How I killed my mother

Kevin

Every word of the detective rang in Kevin's ears.

She was right. He was blind to cover up for Adam. Adam was horrendous for what he did, to all of them. Errum was right to attack him, and he should've let her. After all, what he made Errum do was disgusting. He deserved the pain Kevin felt.

Today he was going to make the Phills pay.

"It all started...a few months back. When Mrs. Hassan came to our school a few months ago."

He could see the detective's brow shoot up at the mention of Mrs. Hassan's name.

"It was homecoming season, and we all were excited, persuading our dates, preparing outfits and all that. The whole school was in this..festive mood. But the one person who wasn't in any of this was Errum, of course. She was not a part of any of the excitement or anything. Nor was she asked for a date. And about that, our bully, Devon, picked on her."

Kevin stopped to breathe a little. He was clearly in pain, talking was hard for him. But he continued anyway.

"He was the typical jerk you see at schools. He never left anyone, you know. Adam and I were always his targets. But not nearly as much as Errum. She was feisty, and he loved it. She never put her head down and walked away like the rest of us did, she fought back. But that day, Devon crossed a line. He picked on Errum so badly, they broke into a fight- as in, a physical fight. Devon was way stronger than her fragile frame, so she ended up breaking a bone..."

Kevin was interrupted by coughing fits and Eyzah handed him a glass of water. He sipped it and sighed.

"The next day, Errum's mom, Mrs. Hassan, arrived at the principal's office. That was the first time we all saw her. Clearly she was young, but sick enough to make her look years older. She was pale, tired but furious. She made a pretty huge scene, of suing and all that. But Devon's father funded the school, which of course, gave him all the power. So nothing Mrs. Hassan did had any affect on Devon. Frustrated, she slapped Devon in front of everyone. And before anyone could process anything, including Devon, she pushed him hard and he fell face first into the ground, broke a teeth. Like mother, like daughter."

"You can guess what followed. It was Devon's father's turn to kick their asses. But the school was generous enough to nor expell Errum, though I think she received a suspension. But the greater loss was, the Hassans made a new and a dangerous enemy. Devon."

"Mrs. Hassan hurt his ego. He was not the one to rest. He was gonna make them pay, whatever it takes. So he played a nasty game, where he made all of us his pawn. He made us do all the dirty work, while he sat and watched," Kevin sighed.

"Adam's father, Mr. Phill, is our geography teacher. He's a very simple man, easygoing and loving. I've been interacting with the Phills since I was a little kid. I remember Adam's mum, sweet lady she was, her sudden death had left both the Phills broken. I always felt Mr. Phill was a lonely guy."

"When Mrs. Hassan came to our school, that's when...he met her. And all the wheels of Devon's game set in motion."

Guessing what was coming next, detective Malik was awake and and all ears.

"Devon showed us something. A month after the fight. He showed us a tape, of Mrs. Hassan and Mr. Phill...having sex. And not just one clip, literally so MANY of them. God it was so traumatizing- and I can't imagine what Adam felt."

The detective was gaping at him now, trying to put 2 and 2 together.

"Adam decided to confront his dad about it, after a lot of thought and mustering up the courage. His dad was obviously ashamed, cried and made a mess, of how sorry he was and all that. But Adam wasn't pissed of the fact that he slept with someone. In fact he was happy his father was moving on. But his issue was, why Mrs. Hassan? The obvious messed up woman? And even so, why did they tape it? If they hadn't, he wouldn't have to face all this. But Mr. Phill had no idea how he got it. Literally none. It was Devon, he was the incarnation of the devil, so I wasn't much surprised, to be honest. Long story short, he started to blackmail Adam. That he'll leak the tapes and all that. His war was against the Hassans, I was confused as to why he wouldn't just leak it and insult them. But then I realized... He wanted way more than just humiliation for them. And he was using all of us for that."