Summer's Gift

Chapter 4

I woke again to brilliant sunlight piercing my closed lids. I peeled them open, feeling like death warmed over, and blinked. Oh, God. Where was I? I slowly took in the grey brick walls with a lone barred window set into it, the cold concrete floor, the thin, lumpy mattress my body was crunched up on, the thick iron bars set into one wall... Wait. What? I quickly sat up and was rewarded with a nice bump to my head from the metal slats of the bunk bed above me, which added to the already pounding headache I had going on. Talk about pain. But would anyone care to inform me as to why was I locked up in a fricking prison cell? 

"Hello?" I called into the stony silence. My voice seemed to ring out as loud as church bells and echo weirdly around the tiny room. Immediately, high-heeled footsteps began clicking toward my voice and moments later, a curvy brunette clothed in a navy police uniform stopped in front of the bars.

"Hi, Jinx. I'm Officer Pedesko, but you can call me Clara. Do you remember anything about last night?" she questioned, raising her plucked eye brows. 

"Um, sure. One thing, though. Can you let me out of here?" I asked, rubbing at the bump on my head.

"Of course."

With a flourish, she pulled big ring of jangling keys from her thick black belt and slid a bulky silver one into the lock. It clicked loudly and the door swung open. I staggered to my feet, which were strangely bare, and stumbled over to Clara. She caught and steadied me when I almost tripped over my own long, clumsy legs, which was completely embarrassing. To make matters worse, my cute white top was smeared with dirt, my black leather skinny jeans were ripped along the knees, and my hair, not to mention my makeup, was totally chaotic.

"Okay, Jinx. Follow me," Clara ordered and began walking down a narrow hallway.

I followed her to a chilly examination room complete with metal table occupied by a single desk lamp and a manila file folder full of crisp papers, two ratty folding chairs placed around it. We sat down on opposite ends of the table and Clara flicked on the lamp before shuffling through the folder of papers.

"Alright, then. As I was saying before, Jinx, do you remember anything about last night?" she interrogated quietly, placing the papers on the table and folding her manicured hands together in front of her.

"Yes. I remember that I went to Jesse's party with Abby and -"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but who are Jesse and Abby?"

"Jesse Peterson is my ex-boyfriend and Abby Matthews is my ex-best friend," I explained, making sure I emphasized the past tense.

"And why is that?" Clara asked.

"Jesse cheated on me with Abby, so I ran away and called my mom to come pick me up because I came to the party with Abby. Then, I fell asleep waiting for her on the side of the road in Cheviot Hills, where Jesse lives. That's when the police called me and told me that... that my m-mom was in a car crash and is dead. But that's not true, is it? I have to be imagning that. Right?" I choked out, tears filling my eyes.

Clara glanced down at the table before meeting my eyes once more. "No. Your mother was driving along the Interstate and a Wal-Mart transfer truck swerved into her lane. Her car was thrown from the road and down the embankment. Her neck was snapped when the car bashed into a tree and she died. Jinx, I'm so sorry for your loss."

It was then that my heart seemed to shrivel up in my chest, blacken to a crisp, and disentegrate into a million grey ashes. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't. The tears that had previously watered in my eyes then gushed down full-force and didn't seem to end.

"Wh-where are my brother a-and sister?" I stammered, hugging my arms around my quivering chest.

"You mean the twins, Aislin and Lex? They were located and brought here as well, but as of right now, they're packing their belongings up at your house," Clara told me, pity shining in her hazel eyes.