"Good, I was thinking you were going to fall asleep on me?" Ruiz glanced outside, Blaze was sitting back in his chair with his eyes closed.
"Yeah? Sorry, I was just tired." Angelo sat upright, almost with military alertness.
"That's alright, I did have you waiting a while. But, any way I have some questions, and I'll try and be quick with them so you can get to class."
"Okay."
"How well did you know Zack? His mother mentioned you all knew each other." Ruiz felt he already knew everything, but he just wanted to see what Angelo would say and how he would answer.
He understood from talking to George and Todd that Angelo and Blaze bullied Zack. For how long? He didn't know but he was going to find out.
"Yeah! I remember Mrs. Bianchi, she was nice. Zack was my friend and I went to his house almost all the time when we were in Elementary School." Angelo looked animated and he had a glint in his eyes.
"Ah, so you saw Zack's father?" Ruiz asked.
She had come alone and hadn't mentioned that she had a husband, she had a ring which was attached to a necklace but he just dismissed it.
"Oh...well, Zack's father died when we were in fourth grade about a month after I became friends with him." He looked down.
"Oh, that must've been hard for Zack." Ruiz made another mental note to give his condolences to Zack's mother.
"It was, sometimes Zack didn't come to school. And when he did he avoided our group of friends which hurt all of us." Angelo's voice seemed constricted and when he looked up he had tears in his eyes.
Wow. Ruiz thought, he had never seen someone who showed this type of emotion towards someone who he hadn't even talked to in years. But he couldn't say that because George and Todd had both cried.
"I'm sorry about that. I have another question for you. Did Zack ever talk to you recently or vice versa?" Ruiz glanced at the window and saw Blaze staring right back at him.
They held eye contact for a while and Ruiz could tell that Blaze didn't like him. It was a look he was used to, but there was an energy seeping from him that just amplified his emotion towards Ruiz.
He looked away first, Angelo was saying something that he couldn't quite hear.
"What was that?" He asked.
"I said, no I haven't talked to Zack recently, I know he's missing but before that no." Now Angelo seemed suspicious of Ruiz.
"Okay, well I'm sure you guys passed one another." Ruiz folded his arm across his chest.
"Well yeah, but we never looked at one another. Zack was a jerk and he was a loner of sorts, not a wallflower or emo. But he never joined the crowd he just stayed in the back." Angelo sat back in the chair his elbow propped up, hand on his face.
"Ah, alright. If Zack were to come back is there anything you would say to him? This will be my last question for you."
"No, just that he worried his mom a lot. And that he should be more careful, I honestly don't have anything else to say to Zack." Angelo shrugged.
Well, that's not what it seemed like when you were getting all choked up. Ruiz shook his head in thought.
What was up with this kid? Usually, most kids try and fake it, and actually, say something. But Angelo just shrugged like there wasn't a point. There was something odd about his behavior, but he couldn't place his finger on it.
YOU ARE READING
Retaliation
ParanormalAll he wants to do is get through high school, so he can move far away. Tired of the bullying and the hateful glares that are sent his way, like it was his fault for being born. Waking up, go to school, get beat up, come home, get asked questions of...