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“What then?” She slowly turned to look at me. “You’re crying?”
“Your mom just called me because you weren’t answering your phone.”
“Asher, what happened?”
“It’s Ted.”
Her eyes glossed over with tears before I’d even finished the sentence. God, how did I tell her? “He was in an accident. He’s…I’m sorry, Mel. He didn’t make it.”
“What are you saying?” Her voice shook with the threat of sobs, but she held steady.
“Teddy died tonight. It was a hit and run close by that hotel he was staying at.”
“No.” She shook her head. “That’s impossible. He went back to Phoenix. He said he had to go back. You heard him. It can’t be him. They’ve made a mistake. Tell them they made a mistake, Asher!” she shouted, and Erica came back out from her room.
She hurried over to us and draped her arm around Mel. “Come on, sweetie. Come sit down.” Erica coaxed her over to the sofa.
“No. I don’t want to sit down.”
“Mel, we need to go meet your mom.”
“My mom?”
Erica went to the kitchen, grabbed a glass, and filled it with water from the fridge. She brought it back to me. “Thanks.” I took a much-needed sip then shoved it into Mel’s hand. She took it but didn’t drink.
“Your mom needs you. She needs us to meet her at the…” I didn’t want to say it. “…at the place where they have him.”
She didn’t look at me. “This is not happening. This can’t be happening.”
“We need to leave now, Mel. Your mom is waiting for us.”
“I’ll drive,” Erica said.
I gave Erica a very grateful God-have-mercy-look. “Thank you.”
“Okay. We’ll go, and you’ll see. It’s not him. It can’t be him.”
I wasn’t about to argue with Melody. I hoped to God she was right.” I helped Mel up and steered her to her room so she could get dressed. I waited at the door while she pulled on some pants and then a bra before shrugging back into the t-shirt she’d been wearing. She moved slowly, like a robot. As if someone had programmed the motions into her body. Her mind was clearly somewhere else.
Erica pulled up to the curb in front of the morgue. “I’ll go park the car and wait for you in the waiting room.”
I held Mel up, my arm around her waist. She hadn’t said a word the entire ride over. Actually, no one spoke. We were all too stunned and sad to carry on a conversation. Even Erica knew Teddy, and I’m sure she was affected by what had happened, as well. Mel didn’t cry, not completely, and it surprised me, but I guessed she hadn’t accepted the fact that her brother was gone.
Mel ran to her mother, whose arms were out and ready. “Mom, they must be wrong. Teddy went back to Phoenix.”
Karen swiped at her tear-stained cheeks, her eyes red and glossy. “No, baby. The police are positive it’s Teddy.”
“I want to see him, Mom. I need to see him. I need to show you it’s not him.”
“Okay, honey. We’ll go in together. The three of us.” Karen looked at me as she grabbed my hand, and I nodded.
We followed the officer and another man wearing a white coat into a room. It was cold and smelled of antiseptic. And death. We walked up to a table with a thick, black plastic, zippered bag that I assumed held my best friend inside it. The man looked up at us.
“Ready?”
Karen nodded, and he unzipped the bag, revealing a bruised and broken, pasty-white Ted. Mel’s knees gave out and I caught her before she slid all the way to the floor. I had to grab the edge of the table to steady us both because my legs wanted to buckle along with hers. Her mom leaned in and wrapped her arms around us, holding on as we all cried.
Erica was kind and offered to drive Mel’s mom home, and Karen offered to make us all something to eat. I knew she’d want the company, and Mel was borderline comatose and went or did whatever anyone told her to do, so I nodded. “That sounds great. Thanks.”
As we entered her house, the phone rang. Karen hurried over to it. “Hello?...Yes, this is she.” There was a long pause as she listened to whomever it was on the other end and she glanced up at us. “Yes. Thank you, Officer.” She placed the phone back in the cradle. “That was the police. They arrested the person who ran in to Ted’s car.”
“Who was it?” I asked and waited for her to give us more information.
“His name is Brandon Drake. He fled the scene on foot after his truck plowed into Ted. He’d been drinking. They said he’s only sixteen and got scared, so he ran. After checking the registration of the truck, the police found him in his bedroom at his parent’s house not too far from the accident.” Karen swiped at the tears running down her cheeks. “That poor boy will have to live with that for the rest of his life.”
