbors discussing the events. That had been disappointing to Bug. No one knew any more than she did.
Bug was lost in thought as she sat in her puffy chair at the funeral home. She had initially gone in to show her respects to both families. She saw Heather laid out in her casket. She was plastic looking, and Bug didn’t think that they did her hair the right way. When she had seen Heather before, her hair was always curled into a bunch of loose ringlets that fell down her back. Whoever styled her hair for the last time had made a bunch of jumbo curls that lay awkwardly around her shoulders. Bu
g thought Heather would be upset about that.
She hadn’t bothered to look at dead Hansen. She had had enough of him while he was alive. “Oops,” she thought, “don’t think ill of the dead.” She tried hard to think of something nice about Hansen. Finally she had it and went up to Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds and said, “Hansen was the biggest one on the football team. I’m sorry you lost your son.” There! Super job!
She was still in her puffy chair and lost in thought when Clara came up to her and said, “Hey, Buggie. How are you?”
“Oh! Hi Clara,” Bug replied. “I’m fine. Sorry about your boyfriend.”
Bug noticed one of Clara’s eyebrows twitch up when she said, “Yep, poor Hansen. Hey, have you seen Hunter? I thought he’d be in Heather’s room with Eli, but I didn’t see him.”
“No,” Bug said. “He hasn’t come in yet. I’ve been sitting here for at least an hour and a half and he hasn’t passed by me yet. Why do you want to talk to him? Is it because he was there when Hansen died?”
Clara looked shocked at Bug’s question but recovered quickly. “Uh, no. I wanted to talk to him about something else. Well, I’ll see you later, Buggie.” She turned and started back down the hall to Hansen’s room.
As soon as Clara went into the room with the Reynolds family, Eli came out of the room where Heather was. He looked tired to Bug. He saw her looking at him and made his way to the foyer.
“How’re you doing with all this, Bug?” He asked.
“Oh, I’m doing fine. I’m sorry for you, though, Eli. I think Heather was the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. She never talked to me at all, but she was nice to look at.”
Eli grinned at that and replied, “You know, Bug, I think hearing that would have made her happy.”
“Do you have to stay here all day?” Bug asked.
“Yeah, I don’t want to leave my mom. Dad’s here, too, and that’s kinda awkward. He’s acting like he’s all broken up over it, but he hadn’t even talked to Heather in weeks. I wish he’d leave.” Eli sat down in the puffy chair next to Bug’s.