Baneful | H. Bowers

{ 4 }

Joellen sit on the edge of the cliff over looking the Quarry with her eyes closed and her head turned to the sky. She knew that she should be with her family right now, but she couldn't bare to hear her mother's sobs or Bill's voice of denial.
She hated hearing the condolences. People stopped at her house to offer casseroles or platters. The never ending words of 'I'm sorry' or 'I'm sure they'll find him' set her teeth on edge.
Joellen knew they talked, whispered when they saw one of the Denbroughs on the street. Feeling pity and also feeling relief, thankful that it wasn't them in that position.
No one has been in Georgie's room since he disappeared. Every time her mother tried she broke down into sobs, so it was left untouched. It was left exactly as it was since the time he was in it.
After the first three days the police no longer looked for Georgie, but his body. The search parties slowly decreased in size until there was no one left to look.
A week later the Denbroughs stood around an empty casket. Bill's friends where there they all shed a tear having known Georgie. None of her family went up to talk for him mainly because it was to hard.
Her mother hadn't stopped crying and her father just held onto her. Bill was in denial and couldn't accept the fact that he was gone.
And Joellen was just numb. She hadn't shed a single tear since she found out. Many thinking she was cold or just didn't care. But one person knew that that wasn't the case. Joellen was simply in shock, and she shut down, but she was bound to breakdown any time soon.
After the funeral, the burying of an empty casket, Joellen walked. She didn't follow the everyone back to her house. No she just walked. Her feet eventually led her to the Quarry, to where she is now.
She didn't know how long she sat there before she heard the crunching of leave behind her. Turning her head it was to see her boys, all dressed in black. Looking at their faces they held a sympathy that they could only feel towards her.
This is what causes the dam to break. First a singular tear slid down her cheek, then more followed after that until she was sobbing. They all held her in a hug, very uncharacteristic for them but then again their friend was in pain.
Once her tears had dried up they all sat sharing a cigarette, legs dangling off the edge. They didn't talk but just sat there, well until Patrick asked a question.
"What was the point of the funeral?"
Henry looked at him with rage in his debut Joellen set a hand in his arm to calm him down.
She took a drag from the cigarette, "It was comfort, mainly for my parents. Kind of like putting the past behind us."
"That's stupid," Belch concludes.
"It is," agrees Joellen and that was the last said on the topic.
     The five friends sit there talking for what seems hours and it was. They all head their separate ways once the moon replaces the sun.
     Joellen walks home with Henry by her side, it's silent and both are lost in thought. Their hands keep brushing against each other.
     Joellen looks down at their hands, so close yet not close enough. She looks back up at Henry who is looking forward, deciding to be daring she locks her pinky around his.
     Henry looks down at their pinky's and then at Joellen's blushing face. He then intertwines all of their fingers.
     Both feel tingles shot up and down their arms which caused blushes to spread across both of their faces.
     Not much was said that night.
     It's a dark and gloomy day when the Denbrough children return to school. They both walk into school and try to ignore the stares that come their way. Bill breaks apart when he sees his friends and Joellen goes to her locker.
     Sitting down in her maths class she stares out the window, she does so until she feels a presence take the seat next to her. She turns her head to see Patrick occupying the blue, plastic chair.
     Patrick pulls out his green pencil case and slides it to her, he does an 'open it' motion and she does. Upon opening it she sees a dead mouse, it startles her a bit but being semi-used to Patrick's 'antics' she knows he meant well.
  All he simply says is, "To cheer you up."
  She closes the case and puts it in book bag, she looks up at Patrick and gives him a small peck on the cheek, "Thank you."
  He just shrugs his shoulders but Joellen notices the barely there smile, she turns and focuses on the teacher beginning the lesson.
     Joellen doesn't ears lunch that day but instead sits behind the school with her camera in her hands. She hasn't taken a picture since Georgie, knowing that her last picture had been  of him.
     She rests her head on her knees and takes a deep breath. Joellen feels a head rest on her shoulder and looks to see her brother with tears in his eyes.
  "Come here," She hugs her brother close to her chest and lets him. She rests her chin on top of his head. Her now only brother's sobs breaks her heart and it only breaks more knowing she can't do anything about his cries.
     By the time his cries die down the bell for the next class has already rung.
  She pulls away to look at her brother, "How about we skip the rest of school and do something fun?"
  "B-Bowers and his f-friends ar-are bad in-flu-e-ences," he stutters.
  "Come on," She jeers, "It would be nice to get are minds off of things."
  "T-that's wh-What's school is f-for," he tries to disagree but his smile tells her other wise.
     She grins and stands up in front of her brother, "I, Joellen Denbrough, invite you, Bill Denbrough, to a day of fun and laughter. Do you accept?"
  Bill looks up to sister and sees her grin and looks down at her wiggling fingers, he grabs her hand in his and looks into her confidently and says, "I accept."