Wondering Why
"Hey Steve," Jesse greeted his friend as he walked into BBQ Bob's.
"Hi," Steve replied. "Not busy tonight?" he asked, glancing at the empty tables.
"Not really," Jesse replied. "Especially since it's past eleven and we are closed."
"Oh?" Steve asked. "Then what are you doing here?"
"Finishing up," Jesse replied. "You know how much mess appears in this place?"
"You always clean it up before I get the chance to see," Steve quipped.
"Perhaps I should leave it for you next time," Jesse mumbled. "Anyway, what brings you here?"
"I came looking for you," Steve said. "This news concerns you."
"Oh?" Jesse asked.
"Remember that plane crash a few weeks back?"
"How could I forget?" Jesse asked.
"Well, at first they thought it was an accident."
"You mean they found something?" Jesse asked in anxiety. "I mean, didn't they do checks and stuff earlier to find out if there was no accident?"
"Whoever did it, they were good."
"What did they do?"
"They drilled a series of tiny holes in the fuel hold."
"That seems a bit simple," Jesse noted.
"We are talking really, really tiny holes here. But there were enough of them to allow the fuel out, and the plane crashed and there was an explosion. Simple, but it worked."
"How did they not find them until now?" Jesse demanded to know.
"Emphasis on tiny holes here, Jess," Steve repeated. "But really, it's a big thing to go over every element of that plane, especially since it was in such bad shape. It just took time."
Jesse nodded, knowing that Steve was right. "All right, Steve. Thanks for telling me. I gotta get home now. I've gotta make sure Ally is still there when I get back."
"Did she run away again?" Steve asked, remembering the part of Jesse's tale involving Ally going to sort everything out for him.
"She got bored at home, so she thought she'd go and visit me at the hospital," Jesse explained. "Thing is, she got lost on the way, and she wandered around for hours before she found her way back to the apartment. She wasn't bothered that she was lost, though."
"Oh right," Steve replied. "You'd better lock her in your house or something."
"Yeah right," Jesse retorted, putting the last of the chairs on the table. "That would work well if there was a fire in my apartment. You've got to be more considerate when it comes to kids, Steve. You'll learn someday."
"Not too soon, I hope," Steve grunted, not really wanting to know just at that moment. "Anyway, you had it lucky. The first three years of kids are the most messy."
Jesse didn't say anything, but he wished that he could have been there for Ally when she was growing up. Maybe he could have given her a better life than Skelley had done.
Ally sat in the apartment, not really knowing what to do with herself. She had read most of the books that were stacked on the shelves, but she was getting bored of reading all the time. The TV, which was a novelty to begin with, was also beginning to seem dull.
She looked at a clock. "Almost eleven? Where are you, Jesse?" She did not want to go to sleep yet, not before Jesse came home. Ally decided to do some drawing, for a change. She found a notepad and some pencils, and looked for something to draw.
As she was looking for something to draw, Ally's mind wandered to her father. She still decided that his death was suspicious, but there was something else that was niggling at her mind.
Her head ran a film of what happened that fateful day.
Well, she came home with the groceries. She had been out for an hour with the shopping, and nothing strange had happened when she was out.
When she had come home, she remembered firstly seeing that the blinds were closed. Why would Dad do that? It was late afternoon, and the windows of their apartment were facing the east. So, why shut the blinds if the sun wasn't going through the windows? He might shut them if he was going to commit suicide, but Ally doubted it. Her father was spontaneous, and…
If he was so spontaneous, why write a long letter for Ally? Why not just pop the pills and be done with it? And for that matter, why book a plane?
Ally gasped. The plane! She was meant to be on that plane!
It all made some much sense to Ally now. Someone had waited until she had gone out shopping. They went into the apartment, and threatened Skelley. They must have told him to write the note to Ally. The blinds would have been shut to prevent anyone across the way from seeing anything. Then, the murder gave the poison to Skelley, and left before Ally got back.
Once this happened, the murderer would have somehow tampered with the plane, made it to crash. "They wanted me to get on that plane and die," Ally murmured. "Someone really wants me to die."
Ally wondered why. Why her? Her father, yeah. But apparently, someone already got him.
Ally was more upset that her father had been murdered than the fact that he had possibly committed suicide. He had always warned her that he might have had to take his life someday. Maybe that was why he never got too close to Ally, why they never had a heart to heart or anything like that. Maybe he didn't want Ally to get too close to him because he feared that something like that might happen.
"He cared about me," Ally said. She looked down, and saw that she had drawn the images of what happened that day on the paper, without knowing it.
It was all too much for Ally. She fled from her chair, and was running to the door when she tripped on the rug and hit her head on the wall next to the door. This was enough to start her crying. She hugged her knees and buried her head in them.
At that moment, Jesse opened the door, and was surprised when it did not open the full way. When he peered around the door, he saw Ally hunched up against the wall. She was shaking as she sobbed.
Jesse shut the door, and knelt down beside the crying girl. "Hey, Ally?" He asked. "Ally, has something happened?"
"He loved me," Ally gasped, "he really loved me."
"Your father?" Jesse hazarded a guess.
"Someone wants to kill me, and my Dad loved me because he didn't want to get too close to me," Ally spilt everything out at once.
Jesse sighed, and gave her a hug. "Of course he loved y… someone wants to kill you?"
Ally sobbed even harder, and Jesse changed tact. "Come on, it's okay. It's all gonna be okay."
He helped her to her feet, and led her to the couch. "Now, tell me what's up."
Ally sighed, wiping a tear away from her face. "I did some drawings," she said. "Look, I'll show you."
She got up, and brought the notebook to him. "Look, I was going through in my head all the stuff that happened when I found Dad," she said. "And I came to the conclusion that my father was murdered. And then I figured out some stuff."
"Like what?"
"He never got close to me, like father-and-daughter, because he knew that he might have to kill himself one day," Ally snivelled. "I just thought he never loved me. Now you know why I wasn't so affected when I found him seven weeks ago." Ally began a new fit of crying.
Jesse hugged her and rocked her gently, just like a father would do for his daughter, even at twelve years old. "Shh," he soothed. "It's alright, don't worry. Of course your father loved you, and now you know it, everything is all right now. It's okay."
After half an hour of comforting, Ally was asleep in Jesse's arms. He quietly placed her in her bed, and retired to his own, thinking, "I think I just realised how much danger we are in."
"Hey Steve," Jesse greeted his friend as he walked into BBQ Bob's.
"Hi," Steve replied. "Not busy tonight?" he asked, glancing at the empty tables.
"Not really," Jesse replied. "Especially since it's past eleven and we are closed."
"Oh?" Steve asked. "Then what are you doing here?"
"Finishing up," Jesse replied. "You know how much mess appears in this place?"
"You always clean it up before I get the chance to see," Steve quipped.
"Perhaps I should leave it for you next time," Jesse mumbled. "Anyway, what brings you here?"
"I came looking for you," Steve said. "This news concerns you."
"Oh?" Jesse asked.
"Remember that plane crash a few weeks back?"
"How could I forget?" Jesse asked.
"Well, at first they thought it was an accident."
"You mean they found something?" Jesse asked in anxiety. "I mean, didn't they do checks and stuff earlier to find out if there was no accident?"
"Whoever did it, they were good."
"What did they do?"
"They drilled a series of tiny holes in the fuel hold."
"That seems a bit simple," Jesse noted.
"We are talking really, really tiny holes here. But there were enough of them to allow the fuel out, and the plane crashed and there was an explosion. Simple, but it worked."
"How did they not find them until now?" Jesse demanded to know.
"Emphasis on tiny holes here, Jess," Steve repeated. "But really, it's a big thing to go over every element of that plane, especially since it was in such bad shape. It just took time."
Jesse nodded, knowing that Steve was right. "All right, Steve. Thanks for telling me. I gotta get home now. I've gotta make sure Ally is still there when I get back."
"Did she run away again?" Steve asked, remembering the part of Jesse's tale involving Ally going to sort everything out for him.
"She got bored at home, so she thought she'd go and visit me at the hospital," Jesse explained. "Thing is, she got lost on the way, and she wandered around for hours before she found her way back to the apartment. She wasn't bothered that she was lost, though."
"Oh right," Steve replied. "You'd better lock her in your house or something."
"Yeah right," Jesse retorted, putting the last of the chairs on the table. "That would work well if there was a fire in my apartment. You've got to be more considerate when it comes to kids, Steve. You'll learn someday."
"Not too soon, I hope," Steve grunted, not really wanting to know just at that moment. "Anyway, you had it lucky. The first three years of kids are the most messy."
Jesse didn't say anything, but he wished that he could have been there for Ally when she was growing up. Maybe he could have given her a better life than Skelley had done.
Ally sat in the apartment, not really knowing what to do with herself. She had read most of the books that were stacked on the shelves, but she was getting bored of reading all the time. The TV, which was a novelty to begin with, was also beginning to seem dull.
She looked at a clock. "Almost eleven? Where are you, Jesse?" She did not want to go to sleep yet, not before Jesse came home. Ally decided to do some drawing, for a change. She found a notepad and some pencils, and looked for something to draw.
As she was looking for something to draw, Ally's mind wandered to her father. She still decided that his death was suspicious, but there was something else that was niggling at her mind.
Her head ran a film of what happened that fateful day.
Well, she came home with the groceries. She had been out for an hour with the shopping, and nothing strange had happened when she was out.
When she had come home, she remembered firstly seeing that the blinds were closed. Why would Dad do that? It was late afternoon, and the windows of their apartment were facing the east. So, why shut the blinds if the sun wasn't going through the windows? He might shut them if he was going to commit suicide, but Ally doubted it. Her father was spontaneous, and…
If he was so spontaneous, why write a long letter for Ally? Why not just pop the pills and be done with it? And for that matter, why book a plane?
Ally gasped. The plane! She was meant to be on that plane!
It all made some much sense to Ally now. Someone had waited until she had gone out shopping. They went into the apartment, and threatened Skelley. They must have told him to write the note to Ally. The blinds would have been shut to prevent anyone across the way from seeing anything. Then, the murder gave the poison to Skelley, and left before Ally got back.
Once this happened, the murderer would have somehow tampered with the plane, made it to crash. "They wanted me to get on that plane and die," Ally murmured. "Someone really wants me to die."
Ally wondered why. Why her? Her father, yeah. But apparently, someone already got him.
Ally was more upset that her father had been murdered than the fact that he had possibly committed suicide. He had always warned her that he might have had to take his life someday. Maybe that was why he never got too close to Ally, why they never had a heart to heart or anything like that. Maybe he didn't want Ally to get too close to him because he feared that something like that might happen.
"He cared about me," Ally said. She looked down, and saw that she had drawn the images of what happened that day on the paper, without knowing it.
It was all too much for Ally. She fled from her chair, and was running to the door when she tripped on the rug and hit her head on the wall next to the door. This was enough to start her crying. She hugged her knees and buried her head in them.
At that moment, Jesse opened the door, and was surprised when it did not open the full way. When he peered around the door, he saw Ally hunched up against the wall. She was shaking as she sobbed.
Jesse shut the door, and knelt down beside the crying girl. "Hey, Ally?" He asked. "Ally, has something happened?"
"He loved me," Ally gasped, "he really loved me."
"Your father?" Jesse hazarded a guess.
"Someone wants to kill me, and my Dad loved me because he didn't want to get too close to me," Ally spilt everything out at once.
Jesse sighed, and gave her a hug. "Of course he loved y… someone wants to kill you?"
Ally sobbed even harder, and Jesse changed tact. "Come on, it's okay. It's all gonna be okay."
He helped her to her feet, and led her to the couch. "Now, tell me what's up."
Ally sighed, wiping a tear away from her face. "I did some drawings," she said. "Look, I'll show you."
She got up, and brought the notebook to him. "Look, I was going through in my head all the stuff that happened when I found Dad," she said. "And I came to the conclusion that my father was murdered. And then I figured out some stuff."
"Like what?"
"He never got close to me, like father-and-daughter, because he knew that he might have to kill himself one day," Ally snivelled. "I just thought he never loved me. Now you know why I wasn't so affected when I found him seven weeks ago." Ally began a new fit of crying.
Jesse hugged her and rocked her gently, just like a father would do for his daughter, even at twelve years old. "Shh," he soothed. "It's alright, don't worry. Of course your father loved you, and now you know it, everything is all right now. It's okay."
After half an hour of comforting, Ally was asleep in Jesse's arms. He quietly placed her in her bed, and retired to his own, thinking, "I think I just realised how much danger we are in."