eternal flame - s. harrington

Chapter 7: Missing

Halloween happened a week ago, but the scariest time of the year — or actually, my life — was happening right now.

My baby brother had gone missing.

This morning I had woken up like I did every morning. I got up, brushed my teeth, took out my hair curlers, put on make–up, picked out an outfit, just like every morning.

And just like every morning, I walked into the kitchen, where Jonathan was making breakfast and my mother was turning the house upside down to look for her keys. Once she had found them, she realized something else was missing. Something much more important.

We looked everywhere, and there was no sign of Will. We called the Wheeler's, the school, and all of our neighbours, but no one had seen him.

I could hear the distant voices of my mother and my brother from the backyard, calling out for Will, as I kept trying to call my father, with no answer.

"Hey, you've reached Jim, I'm probably doing something incredible—", I heard on the phone for the sixth time. I sighed deeply, "Seriously... You can ignore me all you want, just not today..", I groaned to myself underneath my breath and slammed the phone to the wall in frustration.

That's when my mother walked into the kitchen through the back door, followed by Jonathan.

"Anything?", she asked, her voice trembling. I looked at her with apologetic eyes and shook my head, "No, he's not picking up."

My mother groaned, "Oh, that's it!", she scoffed, picked up her keys she had previously put on the breakfast table, and ran out.

"Mom, wait!", I called out and went after her. She was already starting her car when I ran up to her. "Where are you going?", I asked. "To the station.", she replied swiftly and I got in the car with her. Before I could say anything, she was already speeding out of our driveway.

Soon we arrived at the police station. Florence told us to go wait for my dad in his office, so we did.

I sat down on the couch in my father's office, looking at my mother, who kept pacing the room anxiously while holding a cigarette.

I didn't know the right thing to say to her in this moment. Usually I had a way to help her ease her anxiety, since I had seen it all my life, but this was different. Her child was missing.

I kept checking my watch. Thirty–five minutes had already gone by, and my dad still hadn't arrived. Flo came in to the room and asked us if we wanted some coffee, which my mother politely declined.

We waited for another thirty minutes without saying a word to eachother before I heard a familiar voice in the hallway.

"Coffee and contemplation, Flo!"

My father stepped into the room, slowing down his steps when he saw us. He was holding a cup of coffee in his hand, and a donut in the other. I could tell from his face he was surprised to see us both.

"Where have you been?", my mother turned to look at my father, getting up from her seat.
– "I overslept.", he replied confusedly.
"Grace has been trying to reach you all morning!", my mother yelled, pointing at me, "Don't you ever pick up the phone when your daughter calls?"

I shook my head lightly to my mother as a way of telling her to not go there with this conversation right now. She took a deep breath as my father placed his breakfast on his desk and sat down.

He sighed deeply and apologized.

"Flo tells me you can't find your son.", Dad said. Mom scoffed, "Yeah.", her voice was trembling, "Will spent all day at the Wheeler's yesterday and wasn't in his bed this morning, so I called them to see if he had spent the night, and Karen told me he had left at around eight. So I figured he must've left to school early, so then I called the school and they told me he wasn't there either.", my mother explained.

My dad nodded, taking a few seconds to think before he spoke, "You think he ran away?"

"No!", Mom shouted, "Not Will, he would never!"

My dad put his hands up as a way of telling my mom to calm down, "Okay... Grace, would you mind waiting outside for a while?", he turned to look at me. I gave him a small frown. "Okay...", I said quietly, got up from my seat and exited into the hallway, closing the door behind me.

I stood in the hallway for about five minutes, observing the scene through the gaps of the blinds on the window to my father's office, listening to their muffled conversation.

"We've been waiting here for over an hour!"
– "And I apologize, again."
"I– I'm going out of my mind!"
– "Look, boy his age, he's probably just playing hookie, okay?"
"No! Not my Will, he's not like that, he wouldn't do that."
– "Well, you never know. I mean, my mom thought I was on the debate team, when really I was just screwing you in the back of my dad's Oldmobile, so..."

"Ew...", I whispered to myself after hearing that.

"Hopper!"
– "What? It happened, there's proof of that in the hallway if you'd like to check—"
"This is not a joke! Look, he's not like you, Hopper. He's not like me. He's not like... most. He has a couple of friends, but, you know, the kids, they're mean. They make fun of him. They call him names. They laugh at him. His clothes—"
– "His clothes? What's wrong with his clothes?"
"I don't know. Does that fucking matter?!"
– "Maybe..."
"Look... He's, he's a sensitive kid. Lonnie... Lonnie used to say he was queer, called him a—"
– "Is he?"
"He's missing is what he is!"

I listened to the conversation for another couple of minutes before my mom walked out of the office. My father followed her to the door and turned to look at me.

"Grace, a minute?", he asked. I turned to look at my mom, I guess for approval. She nodded her head, "I'll wait outside.", she said and left the station.

I walked into my dad's office and sat down when he did. I looked at him as he was obviously in a deep thought for a few seconds before turning to me.

"So, how are you? How are things?", he asked.
I scoffed quietly and rubbed my arm, "They're fine.", I muttered, "Well, they were before this morning."

My dad nodded, "Where were you last night?"
– "What?"
"You weren't home?"
– "No..."
"Then where were you?"
– "I was with a friend."
"Which friend?"
– "That's not really relevant, is it?"
"It might be."
– "I know you're not asking me this because of Will."
"I just want to know what's going on in your life."
– "Then be in it!"

He went silent for a while, looking away from me. He sighed deeply before speaking again, "We're going to do everything we can. We're going to find your brother. You, look after your mom. She's under a lot of stress right now."

I crossed my arms. "I know how to take care of my mother.", I said. He shook his head, "In a situation like this, no you don't."

I figured the conversation was over, so I got up from my seat and headed towards the door. "Wait.", my father said and I turned back around. He walked up to me and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"I'm sorry I haven't been there.", he said, "I've taken you for granted and that stops now. You're my kid and that's more important to me than anything. Grace, I swear, I'm going to clean up my act and start showing up. I promise.", he reassured me.

I let out a tiny sigh, blinking my eyes rapidly so I won't start crying. My dad pulled me into a hug and placed his chin on top of my head, and for a second, I felt like a little kid again, melting into the hug.

I pulled away and said, "Just find him.", before walking away and exiting the station.