Chapter 27 – Tears in Heaven
When they arrived at the Tellers house, the front door was unlocked and, as they've always done, they came in without knocking. Nelly followed Harry's lead as she held his hand, and they could already hear voices in the back of the house.
"Jax, now I need to know if you had anything to do with this," said Chief Unser, "Not to prosecute you, but so I can protect you."
"No, he was here the whole night. I made sure, Wayne."
Within seconds, they've reached Jax, his mother, and the cop - all standing in the kitchen – and interrupted the conversation.
"What's going on?" asked Harry, his forehead creased dangerously.
"Alex and Brett were found shot in the heads, execution style, in the woods." Chief reported, "I wanted to tell you in person. It's over."
Nelly felt overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions. Knowing that justice had been served didn't make her loss any lighter, it didn't suddenly lift that weight she's been carrying, but somewhere in the depths of her soul she felt more at peace. She heard Harry's relieved sight and felt his body relax next to her.
Tara asked Jax hopefully, "Tell me that you weren't involved? Please tell me the truth."
He walked up to her and took her hands in his, looked her in the eye as he said, "I didn't do it, Tara."
She embraced him gratefully, sobbing, and he returned the embrace, while they all watched in silence. It didn't even occur to Nelly that Harry could have done it. She knew he didn't. She slept in his bed and remembered him being next to her all night. Nel didn't care how it happened, just that it was done and that it was over.
"Well, my job is done here." Chief Unser sighed heavily and after exchanging a somber glance with Gemma, left.
"It's over." Jax's mum said with finality as she looked each of them in the eye. Then, completely switching tracks, as if forcing them to move on with their lives, she added with a determined cheerfulness, "You kids must be starving. Let me fix you up some breakfast. Who knows how to work a toaster?"
Rich food and hot coffee did their magic, and not quite an hour later, having just finished a meal they all pitched in to prepare, Nel felt a bit more normal, a bit more like herself. Suddenly, the heartache and the tears of the last two days seemed very far away. Count your blessings, the saying goes, and Nelly's were the relaxed faces of her friends around the table.
+0+
It didn't take long for Principal Rush to organise a memorial for Cliff. It was obvious that the teachers were scrambling to make the best of the horrific situation and this was a well-intended, knee-jerk reaction. Cliff was being raised on a pedestal, while no one would even mention the bastards responsible for his death. Rush called in Nelly to his office and shared the idea of a gathering in the gym planned for the next day. Mrs and Mr Calico, Cliff's parents, were invited as guests of honour and he wanted to make it special and personal. Since she was Cliff's closest friend, Nel would be the best person in the student body to say a few things about their departed friend, he told her. She was made speechless by the sheer stupidity of the idea. It's not like Cliffy was a captain of the football team, or a beloved cheerleader. Most people in Kennedy High didn't even know he existed. Still, Nel agreed quickly, because she couldn't let down her friend and Rush was right, no one else could do this.
The ideas about what to say about Cliffy had started tumbling in Nelly's head as soon as she walked out of Rush's office. She spent the rest of the day making notes in the back of her notebook, and then spent the evening rewriting them. Her friends, and especially Harry, thought it was a very bad idea. Jax was so pissed off, he refused to attend, as did Tara, but Harry was probably the most vocal in trying to persuade her. Nel knew he had good intentions, not wanting her to go through the pain again, but she could see it in his eyes as she explained why she had to do it, that he understood.
The next day, gym was packed to the brim with students and staff, filled with murmurs of conversations and scent of flowers. There was even a cameraman and a female reporter from a San Diego news channel. Their attention was focused on on Cliff's mom and dad, who sat in the front row, looking lost and dejected.
Everyone in the seats was holding pastel coloured tulips, apparently a symbol of a young life snuffed out too soon. It was exactly as Nel imagined, down to every last revolting detail. This circus was the very reason she decided to speak today. To speak out, to speak her mind. Nel waited on the sidelines with Harry until Principal Rush walked her out to the center of the gym floor and a mic stand adorned with more tulips.
Rush sombrely welcomed Cliff's parents to the school, expressed his deepest and most drawn out condolences, but said nothing about how the school and its teachers failed the boy who died. He then introduced Nelly and turned the mic over to her.
At first, the hundreds of faces waited unexpectedly for Nelly to say something scared the living daylights out of her. Her throat dried up instantly and her hands got clammy. She was ready to bolt, to run and hide, but then her eyes connected with Harry's and he gave her one encouraging nod. Nel couldn't fall silent now.
She cleared her throat, and started, "Today, we gather to I mourn the loss of my friend Cliff Calico. Unlike most of you here, I've been doing that since the moment he left us. He was a sweet guy, gentle and kind, and so brilliant. For all these reasons he didn't have an easy life here in Kennedy High. I remember walking with him the first day of school last September, and hardly any of you even noticed his existed. Only bullies did. Bullies like Alex and Brett." Nel searched the faces in the crowd, hoping to find one genuine tear, and only found them in the eyes of her friends' mother. This gave her the push to continue, "But today, all of you here, everyone who shunned and ignored him, have come with tears in your eyes and flowers in your hands. How many of you knew the boy you're mourning today? How many of you knew him well enough to know what you've lost? That he wanted to work for NASA? Or that he loved strawberry ice cream? Where were you when he got picked on by the animal who killed him?" Nelly's tears were threatening to burst forward, while the auditorium was deathly quiet. She saw Harry in the front, his eyes narrow and intent, but shining proudly. She would finish what she started. "So wipe away your crocodile tears. Cliffy doesn't need them. He had few friends here, but those of us who cared for him, loved him well. We will miss him, so much."
Her voice broke and Nel had to stop. She kept her head low as she headed for the gym's exit, where Harry met her. He took her hand and said, "You did great." She smiled weakly, holding back tears. The heavy gym door clung behind them, but soon someone followed, called Nel by name. It was Mrs Calico, Cliff's mom. Nelly has met her in passing a few times, but never exchanged more than a few casual words with the woman. But her dark hair and the bright eyes reminded Nel so much of Cliff.
"Thank you, Nelly," She said as she neared them, "You still are a true friend to my boy.""
"I'm sorry if it wasn't appropriate." Nel suddenly worried she overstepped some invisible boundary of good taste.
"What you said was true." The older woman's eyes watered, and she dabbed at them with a tissue. She turned her to Harry, "You must be Harry."
The towering boy just nodded silently.
"Cliffy talked about you often. You both and Jackson. He thought the world of you all."
Nel remembered what a wreck Jax was because of Cliff's death. "Jax couldn't be here today, he's taking it pretty hard. Feels guilty."
"Please, tell him it wasn't his fault," she assured them intensely, "I know you all did everything you could to protect Cliffy."
"Not enough," whispered Harry.
"More than most," she replied quickly, "He could only count on you. Even me and his dad couldn't do more..."
It was time. Time to deliver Cliffy's last message to his mom, "Mrs Calico, I was with Cliffy after he got stabbed. He said, tell my mom I love her. These were his last words."
Their friend's mom blindly reached out to the wall and collapsed against it with a sob. Nel felt terrible for making this happen, but she had to tell her. This was Cliff's last wish. She reached out to Mrs. Calico, touched her arm trying to comfort her. Cliff's mom leaned into Nelly and hugged her tight. They stood like this, the older woman's tears wetting Nel's shoulder, until she calmed down and pulled away, "Thank you, Nelly. For everything. Make sure your friend Jax knows he did no wrong." And with that, she returned to the gym.