AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Aside from one text, she hasn’t spoken to me since that day. She hasn’t been at school, either. I talked my dad into letting me go today, hoping I could see her, and it was awful. Students and teachers cried in the hallways; there was no actual classwork. It was like no one had the energy to do anything other than mourn.
No one bothered to offer me condolences for my loss or express any kind of sympathy for what I went through that day; they’re all waiting for me to be arrested…just like I am.
I stare at my phone and consider calling or texting her again, but I don’t know what to say that hasn’t already been said. I know she’s mourning, too. I know she was traumatized that day in my backyard, and she’s seen the picture; I know they’re watching her, and she’s scared. Over the past few days, I’ve left so many messages and sent so many texts that have gone unanswered.
And I’ve been over and over what the fuck could have happened to Darci so many times in my head. I’ve listened to my dad and Lydia fight and cry like they are now.
I’ve cried, too.
“Please, Lydia,” I hear my dad say, “don’t do this. Please don’t go.”
“How could I stay here, Jeff? Your sonmurderedmy daughter.”
“Hedidn’t do it, Lyd. You know him—you’ve lived with him for years. Devon isn’t a violent person. He’s not capable of something like this.”
“Did you see the video?” she screams. “Did you? Of course, he’s violent. Look what he was exposed to in that house with his mother! I should have never let him anywhere near my daughter.”
“She was my daughter, too,” my dad cries. “I’m mourning her, too. Please, stay. They’ll find who really did this.”
“Youknowwho did this!” she shouts. “I can’t even look at you.”
I open my door and step out onto the landing. “You don’t have to go, Lydia. I’ll leave now. I’ll go stay with my mom, and I won’t come back. Just…please don’t go.”
“Oh, you’re going to leave,” she says. “But the only place you’re going is straight into a prison cell, and you’re never getting out.”
“Lydia, please…” my dad starts before we hear a horn honk in the driveway.
“That’s my ride,” she says. “I’ll send someone for the rest of my things. And I don’t want to see either of you at the funeral. I can’t…I can’t even look at you. Ineverwant to see you again.”
She leaves the house, wheeling her suitcase behind her, and I’m just stuck there, feet glued in place and unsure of what to do.
“Dad, I’m so sorry.”
He sighs, wiping tears from under his eyes. “Come here, Devon. Come sit down.”
I force my leaden legs to move down the staircase and sit beside him on the couch.
“You’re not going to school tomorrow,” Dad says. “There’s no point now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I talked to the lawyer. They already have the warrant, and they’re going to arrest you tomorrow.”
Of course. On my birthday. They’ve been waiting for me to turn eighteen. I bring my elbows to my knees, drop my head into my hands, and cry like a fucking baby.
“I’m so scared,” I tell him. “Dad, I really didn’t do this. I know it looks bad, but everything I’ve told you is true.”
“Is there anything you want to do before they take you? Do you want to go down to the pier? What do you want for dinner?”
“I just want to see Ally.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s an option.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere,” I tell him. “They’ll just follow us. They were in the parking lot at school, too. Do you think Mom would come over? Do you think she’d make lasagna?” I ask.
“I’m sure she would do that.” He moves over until we’re side-by-side and puts his arm around my shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. They’re going to find out who really did this to your sister.”
He holds me, and I cry into his shoulder. That’s the other thing—my sister. I was always so adamant that no one ever called her that, but we were family whether I liked it or not. As far as my dad is concerned, she was his little girl.
