Open Secrets✔️

XIII

Danny and I sit in the room, silent. It was obvious that he was mad, but I still couldn't make out whether he was mad at me or the situation. I assumed both. As we sat there, I could hear talking. I was sure that it was the police officers, but I couldn't make out anything they said. I imagined them talking about us, considering none of them could believe we were even alive. How long had we been gone anyway?

It seemed like forever before a policeman came in with our food. It was a different one instead of the two that came and got us. The food smelled so good. I couldn't remember the last time I had real food that wasn't a dead animal or something small like pudding. 

"You boys must be starving." The officer said, "You look pretty healthy though, what did you guys eat when you were gone?" We couldn't reply. All we could do is eat. They gave both of us a cheeseburger, with come green beans, and a little cup of apple sauce. He also gave us a both a cup of fruit punch. The officer realized that we were too hungry to reply and left the room.

I don't think we could've finished our food fast enough. It seemed like the best thing I had ever tasted. A while had went by. We were still sitting in silence and it was getting very boring and nerve racking at the same time. All I could do is sit there and wonder who was going to come through that door. I wish I knew what Danny was thinking. He just seemed mad and annoyed the entire time.

"Danny?"

"What?" He said, raising his head to look at me. He seemed more tired than angry now.

"Who do you think we will come in next?"

"I don't know. Probably another cop. They haven't talked to us yet like they said they would."

"Yeah, probably." I looked around the room, nervously. I couldn't wait to tell them the real story, but Danny was definitely different now. I thought about what changed for a long time. He didn't seem as protective over me anymore. Probably because the only thing he was protecting me from was knowing about Dad's death. Now that I knew the truth, he probably didn't feel that need anymore. I actually started to miss his protectiveness. The silence was cold and scary.

After a while, A woman came through the door. She had dress pants on and a white blouse. She had short brown hair that came to her shoulders. 

"Hello." She smiled as she walked in. Danny and I stayed silent as she sat down at the table. She wrote something down on her clipboard before talking again, "How are you two feeling?"

"You must be the one who is going to talk to us about why we ran away right?" Danny sarcastically asked. I look back and fourth between them.

"Yes. They sent me in here to get your story before we reunite you with your mother."

"We don't want to see our mother." Danny replied. I stay silent. I did want to see Mom, but more importantly, I wanted Danny to pay for what he did, and I didn't want to give him the opportunity to kill me also.

"Ok." the lady replied, "Danny, I was told to talk to you two separately , so Officer James is going to take you to another room, ok?" Danny was clearly annoyed. He picked up his jacket in silence and walked out the door. Once we were alone, the lady continued the conversation.

"Chad, right?" I nodded, "Chad, this is a tape recorder. I am going to record this conversation because we need it for the record, and I was told that some things were done in the past that we might need to address. So let's start. What is your full name?"

"Chad Gilbert Jones." I said softly.

"How old are you?"

"10."

"What is the relation to you and Daniel Jones?"

"Danny is my brother."

"Why did the two of you leave your home on the 20th of October?"

"We were scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Mom."

"What did she do that scared you?"

"She was drunk."

"Ok. How did you know she was drunk?"

"There were empty bottles in the kitchen."

"Was you mother home?"

"No. She was at work. She was always at work. She was at work when we got home from school, and we would usually be in bed when she got home."

"Ok, so you guys had to kind of take care of yourselves."

"Yeah."

"Ok so, was your mother drunk when you got home?"

"I don't know, We were upstairs in our room."

"You shared a room?"

"Yeah." 

"Ok. Let's just go over the important stuff for now. We can save all the details for later. So you left because you were scared of your drunk mother. How did you get away?"

"We climbed out the window and ran down the street."

"Ok. So, I don't know if you know this or not but you guys were gone for a week. How did you guys survive? How did you find food and shelter?"

"It was all Danny. He set traps to catch animals. We would cook them on a fire. And we would usually find an abandoned building to stay in. But there were times when we stayed in the woods."

"Wow, ok. So I was told that something happened to your father a few years ago. Tell me about that?"

"My Dad died. I was really little so Mom and Danny kept it from me."

"So they didn't tell you that he died."

"No. They did. They just didn't tell me how or why. They said I couldn't handle it."

"That's understandable. So you want to know what happened, and they won't tell you."

"No, but I figured it out. They didn't tell me because they didn't want the world know that Danny killed him."

"Your saying that your brother killed your Dad?"

"Yes."

"Ok. Why did he supposedly kill him?"

"I don't know."

"Then how do you know that he did?"

"Because I dreamed it. They were like real memories that I was remembering. I didn't tell Danny until I knew for sure."

"What did he say?"

"We started yelling. I just wanted him to tell me the truth. I wanted to hear him say that he killed Dad."

"And did he?"

"No. He finally yelled at me. He said that I was the one that killed Dad, but I know that he was lying."

"Because you don't remember doing it?"

"Yeah, and because I wouldn't kill him anyway. Danny kept telling me that it was an accident, and that it was part of the reason that we ran away."

"I see. Ok. I think I have enough information for now. Thank you so much for talking with me. Do you have any questions?"

"When your done talking to Danny, could you keep him away from me? I don't want him to kill me too." I said, desperately.

"I think we can make that happen. Anything else?" I nodded my head no. I sat on the couch as she left the room. I was scared about what Danny would say, and who the police was going to believe. Danny was such a good liar. I couldn't imagine it going the right way.