A Song for Elodie

Chapter Nine

Teresa Moreno walked up the stairs, thoughts buzzing with the event of this afternoon. There was something wrong with Elodie, but she couldn't figure out what. 

"Elodie, honey? Time for dinner."

She knocked on her daughter's door. When there was no reply, she opened it.

The scene inside the room hit her like a bolt of lightning.

She collapsed to the ground in slow, heaving sobs. 'No, please, NO!"

###

Mannix stared out the window as Nicole, his mother, steered the rental car into the Moreno's driveway. His girlfriend Sophie reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. A huge knot of words was in his throat, but he couldn't bring himself to say them.

The door flew open and Teresa ran out, still in her pyjamas. Nicole hurried out of the car and flung her arms around Teresa's neck, rubbing her back affectionately. Teresa squeezed her tighter, sobbing into her neck. Mannix emerged from the car, hand in hand with Sophie. Teresa noticed him, released Nicole and hugged him and Sophie tightly. Mannix felt like he could burst into tears, but he knew he had to stay strong for the sake of Teresa and the rest of the family.

"Thank you, Nic, for coming," stammered Teresa, wiping her eyes with a yellow handkerchief. Her hair was a mess and she had dark circles as big as a panda's around her swollen eyes. It looked like she hadn't slept in a week.

"Teresa, you need us, and we would never stand by and let you struggle on your own, with no one else to help you," explained Nicole.

"Sebastijan's parents are arriving tomorrow, and my mum is already here," hiccoughed Teresa. "We have little plans for-for the funeral, a-and we just-" She exploded into wails again.

"Mannix, honey, and you too Soph, could you please get the bags inside?" whispered Nicole.

"Sure Mum," replied Mannix. He led Sophie to the back of the car and began hauling the bags out of the boot and dragging them to the door, careful to hide his expression from her.

Sebastijan, Ryker, Savannah-May, and an elderly woman whom Mannix recognized as Teresa's mother Kathleen stood in the doorway. They each grabbed a bag and carried them to the spare room. Teresa and Nicole followed them to the living room once the bags were shoved in the spare wardrobe. The coffee table was strewn with forms, reports, and empty mugs.

Everyone sat down wherever there was space. Mannix took a seat next to Ryker, who put his head on his shoulder. Sophie put her arm around Abyan, who was already sitting in the large white armchair next to the fireplace. No one spoke until Teresa opened her mouth, tear tracks etched on her pale face

"I found her in her room. That moment will be forever plastered in my head, I'll never forget it," explained Teresa softly. "I think the worst thing in the world is to find your own child dead." She sniffled, and a single tear emerged from her eye. "I was just laying with her, I didn't want to leave her."

Ryker started to cry. Mannix hugged him tightly.

"I've never seen Dad cry like he did that evening," whispered Savannah-May, her arm around her mother.

"Everything was so slow-moving, we couldn't do much," added Abyan, "us kids didn't know what had happened."

"I - we - had no idea what was going on," said Sebastijan, whose eyes were also swollen. "The only thing that seemed suspicious was that Elodie was so withdrawn from all of us. But she kept it to herself."

"She was going to be sweet sixteen next year, and now I'll never take her to Europe as I did for Teresa," blubbered Kathleen.

At this moment Teresa herself completely broke down. "Every day since she died, I have felt so angry and guilty with myself because I never asked her what was wrong," she wailed. "I feel like I've failed as a mother because I was so oblivious to her pain, and now she's gone, and I'm never ever going to get her back!" She collapsed in Nicole's arms, her whole body shaking with sobs.

Mannix couldn't take it anymore. He stood up and ran up the stairs to Elodie's room. As he shut the door, he found he couldn't hold in his grief any longer and succumbed to his tears. It was a painful scraping sob that stung his throat and took the breath out of him. Once the tears slowed down, Mannix wiped his eyes and took in his surroundings.

Elodie's room looked untouched since her death, save for a collection of items arranged in a large memorial on her bed. Photos, keepsakes, lit candles and awards stood grouped around a main framed photo on a soft yellow tray. Inside the frame was a picture of Elodie resting her hands on her chin, laying on the grass smiling mischievously at the camera. Mannix smiled at the photo and stroked the frame.

"I miss you, Ellie," he whispered.

A small book he hadn't noticed when he first saw the memorial. It was leather-bound and engraved with the letters EM. Curious, he opened it. It was Elodie's diary.

###

Friday 31st August 2019

Dear Diary,

My name is Mannix Keeton, and last week my best friend Elodie Moreno took her own life.

I never knew how much pain she was suffering, because she never told me.

I found her diary lying on her bed after she wrote in it for the last time. I read every single entry twice because I wanted to know why. What drove her to commit suicide? Who was responsible for this? And why did she never tell me?

I couldn't believe what I was hearing when Teresa's heaving voice told me down the phone line. My mum took the phone from me, her face turning white. Tears started running down my cheeks like a waterfall, and I felt wobbly and nauseous. My palms started to sweat, and my throat felt numb. I threw up a trickle of bitter green bile, coughing it out, as I knew I would never see my best friend, my kindred spirit, ever again.

In three days, I have to face Elodie's farewell, which I didn't think I would ever be doing until I was old.

See you on the other side,

Mannix

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