A rose should be red: Part 1 - Secrets

by Akaku Red

  This moment where we both just spend time together, watching a movie, talking — were moments that I really appreciated and enjoyed the most.

  It was special and something I couldn’t take for granted.

  I loved her very much.

  The next morning Linette and I were already on the train to Cambridge.

  We met early and we promised to be back before the afternoon, so we had enough time to look for the address.

  “I am so exited!”

  Linette said, as we took our seats.

  “Me too! … I just hope that we find her!”

  She took my hand and enclosed it in hers.

  “We will. I’m sure!”

  Because she didn’t want me to always thank her or apologise, I just nodded.

  Linette was lovely and our friendship grew stronger with each day that passed.

  I started to trust her and we both got along very well.

  My eyes followed her silhouette; today she wearing a beautiful floral dress, which matched her flower like image.

  Her short brown her was braided and she had a heart shaped hairpin on, even though she didn’t need to wear glasses, today she wore a black pair with big round frames — to look more like a detective, she reasoned.

  “In August, was the verdict. Nine years ago?”

  Hearing her words made me swallow hard.

  “Yeah … this year it will be on a Saturday…”

  “What do you usually do on that day?”

  “Well, nothing much. I just feel sad and the memories are really strong. It wasn’t a good experience and since … they didn’t really believe me, I felt like the culprit. Even though I was the victim! And with each year … they are a step closer to being free from the addiction clinic and monitoring. If they aren’t out already…”

  She sighed.

  “So this man is in a clinic?”

  “Yeah… my real mum too! Both were sentenced to an addiction clinic and therapy with a psychiatrist for ten years. And if they changed, they could get out earlier.”

  “Wow! At least they got a sentence.”

  I looked outside the window and watched the buildings, trees and some tunnels pass by, as the train rushed through. The speed was too fast for my eyes, but I still managed to see parts of the city from this side of the train.

  “Did both of them do bad things to you?”

  I saw her sad expression in the window, as it reflected her face.

  “My mother… Cindy was the one holding me, while Thomas punished me. When she was high, she would thrash me without a warning and shout at me. Thomas was a psychopath. He was the one who beat me up all day, but it was not enough for him. He even tortured me, in every way possible. And there was his friend Daniel …”

  I stopped myself from talking about this guy… because he was the last person, I wanted to remember.

  Linette made her hands into fists; she looked furious.

  “I hope they get everything back. I hope all of them get everything back or they should die.”

  I sighed.

  “Don’t wish for something like this. They are bad people and they did deserve a better punishment, but I just hope that … they will get clean, and that they will never ever come near me again. They can live their life, without me or any other children in the near! I only wish… that I never see them again.”

  She looked at me, shocked, her eyes widened.

  “Aren’t you mad? Don’t you wish for them to at least get beaten up?”

  “I did.”

  I looked deep into her brown eyes.

  “I did wish them all the bad things in the world. I suffered a lot, but Alice did her best to teach me to live with a good heart and to never let the hatred control my feelings. I really hate and detest Thomas and my mother. But having anger and hate in my heart, would not make me any better than them.”

  Linette sighed heavily.

  “You are right. I am sorry… You are really strong. I couldn’t do that! I am very sensitive and resentful.”

  I pulled my bag up to my lap and opened it, to give Linette her sandwich which we bought before we got on the train.

  She took it gladly and started eating, with a heavy expression on her face.

  “You act, as if I said that I would forgive them! I didn’t forgive nor did I forget what they have done to me! I still have scars on my body and many scars mentally, which are slowly healing. But it can only heal, if I accept everything and … if I let the past go… It’s easier said, than done — and I am still struggling with it, but I am trying my best.”

  I explained.

  “And I am going to help you!”

  She talked with her mouth full and the people started looking at her with a disgusted expression.

  But she didn’t care, which reminded me of Alice.

  Alice didn't care about what other people would think of her, she didn't mind; an awesome trait, since it was not easy to block out other peoples’ judgment.

  Linette and I started talking about a lot of things, which made the time fly by fast.

  We arrived at our station. We got out quickly, because we didn’t want to waste the time we had for our mission.

  I knew that Cambridge was famous for its university and historical city, but I was stunned to find out that it really looked like the pictures online.

  We were at the centre of the city and it looked amazing, but not so many people were around.

  It was little, yet very clear and the buildings sprawled out before us.

  Between the buildings were the little walkways.

  Following the path, we didn’t really know where it was going to take us, but we had time so we walked around slowly…

  Enjoying each other’s company, watching the beautiful city, till we landed next to the Cam.

  And again, everything looked like a picture!

  Even the river was clean and flowed gently. On the other side was the big University in all its splendour — It was amazing.

  “Wow! It is beautiful.”

  Linette took her phone out to take pictures of everything around.

  And she even started taking some of us. At first I was very reserved, but as she kept on saying things to make me laugh, I felt comfortable and posed with her.

  She turned the trip into a funny one.

  And even though I was in a rush to find Alice, I still enjoyed Linette’s effort to make happy memories together.

  “This is so exiting and so cool! I am glad we met!”

  She jumped on me and hugged me tight.

  “Me too!”

  My arms around her back tightened too.

  “So, where is the house?”

  “Just a moment, I need to see the map again.”

  I took my phone out of my pocket, then I entered the address on Google Maps and analysed the way to the house.

  As I memorised the way, I let the phone slide back into my pocket.

  “Follow me.”

  I started leading the way, while Linette watched my every move.

  It was ten minutes away from the centre of the City. The buildings were glued to each other and every house looked the same – it wasn’t easy to find the right building.

  But after a while, we found the number of the house we were looking for and we approached it.

  It looked like all the other ones; small, brown and old — as if it stood there for serval decades already.

  Only the gates to each house looked different, since the owners had decorated them with many different flowers; this was the only difference between the buildings.

  With every step we took, my heart-beat rose.

  I had high hopes and I was really excited.

  What would I do if Alice was there? How would she react? Did she even want to see me?

  Suddenly I felt insecure.

  I mean … she didn’t respond to my letters.

  What if she didn’t want to see me?

  “Hey, you don't need to worry. Everything w
ill be fine!”

  Linette took my hand and smiled.

  “You are not alone.”

  Her presence made me calm down a bit, I nodded my head to her words and smiled a little.

  We stood in front of the door.

  A letterbox was next to it, with a name tag on.

  ‘Thompson’ and there was a different name under the first name, ‘Parker’.

  “I guess this house, is for two families.” Linette whispered.

  She rang the bell, not knowing which one it belonged to.

  We couldn’t know which family member was going to open the door.

  We waited a few moments, before she rang the bell again.

  I almost thought that nobody was home, but suddenly we heard noises behind the door, which made Linette jump slightly from foot to foot.

  “Oh yeah! Somebody is home!”

  “EVEN ON A DAMN SUNDAY! I CAN’T HAVE PRIVACY!”

  A manly voice made us jump.

  Linette stopped smiling, and I looked at her with a shocked expression on my face.

  “Someone is not pleased to see us.” She muttered.

  Two doors opened at the same time.

  One of the neighbours came out from the house next door, and sat down on the dooryard; it was a woman, who started smoking a cigarette, while the door in front us opened up and an old man with grey hair stood before us.

  He was a little chubby and short in height … very much less than Linette.

  We both were speechless, because we didn’t think that we would meet someone like him.

  Well, I didn’t have a specific person in mind but … I was still surprised.

  Was he the one who adopted Alice?

  “What do you want?”

  His tone was mad; he held his door, ready to close it again at any second — he didn’t look friendly at all.

  “Err… Hello we’re here because we’re searching for a girl.”

  I said, while trying to gather myself.

  “Is this some kind of a joke? Is this the new kind of shit, pranking people on a Sunday?”

  His voice got a little higher, but Linette was the one who made him more mad.

  “Is this how you talk to people?“

  “This is my house, so you may shut your trap!”

  We backed away.

  “Sorry Sir, but we really are searching for a girl named Alice Green. She left me a note with this address.” I tried it again, but he stopped me.

  “There’s no girl, I just live here with my partner!”

  He shook his head and glared at Linette.

  “Could we talk with the Parker family?”

  “I am, Mister Parker and my partner is Mister Thompson, so again – we live together alone, no little girl up in here. If that is all, then please go away!”

  Without saying any other words he slammed the door in front of our faces.

  “WOW! What the hell?”

  Linette wanted to kick the door, but I held her back and pulled her away with me, so there was a safe space between the door and Linette.

  “He could have answered normally!”

  She hissed.

  “Well, it is his home and we intruded, his free time. — So, we need to search somewhere else.”

  Trying to make her calm down; I swallowed down my disappointment and the failure of the day.

  “I am so sorry, Jenny! Now we need to start from zero, he really doesn’t seem to know Alice.”

  I nodded.

  “Yeah … Maybe she wasn’t here at all.”

  “Hey!”

  The smoking woman called.

  We both turned to the voice.

  The woman looked really sassy, her hair was black and a little messed up. She looked young but under her eyes there were little wrinkles that showed she was older than her appearance was showed.

  “You’re searching for a girl?”

  “Yes! Thanks for telling us what we already know.” Linette answered angrily.

  “Hey, I think I know who you guys were talking about.”

  Linette got in front of me and looked at the woman with a critical eye.

  “You just came here to watch the show!”

  “Well, in this quiet city there isn’t much to see or much to hear. So if there is a bit of action, then I am interested. I’ve lived here my whole life, I know everything and everyone, in this city!”

  She had a cheeky smile on her face and looked defiantly at us.

  “And I am certain, that I’ve never seen you two here.”

  “That’s easy to know, after hearing us talking with this disrespectful guy.”

  Linette obviously did not trust the woman – she questioned her every word.

  “Yeah … this guy is pretty disrespectful, but he’s had a hard life. So… take it easy little girl.”

  She let some smoke out and looked up to the clouded sky.

  “He just moved in last year… but the people who lived there before had a girl with them. She was seventeen or maybe eighteen years old.”

  My grip got stronger.

  Could that be Alice?

  “Her name was Alice, but not Alice Green; they were the Knights. Alice Knight was her name. A beautiful girl, well-mannered and easy to talk to.”

  Linette seemed to think the same as me.

  “That could be her!”

  “But they don’t live here anymore, and I can’t tell you much… all I know is that they bought a house in London— but London is big and I really don’t know more than that.”

  “Why did you even tell us?”

  The woman tossed her half-finished cigarette at the ground, she stepped on it and looked at me.

  “Well, even though Mister Parker has a chilly manner, she still kept her calm and stopped you from doing something which might have caused you trouble.”

  Her smile got back, as she pointed at me.

  “It reminded me of that girl.”

  I got little goosebumps after hearing her words.

  “Good luck, I think she would be pleased to know, that you are searching for her!”

  She turned to go back, but I stopped her.

  “Wait! Do you really know Alice? Could you please tell me more about her situation? Is she alright? How are the Knights? Do they treat her well?”

  My voice was cracking a bit, since I really wanted to know at least how she was living now.

  “You have a lot of questions; I can’t answer them all, because I didn’t know her that well, but I know that her parents are fine people. She got my attention because… I saw her often writing letters; sitting there on the doorstep.”

  The woman pointed at the house.

  “I asked her to whom she was writing, and she told me she was writing letters to a precious friend.”

  Alice wrote letters?

  “I remember that well because in that generation, there are rarely people who write letters to each other. She got letters back, but not with answers to the questions she had asked— as if her letters never got to the person she wanted to get in contact with.”

  My heart stopped.

  Alice received my letters?

  And she… Did she answer to my letters? How come I never got any of them?

  “Anyway, I know she lives in London now. You could look into some archives, but you should search for Knights and not for Green. Maybe she is the girl you are searching for.”

  I nodded.

  “Thank you.”

  “No problem!”

  She got back in and Linette turned to look at me.

  “Was she really talking about the person we are searching for?”

  I teared up, but I managed to hold my tears back.

  “I think … it could be Alice!”

  Linette sighed gladly.

  “Good, so we have a new clue!”

  I nodded.

  “Our trip wasn’t for nothing.”

  She patted my shoulder.

  “Of course! We had a lots of fun and we found a
clue! Our Trip was more than successful.” She jumped again and hugged me; her words made me nod my head.

  “Yeah, that’s true … just that man was a little bit rude.”

  Linette laughed.

  “Even his partner wasn’t there, because he knew he was having a bad day.”

  She made a weird face, which made me laugh.

  “Maybe he is on his period.”

  While she talked, we went back to the train station.

  It was really easy to find the way to it, and we made it on time. We even had some time left to walk around in London, and she managed to distract me from Alice.

  I knew we had a little clue but … it was sad, that I still couldn’t find her.

  And I was confused, because the woman said something about the letters, which I was waiting all those years to receive.

  I wrote to her every day, even when I didn’t receive an answer, I never stopped.

  Even when I got back in London; it was just that I didn’t send the letters to the orphanage.

  I wanted to meet her.

  Writing those letters, made me believe that we could see each other soon but …

  I wanted to tell her in person, instead of writing.

  I really wanted to see her.

  Talk with her.

  Hug her.

  “See you tomorrow in school.”

  Linette brought me back home and I bid her goodbye, after hugging her.

  “Yeah, get home safely and message me, when you’re there.”

  “I will.”

  She left, after I got in.

  My mother was sitting in the living room, reading a book.

  She greeted me and asked if I had a good day, which I confirmed.

  Then we talked for a while, before I freshened myself up in the bathroom.

  After that I went back into my room.

  I took a blank piece of paper and wrote down everything on my mind.

  And of course the letters were a big question for me.

  Who received them?

  Did Alice really answer me all those years?

  How come … I didn’t know?

  Was there a way to find out, which person had my letters?

  This was something I needed to find out! I just hoped I could find an answer soon.

  Dear Alice,

  Today I manage to sneak out and keep looking for you, by visiting the address you gave me.

  But I couldn’t find you.

  It seems like, you moved to another place…