The Man of Many Hats

Chapter 7

"How did this happen!?"

They asked me.

"Haven't we been to this house before, chief?"

The large man with a white mustache thought for a bit.

"Oh yeah! You were the people with the chopped up boyfriend."

I kind of laughed. It was a grim statement.

"Who did this, sonny?"

"Like I told you last time. He has black sunglasses, a frown, and wears multiple hats."

The old man thought for a second. He started snapping.

"Oh right!"

They told me they'd keep an eye out.

Very reassuring.

I thought sarcastically. One by one the men filed out. There was still one man left.

"Can I help you, officer?"

The officer looked at me. He was a fat man. He was holding a half eaten donut. His mouth was wide open. It was full of food. He managed to gurgle out,

"Nuffin's wong,"

He paused for a moment and swallowed the donut.

"Nothing's wrong, kid."

He wobbled off. In about a half an hour, news reporters covered the field. Camera crews stumbled along. There were men with machetes trying to help out.

"Hey! Don't cut these stalks!"

I yelled. My mom drove up and noticed all of the vans. She ran out to me.

"Richard Telis, Tell me what is going on right this second."

I gulped. I showed her to the corpses that were already half eaten. Her mouth dropped. Her eyes filled with tears. She started bawling. I cried with her.

Fear. That wasn't anything new. I was afraid. My life was slowly dying off. What would happen if I killed the man?

A female news reporter came up to me. She looked fake. She was frowning and putting on her make up. She looked me in the eyes.

"Don't mess this up, kid!"

Typical. Sweet as pie on tv. Bitter as an acorn in reality. The camera-man signaled. We were live.

"This is Pippa Jones reporting live from Channel 2. I am here with Richard Telis. He is the brother of this poor girl that died. Richard, what do you have to say of this heartbreaking tragedy."

I looked at the camera and said,

"Stay away from me. A man is going around slaughtering anyone who directly talks to me. Move from the state. It is not safe!"

I put my hand on the lens. The lady gave me a terrible look. A look that said I hate you for that. I wasn't surprised.

I went through 15 more interviews. I repeated the same 22 words over and over again. They thanked me and started to leave.

The woman who gave me a sour look walked to me.

"Mind if I use your bathroom?'

She sounded so much different than she did on tv.

"Sure."

She went into my house.