Death and the Deeds ✔

THE LAST DEED

I was craving peace. But I had no time to search for it. There was some strange activity going on inside of me. Like my body was full of some small beads that were constantly shaking. There was no wind to stir the leaves. Not a sound could be heard either close at hand or in the far off distance. Even my own breath seemed to die as soon as it left my mouth. 

"12th September,2014." I whispered. 

Laura nodded and stretched her hand out.

Mason's father was the kind of a man who had bravery stamped in his bones. He knew how to analyze every angle of a case and then do what was to be done. He never really cared about the consequences. Maybe he should have, if not for him then maybe for his family. 

I do not remember if it was really his death that saddened me more or was it what Mason had gone through that really made my nights sleepless.

I still remember him saying, " My hero is dead. Now there'll be just a graveyard, a stone that'll bear his name and his cold bones beneath the soil."

On the dreadful evening of 14th September, 2014, I had gone to Mason's house while he was away with his mother and his nine year old beautiful young sister to get some books for my SAT exam. I knocked on the door and his father received me.

"Hello, Hazel." He greeted.

"Hi Mr. Arlo."

"Mason's out with his mom but if you wanna hangout, I got some beer for me and soda for you and our team's about to get on ground." He said and then gave me a smile that was genuinely sweet.

"That sounds pretty awesome but sadly this birdie has to study." I faked a sad face as I pointed towards myself. "I'm here to borrow some notes."

"Up you go then." He shrugged and tapped my head.

 While I was upstairs in Mason's room, I heard some noise downstairs. I ignored it. The noise was then followed by some gunshots. My legs froze, so I crouched and then dragged myself towards the edge of the room. The gun was fired several times but there were no screams, no crying for help. Someone was silently put to sleep forever and I knew who that someone was.

I basically crawled through the stairs into the living room. My body ached like I had fever. In this numb state, my mind only offers me one thought. How will I ever tell Mason? As I dragged myself into the living room, I saw his dead body with a note on it that said, "We warned you." 

Mr. Arlo was now just a dead body. I took his hand in mine and cried until my voice found it's way through the lump in my neck. I then took my phone out and called Mason.

Mason: Hello?

Me: You...you need to..come home.

I was more weeping than speaking.

Mason: Haze are you okay?

Me: Just come home...now.

I then dropped the call. 

I only remember the next few days as blur. Linda and I often just sat with Mason as he cried. In a way that you could see his inner child, like sadness surpassed the layer of maturity he had acquired over time. He had become a miserable sight. His family had spent everything they had on investigation but they never found the murderers. He was an A grade student headed for the top university, but soon his grades collapsed and we all dreaded for the future we hoped he would have. It seemed like it was his soul that was fractured and we did not know if any plaster could fix it.

"You were the last person he talked to. You're not just any other person in my life, you're the person of my life. I'll miss you." These were Mason's last words before he moved to Seattle. His only regret was that he could not bring justice to his father. And this regret took him down the dark lane. He told me he no longer wanted to try for anything. That he knows the world still goes round, but his world no longer kept up with pace of others.

So, now that I knew I cannot save his father, I wanted to save Mason. I could shield him from the life he had after his father. I could make him not regret and find the murderers. I just had to remember some minor details of that day. I knew the date but time had skipped out of my mind. So I searched on the google about that match and after a few clicks, I found out that the match began at 5:30 PM. So I had to inform the police and make sure that they arrived somewhere around this time. I only had tomorrow to make arrangements. I could not protect Mason from the biggest tragedy, but I could lower it's impact on his life.

On the night of 12th, I called Mason and Linda and asked them to meet at a cafe nearby.

"How's your prep going Haze?" Linda sipped her smoothie and then licked her lips.

"I think I should go around holding a banner that says MY PREP IS GOING FINE. Literally everyone's been asking me just that lately." I scowled.

"Jeez, you need to chill." Linda raised her brows. "What about you?" She jerked her face in Mason's direction.

"I'm waiting for more universities to offer me some scholarships."

"But you'll still go for the one that empties your pocket instead of filling it." I said.

He narrowed his eyes for a brief moment and then nodded. 

"All good things cost a filled pocket." Linda sighed. 

"I wonder where we'd be in twenty years from now." Mason said as he placed the fork he was holding back on his pasta plate.

Sadness masked my face.

"I think I'd be a professional interior designer with branches of my company all over the world and two little kiddos that'll call Mark Daddy. " I could see her beaming with happiness as she spoke.

"And you Haze?" Mason turned his head towards me.

"Why would I even want to live for twenty more years. What's the use of my pointless existence anyway? I could plan those twenty years but do I know if I'll make it till tomorrow. We're all just as temporary as candle flame in wind." I erupted. My mind was clouded with grey.

Linda and Mason stared at me in bewilderment. 

"You need another cup of coffee." Said Mason as he gestured for a waiter to come.

"Look", Linda placed her hand over mine, "this exam has no importance over your health." 

I sighed. They only heard my words but the meaning behind it was still alien to them. 

"I just hope that after twenty years, people I love are happy." I said in a soft tone. 

They smiled. What else could they do about the storm they weren't even aware of.