Out of Focus |finished|

4- anagrams and chill

"What are you guys talking about"

The look on Simi's face was one of melancholy. Her whole life, she and Elder had been friends. She knew him longer than any other friend of his. Even Malachi.

"You knew Elder his whole life. Think about it Simi, did he ever do drugs? Who would Elder know to even get Chill?" Julia asked Simi.

There it was again. Chill. Something kept tugging at Malachi's memory, something he knew he had to share with them but his trust level had reach a whole new depth. His eyes darted around the room and finally fell on Julia's again.

She's keeping it together for someone whose brother is dead, he thought.

Malachi remembered the number of times he had come home with Elder and the fights the two siblings always got in. They would be at each other's throat but when their mother chastised them, they stood up for each other.

"I think we should go to your room and talk Julia," Malachi's lowered his voice. There were too many ears and eyes around them.

"You guys are scaring me," Simi said.

"If what I'm thinking is right, then we should all be scared."

As they were climbing the stairs to Julia's room, Malachi turned his head to scan the room if anyone was watching them. His eyes met Elder's father's and the man had an almost quizzical look on his face. His wife, Elder's mother, was leaning against him and talking to another couple.
Malachi smiled at him and he nodded in response.

Julia's room was not at all what he thought it would be. He had come to Elder's house a few times but had never seen Julia's room. It was like a forbidden lair and only Mrs. Benson was allowed in.

The wallpaper in the whole room was a light blue color with photos of basketball and football players hanging on the walls. Her bed looked like it was made in a hurry and her pillow had no cover. There was a table beside the bed with books scattered all over it but no chair.
The room looked more like a boy's room than a girl's.

Julia sighed. "We can sit on my bed. Sorry about the chair, one of them must have sent it downstairs for the guests."

"I can stand." Malachi nodded to Julia while Simi threw herself on the bed. "Okay you two start talking."

Julia sat beside Simi and pulled out a photo album from underneath the bed. She opened the first page and it was a photo of her and Elder as kids having a bath. Julia had been trying to touch Elder's face and he had been dodging her.

"I wish I could remember that day," Julia smiled and flipped the page.

Malachi drew closer and sat beside Julia to them, his figure stealthily quiet.
The next photo was of the two siblings and their little brother who had just been born. Elder was holding his brother in his arms and Julia was looking on sweetly.

Both Simi and Malachi smiled at the photo while Julia wiped her finger over her left eye.
She closed the book and out it back under the bed. "I knew my brother. We may have drifted apart but I knew him. He would never take his own life out of the blue like that or even do drugs."

Nobody spoke after that, each of them sifting through memories of their friend. Malachi uncrossed his arms, sat beside Simi and put his head in his hands.

"What do you think Kai?" she turned to him.

"The night Elder didn't come back to the hostel, I called him and was angry when he didn't pick. Then I got a message from him that read 'I can't help love, lol'"

Simi scrunched her face, "El wouldn't add lol. He hated that word."

"Exactly. I found it weird that he of all people would type that," Malachi explained. "When Julia was talking downstairs, she said something that tugged at me."

He got up and rummaged through the stuff on Julia's messy desk. When he found what he was looking for, he tore a piece of paper from one of Julia's book.

"Hey!" Julia exclaimed and received a boyish grin from Malachi.

Simi and Julia watched as Malachi scribbled on the paper and showed it to them. It was Elder's text. I Can't Help Love, Lol.

"If we take the first letter of each word," Malachi said as he wrote on the other side of the paper, "What do we have?"

"I-C-H-L-L, that doesn't make sense," Julia replied.

"Not exactly. But it's an anagram. For Chill, the same drug they said he overdosed on."

Simi opened her mouth wide and clamped it with her hand. "This is scaring me," she said, her voice muffled.

Malachi watched the weary look on Simi and Julia and wished he hadn't said anything before being sure of himself. I can't get them hooked on this wild goose chase.

He put the paper and pen on the table and took his phone from the bed. "I'm probably assuming things. Don't listen to me. Elder is gone. And we have to let him go."

He rushed out of the Julia's room and walked out of the house. Elder's house was about a 2-hour drive from school campus and since Simi lived near too, she would come back to school the following day. He, however lived far and had been on his own since his mother had moved overseas.

Julia was right and everything about Elder's death was wrong. Chill was rumored to be very underground on campus and needed connections in order to get even a packet. He didn't even know anyone who dealt in Chill. At the same time, everyone he knew could be dealing or taking Chill and he wouldn't know.

But Elder spent his time between developing his photos and class. He wouldn't have had time to go looking for Chill to buy.
Or would he? Malachi wondered.

He had to find out for himself and not pull Simi and Julia along. As far-fetched as his theory was, any drug network on campus could also be dangerous to outsiders threatening it.

A large honk sounded behind him and pulled him out of his thoughts as he was walked on the pavement near the main road, looking for a shuttle to board. He turned and realized too late that there was a puddle of water beside him on the road and in front of the incoming car.

Malachi tried to move far away from the road as possible but the car splashed deep brown puddle water all over him. He stood there, anger bubbling within and wished so much that he could hit something.

"Are you okay?" a middle aged woman asked him as she passed by.

He gave her an angry and steely look, turned and stomped his way back to his dead best friend's house drawing attention to himself with his mud soaked clothes.

The year was starting to look as if it would get worse for him instead of better for him.

Discussion Area

Whoa, is Malachi's theory far-fetched? What do you think is really going on? Let's discuss!