The pain! The colossal pain! The pain that was eating me up alive! The pain that kills me every day! The pain that stabs me in the heart! The pain! A pain that is similar to no other, caused by one person and one person only. The murder! The killer! The demon in my mind that killed me too! I can’t believe this terrible tragedy occurred, but it did.
The wretched catastrophe occurred in the neighborhood at midnight. I was only ten years old at the time; I lived with my dear sister and mother. My mother’s real name is Angle Tetley. My sister, Dicey Tetley, was fifteen, she looked like my mother; they both have light brown hair and purple eyes. I look like my father, dirty blond hair and blue eyes. My father, Randy, left us seven years ago, and then he came back four years ago and begged to be a part of the family again. My mother refused to take him back and automatically divorce him. He was quite an abusive man; he hit my mother, sister, and me. He is now in prison. That is why I say: “I honestly hope I never see him again.”
My neighborhood was a place full with happiness; the residents were extremely wealthy, my family is able to live in this neighborhood because my grandfather bought the house for us before he moved away. The neighborhood is very tiny and doesn’t have many residents. As a matter of fact, most of them were on vacation for the beginning of summer.
One of the residents and a dear friend of my family is a little old lady named Catherine Callous. She has gray hair and brown eyes. She was a famous actress, she lives off the fortune she made years ago, but it is slowly running out. She is a very kind, loving, and neighborly women. She always sits out on her porch at night, until she falls asleep, but she only recently started doing this. One day I asked her why and she said she enjoyed looking at the stars.
Flora Gorier is another one of my neighbors; she is married to Richard Gorier, a rich and famous doctor. They recently moved into the neighborhood. They are the richest in the neighborhood, but they have been having a hard time lately, they still have an ample amount of money. Not many people like them because they are very arrogant. Most neighbors would go against the Goriers in less than a second. Flora has blond short hair that has a large amount of hairspray in it constantly and blue eyes. Richard Gorier has black hair with a lot of gel in it constantly and brown eyes. There is always someone in their home; it is either the maid Greta or Flora. Greta is a beautiful woman with black long hair and green eyes, who is underpaid and unhappy with her life. She isn’t fond of her occupation and wishes to be a model.
A man who goes by the name of Marcus Ion, a famous basketball player, and his wife Monique Ion, a cheerleader, live in the neighborhood. They have a son named Lewis Ion, who is eleven. Lewis is involved in a lot of sports, in fact I believe all of the Ions relatives are involved in sports one way or another. Marcus, Monique, and their son live with Marcus’s father, Rocky. Rocky is a retired basketball and soccer coach, and resembles Bob Marley. Marcus resembles Michael Jordan. Monique looks similar to Tyra Banks. Their son resembles his father. The Ions are a likable family, but they travel so much, I don’t get to spend a lot of time with them. All I know is they have wanted to buy a basketball court but don’t have enough room for it.
The Ions, Goriers, Catherine, and my family were all the neighbors who were still in our neighborhood, the others were all on vacation, most likely having a better time than Dicey and I. I was resting in my bedroom, when this misfortune occurred. My bedroom was such a happy place, but this happiness soon ended.
Suddenly, I heard a scream, a loud frightening scream, coming from my mother’s bedroom. I leaped from my bed. I emerged to the door, like lightning. I raced to my mother’s room. I swung the door open. What I saw in the room was not pleasant; in fact it brought tears to my eyes, chills over my whole body, and torturous pain into my heart. It was none other than my mother’s dead body! After I collected myself as best I could, I observed the dead body. I found a knife, which was stabbed right in her heart. I couldn’t believe it. How could this be? Dicey barged in the room!
“Maxine, what is going on? I heard a scream,” she questioned, not noticing the dead body.
I pointed to the body. Her gaze followed my finger.
“What? No! No! How? Who? I don’t understand?” she began.
“We must inform the police,” I urged.
“No!” she replied.
“Why shouldn’t we inform them?” I asked.
“Why would they believe a ten year old and a fifteen year old?” she continued.
“We have the body,” I said.
“What will stop them from thinking we murdered her?”
“She is our mother! We would never kill her!” I replied.
“How do they know?” she said.
I thought about it and she was right.
“What do we do now?” I replied in panic.
Dicey jumped for the door and evacuated the room. I followed Dicey.
“Where are you going?” I questioned Dicey.
“Catherine’s, she is the only one who will believe us. Catherine is our only hope,” she explained.
Dicey led the way to Catherine’s home. She was, as usual, sleeping on her rocking chair on her porch. She was in her nighties and her grey hair was wrapped up in a bon.
“Dicey, we shouldn’t wake her, it wouldn’t be tactful.” I told her.
“Maxine, like I said before, she is the only one who will believe us. What else are we supposed to do? Just go home and watch our mother’s body rot!” Dicey responded.
“I guess you are right,” I said, “I’m just so confused.”
We shook Catherine until she woke up.
“What? What’s going on?”Catherine woke, in shock.
“Our mother is dead! We heard a scream coming from her room, and when we got there, she was dead!” Dicey informed her.
“Dead? Dead! Angle…dead! It is not so, it couldn’t, it just couldn’t. Now, you girls know better than to play a trick on an old lady, like myself.” Catherine stated.
“We are not playing a trick on you, come up stairs of our home. We will show you the body,” I told her.
“What is going on out here?” Flora yelled.
Flora, Richard, Greta, and the Ions came out of their homes to see what the cause of the noise was. They were all in their nighties.
“Don’t you, mischievous children know what time it is!” Richard scolded, “Some people have to go to work tomorrow.”
Flora, Richard, Greta, and the Ions reached us.
“Now, now, now Richard calm down. There has got to be a logical explanation about why the noise was created.” Rocky calmly said. “Go on, Dicey, Maxine; tell us what the commotion is about.”
Dicey and I informed them of the tragic event.
“They were just about to show me the body,” Catherine added.
“You may come with us, if you wish,” I offered.
Dicey and I led them to the body.
“I don’t understand why anyone would want to kill Angle, she was well, an angle,” Monique wondered.
“I have to agree, but it would be easier with Angle out of the way, to purchase this land for a basketball court,” Marcus whispered to Monique.
“Marcus! You didn’t!” Monique questioned.
“Of course not!” He denied.
We reached the body; it broke my heart to look at it.
“You girls were not lying,” Catherine exclaimed.
“Who could have done this terrible deed?” Greta questioned.
“I don’t know, but we know one thing, the murder has got to be someone in this room,” Catherine pointed out.
“She is correct,” Marcus agreed.
“Who could it be?” Greta asked.
“I haven’t a clue,” Marcus replied.
“Oh, my word, this is terrible, poor Angle!” Monique cried.
“Oh please, she was going to die sooner or later,” Flora pointed out.
Everyone stared at her.
“Don’t worry, Mom, we will figure out who killed Angle, we will be just like Sherlock Homes. Well, with permission to investigate from Dicey and Maxine,” Lewis said.
“Of course,” I answered.
“We could use all the help we could get,” Dicey told him.
“Maxine, Dicey, be careful about who you trust, anyone could be the killer,” Catherine advised.
“Are you saying my son is the killer?” Marcus grew angry.
“Of course not! I don’t think he would do anything like that. I’m just telling the girls to be careful about who they trust, and that’s it,” Catherine cleared up.
“What’s this?” Rocky asked picking up a piece of paper. He showed it to everyone. It read: “Evacuate the area or suffer the consequences!”
“Oh my goodness,” Dicey exclaimed, “A threat, a threat from whom?”
“I believe I know,” Catherine scowled at Flora and Richard.
Richard’s face grew red, “Are you implying I committed this foul crime?”
“Yes, I believe you and Flora committed the crime,” Catherine responded.
“The ignorance! The cluelessness! The gall! Unbelievable! Where would you get such a foul idea?” Flora defended.
“Well,” Catherine began, “You and your husband are good business people, am I correct, they…”
“Yes, but what in the world does that have to do with anything!” Flora grew irritated.
“I wasn’t finished,” Catherine continued, “I believe they killed Angle so that they could rob Dicey and Maxine — you need money to make money — they have been having a hard time lately. It would be easier to rob Dicey and Maxine with Angle gone.”
“That is an unintelligent theory!” Flora cried.
“It does make sense,” Monique pointed out.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Nonsense, Greta was with us, she would know if we were home!” Richard told everyone.
“Which we were!” Flora added.
Everyone turned to Greta.
“Greta, please do tell us if Flora and Richard were at their home during the murder,” Marcus asked Greta.
Greta was silent, and then thought.
“I don’t know,” She said softly.
“Greta!” Richard cried, “Greta! You fool, you know we were home.”
“I honestly don’t remember.” Greta informed.
Everyone gave Flora and Richard a dirty look.
“Oh, please she is just saying that because she thinks we don’t pay her enough,” Flora defended.
“What’s this?” Dicey asked picking up a piece of hair. The hair was blond.
“Please let me see the hair?” Marcus asked. Dicey handed the piece of hair to Marcus. “It is Flora’s hair!”
Everyone gasped.
“A piece of evidence, indeed, my theory was correct! Flora and Richard murdered Angle!” Catherine said proudly.
“Richard and I would never do such a thing,” Flora stated.
“I bet Monique and Marcus committed the crime!” Richard began, “With Angle out of the way, it would be easier to get the land for their basketball court.”
“What? It is your hair!” Monique defended, “My family does want a basketball court, but not enough to murder someone!”
“I believe Greta killed Angle,” Marcus stated his opinion, “I believe Greta killed Angle and tried to blame Flora and Richard, so she could get them back for all the years of little pay.”
“What? That’s insane! I would never do that! It is obvious Catherine’s theory is correct. Richard and Flora committed the murder!” Greta pointed out.
“What!” Richard exclaimed.
“Look, she is doing it now, trying to frame Flora and Richard,” Monique brought up.
“Everyone stop fighting! Fighting is never the answer!” Rocky tried to make peace, but sadly did not succeed.
The fight continued to get worse, there was cursing, screaming, and yelling. By the looks of it, the fight would last till morning. The site of the event was unbearable. Dicey, Lewis, and I were just sitting in the background. Catherine approached us.
“Dear Children, this argument is quite intense. I think you should leave, go to my home and wait in the kitchen; I will come and see you after we discover who the murderer is,” Catherine told us.
Dicey, Lewis, and I did as we were told. We sat at the table in Catherine’s kitchen; we could hear the argument that was occurring next door. Lewis turned to me.
“Maxine, I can assure you, my parents did not murder your mother, they would never do that, I know they wouldn’t do that. Don’t you believe me?” Lewis pleaded his parent’s case.
“Of course it wasn’t your parents,” Dicey jumped on the subject, “It was Flora and Richard! I know it!”
“I personally thought it was Greta at first but I don’t know anymore,” I shared.
Dicey stared at the floor.
“A spider! Gross!” Dicey shirked.
“I’ll kill it!” Lewis informed.
“No! Don’t kill him!” I cried picking up the spider.
“It’s so gross! Don’t touch it!” Dicey commanded.
“It is a living creature!” I pointed out, “I’m going to take it outside.”
I headed for the door, opened it, and then let the spider go. I could hear the argument coming from my house. I noticed a small bent up piece of paper on the floor, near the rocking chair. I picked up the paper and opened it. It read:
(1,2,13,24,17,6,18,19,17) (18) (24,2,20,17) (16,18,25,25,17,11) (2,19,26,25,17) (8,25,2,22,17) (23,25,9,6,2) (2,19,11) (6,18,1,24,2,6,11) (6,2,19,11,12)
What in the world could this random set of numbers mean? I placed the note in my pocket of my pajamas and went back inside.
“Is everyone still fighting?” Lewis asked me.
“Yes.” I responded.
“I don’t know about you two, but I’m tired. I’m going to take a nap,” Dicey shared, settling down on her chair.
“Me too,” I agreed. I was getting really tired.
“Me three,” Lewis said.
We all sat around the table, and went to sleep.
The dream I had was quite frightening. I was walking down the hallway, of Catherine’s house. Then the ghost of my mother appeared.
“Go! Go! Go to the bedroom! Go! Go Darling! Go! Go before they come after you! Before they rob them! Before they discover you found the note! The note is the lock! You need the key! Go! Go to the bedroom! The key lies there! Go! Go Love!” The ghost of my mother told me. Evil laughter surrounded me. The laughter of not one person, but two, a male and a female! “No! No! They are coming for you! They have discovered you have the lock! The lock! The note! Go! Go! Go to the bedroom and find the key! Discover the one who killed me!!!”
I woke up startled. I was sitting in the chair, everything was the same. The note! The note! I reached in my pocket! The note was still there! My mother said the note is the lock, I need the key! The bedroom! Catherine’s bedroom! I was told to go there! I raced to the bedroom. I opened the door. It looked like an ordinary bedroom, clean and organized, large mirror, bed, dresser, but while I was there I got a scared feeling in my stomach. Everything stood there, it was quiet, like a page in a story book, but I couldn’t help get the feeling that I wasn’t the only person in the room. I noticed a piece of paper, all folded up, just like the note. I grabbed it and opened it, it read: “A: 2; B: 8; C: 1; D: 11; E: 17; F: 23; G: 26; H: 24; I: 18; J: 3; K: 16; L: 25; M: 22; N: 19; O: 9; P: 4; Q: 21; R: 6; S: 10; T: 13; U: 15; V: 20; W: 5; X: 14; Y: 12; Z: 7; Commas separate letters; Parentheses separate words.”
“The key! The key! The note is the lock and this is the key!” I exclaimed to myself.
I immediately translated the numbers and symbols in the note.
“No! No! No! It cannot be! I must inform the others,” I gasped.
“Very good, my dear, but you won’t be able to leave,” I heard a male voice say behind me. I turned around and I saw the door shut, I couldn’t see who shut it. I raced to the door, but it was locked!
“Help! Help! Help!” I cried.
“Maxine, my pet, crying for help will do nothing but get your little friends killed!” The male voice warned from the other side of the door.
“No! Leave them alone!” I pleaded.
“Then do not speak!” The male voice commanded.
Oh, no this is what the ghost of my mother meant, it is too late! It’s over! It’s all over! I headed to the window. I saw a police car, outside, parked right outside of my home. Catherine, Greta, Flora, Richard, and the Ions came out of the house. Dicey and Lewis came out of Catherine’s place, without me? Did they forget? Did they not notice? They must have thought I was in the bathroom. A policeman got out of the police car and put handcuffs around Flora and Richards wrists…but they are not the killers! They are innocent!
“We are innocent!” Flora cried.
“We will see when you go to court,” The policeman said.
This cannot happen! It simply mustn’t! I placed the note and key in my pocket! I grabbed the large mirror. It was large and heavy to lift, but I managed. I hit the window, it didn’t break. I tried again, it did not work. I went to the other side of the room, closed my eyes, and ran forward. I heard glass breaking. I was free! It was not too late! BAM! It was all a blur!
“Maxine?” I heard someone say. I realized it was Lewis. “Are you alright?”
“Lewis! Give her some room,” I heard Dicey say.
“She just came through a window and landed on a police car,” Rocky reminded.
“Am I too late?” I asked trying to open my eyes.
“What are you talking about?” Lewis questioned.
“Flora and Richard did not murder my mother!” I announced.
“Finally someone is speaking the truth!” Flora exclaimed.
“What is she talking about?” The policeman asked.
“She just came through a window, she has no idea what she is talking about,” Catherine stated.
“Give it up, Catherine! I am well aware you murdered my mother!” I proclaimed.
“What? I kill Angle! Maxine, you are mad!” Catherine told.
“No, I am speaking the truth. Allow me to explain. Catherine realized her fortune is almost gone, so she devised a plan to get more money. She broke my father, Randy, out of jail because she need an assistant in her cruel plot. She commanded him to kill my mother, and my father agreed because he had a lot of anger within him, which was caused by my mother not taking him back. She waited for the perfect time, for him to kill her. That is the reason she stayed all those night on the rocking chair, not to view the stars, but to watch my home, to find the perfect moment for Randy to kill my mother. He put the hair and note in the room, to make it look like Flora and Richard committed the murder. Then when all of us, neighbors got together to discuss the murder, Catherine would blame Flora and Richard. We all believed Flora and Richard committed the murder, but we were wrong! Flora and Richard would be arrested and soon taken to court, everyone in the neighborhood would go to court as witnesses, except my father, the perfect time to rob Flora and Richard! I am aware of this because I found a note, written in a code, and I found the key, and then discovered who the killer was.” I showed everyone the note and key. Everyone carefully examined it. “The note says ‘Catherine I have killed Angle blame Flora and Richard’” I explained, “When my father realized I knew he killed my mother, he locked me in the bedroom, so I could not inform you of what happened, but I escaped.”
“The child makes sense,” the policeman pointed out.
“Indeed!” Marcus agreed.
Suddenly, a gun was shot at the policeman. He fell to the ground and died! Everyone looked to see who it was! Randy! Catherine grabbed the police’s gun. Dicey leaped in front of me and tired to protect me from being shot. I could see nothing but the back of Dicey’s night-gown.
“She is correct,” I heard Catherine say. Then I heard her pull the trigger…
Copyright © 2010 Nora Alhir. All rights reserved.
