Sean POV
"Hey mama." I half- shouted when I came indoors at home. I knew she was home, her car was, Curtis's wasn't, and Gordon was with Curtis for some kind of bring- your- child- to- work- day. Why now people wanted children to see a gym- including all the people training- was for me a question. But it wasn't my decision to make- and I knew Gordon liked spending time with his dad so why not?
"Hello Sean." I heard from the living room. I untied my shoes and walked into the room.
"Hey… you okay?" I asked. Mama smiled and nodded, and when I sat down by her in the sofa she started playing with my hair as usual.
"Yes I'm fine, but of course Curtis trusted my lie about that I had been food- poisoned. So while I was still sleeping of course he had called my work and told them I wasn't going to come in today, getting Gordon up and ready, and turned off my alarm. Then he left me a note about that he'd called my work, and that he hoped I'd feel better. I sighed and leaned my head back against the top of the sofa.
"You okay?" I felt mum's palm against my forehead. She'd always worry that I was ill if I was tired. Wasn't so weird with all the energy I had most of the other time. Motor- my mum used to call it. Annoying hyperactivity from too much sugar Curtis said. And Gordon just thought I was loads of fun as I'd always have enough energy to play with him. Myself- I had never been able to find an explanation to all my energy.
"Yes I'm fine." I pulled away from mum's hand. "I stayed up after you went to bed and watched DVD:s of dad. Before I knew it, it was morning and time to get up." Mum chuckled. "Do you remember that day? The one at the playground, the last day of dad's holidays… the day before…" I didn't have to finish the sentence, I knew she knew what I meant. She nodded and kept on playing with my hair.
"Yeah… you, me, Sean, Paul, Paulie and Margaret." I nodded. Sean senior- my dad, Paul Senior my grandfather, Paul Junior- mostly called Paulie my uncle and Margaret- my grandmother. Only twenty four hours after that day on the playground, two of the six that had been there were killed. Only a couple of months later another one- the third had passed away. Grandma had been destroyed by suffering the pain from losing both of her sons- people said she died of a heart attack- while we who knew her- said she died of a broken heart. There was no way a common heart attack would have killed someone as strong as Margaret Moraiety. There just wasn't.
"Do you remember?" I nodded again.
"Yeah… I remember standing up in the jungle gym bragging about how high I was. I remember that… that grandma bought a stuffed monkey for me." Mama chuckled. "And I didn't let go of that monkey for like weeks… I remember… I remember dad and Paulie joke- fighting and grandma giving them a lecture for it." Mama laughed. "I remember… a child fell down from that jungle gym and dad and I stayed with him until his parents came there."
"Do you remember anything of the day it all happened?" I nodded.
"I remember trying to make him stay at home before he went to work." I sighed. "I remember he called and that terrible bang in the phone later on." I sighed, I could still hear the sound of that building falling. I could still remember mama screaming and panicking, I could still hear every sound from those last couple of minutes. Oh boy- this is the worse part about being able to remember sounds.
Teeghan POV
I started walking towards the parking lot when I spotted Lex, Tyler and Connor on the other side of the hallway. Lex was saying something, she gestured big and they were laughing about something. I sighed, hung with my head and walked towards my car. I turned Spotify on in the car and played a song that could as well have been about my life.
I leaned back in the driver's seat and hit the gas just as Alice came walking through the door out from the school and walked over the parking lot, for just a couple of seconds she looked to me and for just a split second her eyes met mine. I hadn't talked to her since she was going on about how selfish I was- I missed her but wouldn't admit it. I looked to the road and started driving towards the mansion. At home I pulled my bag over my head and walked up to dad's office.
"Oh hey Teeghan." He greeted me when I came through the door, threw the bag at the floor and fell down in the chair. Dad sat by the computer- but for once he wasn't talking on the phone when I came in. He smirked. "What do you want?" I sighed- most of the time- almost always when I came into dad's office by my choice I wanted money for something.
"I don't want anything like that dad." He smirked again, but didn't seem to believe my words. "Dad… couldn't we watch a movie or something on Friday?"
"You want to go to the cinema?"
"No dad… just here at home… maybe… home alone three or something." Dad smirked again. Home alone three, dad's favorite movie, one that I lov… used to love when I was little. "Just you and me? Please?" Dad sighed, leaned back in his chair and clasped his hand together. He seemed to be thinking about what to answer for a moment. Then he's phone rang, he turned around.
"George Knight how can I help you?" I knew it would be a while before he hung up- it always was when he spoke to someone from work, I sighed, took my bag and walked up to my room. I threw the bag on the floor and took my phone, put Spotify on and my headphones in my ears. Hard fighting the tears back for a moment. I didn't want to cry, didn't want to be so weak, didn't want to show anyone else that I was hurting.
I thought back to when I was little, maybe five or six or something like that.
Flashback
"Dad look what I found." I ran up to my dad coming home from the playground, I held up to him a bouquet of daisies I had found, dad gasped, pretending to be amazed and kneeled down to reach my height.
"Wow Teeah. They are beautiful." He stood up and took my hand. "Come on, let's go put them in a vase on the kitchen table so everyone can see them." I walked into the kitchen, dad lifted me up on the bench and picked out a vase from the locker. He poured some water in it and put it- with the daisies in it on the table.
"Dad, dad. Can we play hide and seek now? Please?" I asked showing him my biggest smiled.
"Of course Teeah. You count to ten and I will hide okay"
"Okay." I put my hands over my eyes and started counting. "One, two, three, four, five, eighteen, twenty, eight, fourteen, a hundred. READY OR NOT HERE I COME."
End of flashback
It was back when my grandfather still had most of the job my dad had now, back when my dad still had time for me. He hadn't done anything with me for years, never been at one performance with the glee- club, and he hadn't called me Teeah since I was like seven. And I missed it, I missed it so much.
Lex POV
"Hey mum, hey dad." I half- shouted as I walked into the house at home and into the living room. I put my bag on the floor and then sat down in the sofa. "Have you thought about something? it is over a year since I moved in here now!" Mum smiled to me and nodded, dad shrugged. "Feels like yesterday doesn't it?" I thought back. Nowadays it seemed hard knowing all I had been through until last year- nowadays I had a hard time understanding how I even was strong enough to do it all.
I leaned my head back against the top of the sofa and thought back, looked up when I heard a knock on the door.
"I'll take it." I stood up and walked out in the hallway. Outside stood a man, probably in his mid- thirties somewhere and two boys, probably seven or eight of age, identical twins, and after thinking a while I knew that these were living in the house I had moved from last fall.
"Hello sir…" I didn't quite know what to say.
"Hello miss… ehrm… is there an Alexandria Ralston living here?"
"Yes that'd be me sir."
"Please just call me John."
"Please just call me Lex," John seemed a bit nervous, as he scratched his neck. The boys presented themselves as Ollie and Max, both of them smiling toothlessly up at me.
"We found these inside a wall when we were painting. We watched a bit of them. Hrm… if this is how you still live… I would like to help you with calling the police and the social services." I smirked nervously when I remembered what the DVD:s held.
"Oh… it isn't… those men are in prison since long." John seemed to breathe out.
"Would you like to come in for coffee or something?" Mum asked, John scratched his neck again. "No thank you. We should probably go home… I guess you know where we are if you need us." I closed the door as the man and the two boys turned around and walked up the driveway.
"What is that?" Mum asked about the DVD:s I looked to them.
"DVD:s from…" I thought a minute about what to say. "It's something Brian and Wyatt recorded. I'll go upstairs with it." I walked upstairs, put it in the back of the biggest drawer in the desk.
"Don't you want to watch it?" Dad asked when I came downstairs again. I shook my head. I wouldn't have to watch it. I already knew what it was. And the memories from having to watch it were too painful.
So… that's it for today. I hope you had a great Christmas. I know mine was great. For example I got four books, two in English, one in Norwegian and one in Swedish… hmm… maybe I should learn Spanish to next year to set a new record… and then I'd stop having to ask my uncle's wife to translate whenever I need a sentence in Spanish for a story.
Is there anyone who have managed to find out what happened to Sean's dad and uncle? If you have seen my "clues" it shouldn't be that hard.
And in case anyone wonders, Teeah is pronounced, Tea- ah
So… happy new year to everyone.
Playlist
Teeghan in the car- Why- The saddle club s3 sung by Marny Kennedy
