Remembering Sunday // Jack Barakat

Chapter 2

After I heard the phone click, signaling that she had ended the call, my phone slid out of my phone and clattered onto the floor. My mind struggled to try to process what just happened. After years of not hearing from her, why did she decided to answer now? Surely, there had to be some significance; something more than the fact that she was drunk. Why was she drinking, anyway? Whenever I took her to parties, she hated the thought of consuming alcohol-- but yet again, that was the Heather I knew, of course she would’ve changed over the course of 4 years.

And it was in that moment, I decided to do what I had set out to do ever since she had left. I was going to find her, despite her objections. Even though our encounter on the phone was small, it was easy to tell that she needed someone. I grabbed my phone and jacket, pulling it on before hurrying out the door. I shouted a quick goodbye to my parents, who were startled by my sudden interest of actually going outside, and drove off towards the nearest police station.

Since she had been missing for years, it was obvious that they had to had to help me, so when I started talking to the receptionist behind the counter, I explained everything;

“Hi.. Uhm. I would like to report a missing person, or a runaway. Whatever you would like to call it.” I murmured under my breath, lowering my head for a moment to compose myself. “She left a couple years ago, but I just got in contact with her last night. She’s getting herself in a load of trouble and I really need help finding her.” While I was talking, it seemed that my voice had gotten exceedingly desperate. The woman behind the desk sighed and nodded, typing away at her computer for a moment, before heading off towards the back.

Within minutes, she was back.  “Private investigators aren’t that cheap, son, but I’m sure you know that.. But, I believe it’s your lucky day. We have an officer that will do the job for free.”

My eyes grew wide at that; why would someone offer to do this for free? After a short while of thinking, it became clear to him that they probably just felt bad for the kid, and assumed that Heather was just a lost cause--and because of that, the case would become closed as soon as it was opened; but that didn’t deter me from the fact that I would find her, I had to. It was my duty as her best friend to keep her safe.

I glanced back up at the woman before nodding, a small smile creeping up on my face, “Alright, when do we get started, then?” I asked, tilting my head off to the side a bit. Again, she was typing away on her computer, as if acting that I wasn’t in front of her.

Without lifting her gaze, she responded. “Come back on Thursday, everything will be set up for your first meeting then.” She looked up from the monitor for a split second to gave me a small smile. Without another word, I walked out of the station and got back into my car, driving back home.

As soon as I took one step through the door, I was bombarded by questions.

“Where were you, Jack?”

“Why didn’t you tell us where you were going?”

“You know we hate when you don’t tell us anything.”

“Stop being so quiet, Jack Bassam Barakat! Answer us when we are talking to you!” Was the last thing out of my mother’s mouth before I gritted my teeth and yelled out a response,

“I was at the police station, okay?” I  muttered, taking a seat on the second stair. An apparent look of confusion passed through both of my parents eyes, which gave me the cue to continue on with what I was saying. Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes for a moment.

“I got a lead of where Heather is.. Sorta. I finally got a hold of her when I called her phone last night. She was drunk.. I couldn’t stand the idea of her hurting herself like that, so I broke down and went to the station to see if I could get a private investigator or something.” He chuckled, “There was a man that was willing to help for free, and our first meeting is in a couple days.” I finished, looking back up at my parents and searching for some sort of emotion in their hollow eyes, only to come up with nothing. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for one of them to say something, anything, instead of staring down at me as if I was crazy.

It was my mother that finally gathered the nerve to begin talking; “Jack, honey. I hate to see you suffer over this anymore. You really need to grasp the fact that Heather is not coming back, and even if she were, she wouldn’t be the person you grew up with anymore. It’ll only hurt more.”

I glared at her, my eyes flashing with anger, and I stumbled to my feet. “No, mom! You don’t understand. You didn’t lose your best friend! You act as if it’s so easy to come to terms that I’ll never see her again. I will, I promise you that. I’m well fucking aware that she won’t be the person that I knew; time changes people. I know that. Stop treating me like a fucking child, I need to see my best friend again!” I yelled, leaving my mom speechless as I stormed upstairs to my room.

---

I spent the next couple days cooped up in my room, only leaving it to get some food or to use the bathroom. I never once spoke to my parents; I don’t think I was ready for that confrontation quite yet. It came the time in which I was supposed to meet the detective, which I now knew as Officer Ramsay. His last name made me laugh at first, as it reminded me of Chef Ramsay, but I knew that it would be far  from appropriate if I had an outburst of laughter when he was in my presence, so I kept to myself.

As I was sitting in his small, cramped office, we began to cover the basics; Heather’s full name, her current age, where she was last seen, a predicted height and weight, hair color, and eye color; simple procedure questions that could potentially help them track my friend down.

“So, you mentioned something about having contact with her a couple days ago, over the phone, yes?”

I nodded quickly.

“I’m going to have you call the number you called before again, and you’re gonna try to keep her on the line as long as possible. We will be able to track her cell phone usage from there, and then it will a lot easier to find her.” He explained, before getting up to his feet. “Now, you stay here while I get everything set up.”

I nodded once again, twiddling my thumbs as I glanced around the small room in wait for the officer to return, so that they could get started. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard the door creak; “All set.” Officer Ramsay smiled, sitting back in his seat. I bit my lip and flipped open my phone, dialing the number that I had memorized for years, and waited for it to start ringing. Hoping and praying that she would pick up once again, but the voice on the other line wasn’t hers.

We’re sorry, your call could not be completed as dialed, please check the number and dial again or call an operator to help you.

A/N:

Dedicated to EverythingChemical_x for the awesome cover c: <3