Discovered

Chapter 16: Grandpa's Secrets

As soon as we came home, I rushed upstairs and read Wallace's file. He has perfect attendance records, perfect grades, and serves in community hours. I bit my lip, closed the file, and stared hard at my blank canvas. Something doesn't feel right, I thought. First, Wallace and now Justin?

Are they actually the killers? Or are they just victims of Xavier's wrath? Rolling my eyes, I hopped out of bed and rummage into my suitcase for some paint. One by one, small buckets of different paints were set firmly in front of the canvas. Maybe painting can clear my mind.

Taking out a pencil pouch from my knapsack, I sketched the thinking man on the left. I made his posture straight and his eyes closed. He wore a nice suit, had a short beard, and short hair. My suspect list is getting full: the members of the school board, the teachers, or maybe Xavier himself.

There has to be something that I have been missing. I wondered. Just then, my cellphone interrupted my thoughts. Quickly, I snatched it from the drawer and answered it. The call belonged to Mom.

"Hi Cleo!" Mom beamed. Even though she sounded happy, I could hear her sighing through the speakers. Grandpa's death must have hurt Mom.

"Hi Mom," I greeted back. "So far, I did all of my homework and I am starting my project." "That's good," she replied. "How's the investigation?" I let out a sigh then scratched my head. "Confusing," I moaned.

"I went to the school as a journalist and there's a new principal named Mrs. Jade. She told me that Grandpa is a slacker who lets kids do whatever they want. My first two suspects are the teachers and the school board members."

"Do you want me to go and talk to them?" Mom asked. "See what they know?" I thought about it for a moment. "Mom," I began unsurely. "Is Dad okay with this?" I heard silence coming through the phone. For a while, I was scared.

"Mom," I repeated. "You need to rest, I will take care of the case. And if I need advice or-" "Cleo," Mom interrupted. "Just tell me what you need." I swallowed a gulp. "I want you to rest Mom," I said firmly. "I will take care of it."

"Okay," Mom said finally. "I'll call you later," I promised. "I love you." "You too," she whispered. As soon as I hang up the phone, I dialed Dad's cell number. "Hey kiddo," Dad greeted. "How is the case?"

I told him my situation. "That's not surprising," Dad sighed. "So you're saying that Justin Gerald, the older brother of the 'killer', is arrested by Xavier?" "Seems like it," I answered with a shrug.

"He saw you, didn't he?" Dad asked suddenly. "Yes," I admitted. "But I told him that my name is Mia. "That's a coincidence," he chuckled. "Because the police are confused that a girl with the same name, somehow snuck inside the police station to meet Wallace."

I stared hard at the white cotton bedsheets. "Cleo," Dad began slowly. "What in the world were you thinking?" "Sorry," I mumbled. "Because of your incident," he continued. "Xavier thinks you're an accomplice to a crime, but unless he has more proof, he and his friends will keep you under surveillance."

I let out a groan. I screwed up very bad. "I'm really sorry, Dad." "You are really lucky that I am not grounding you for a month," he snarled. "Also, Uncle Seth messed up the security cameras so you wouldn't end up in jail."

"Look, you are a teenaged girl, and girls like you make reckless decisions, but don't do it ever again. Understand?" "Yes sir," I answered. "Thanks Dad." "Just stay out of trouble, Cleo." he warned. "I love you."

"You too Dad," I said back. "Oh, there are some clues that I am unsure about so I may have to look through Grandpa's things." "Okay," he said. "Call me if you found anything." As soon as I hang up, I marched downstairs and headed into Grandpa's old bedroom, which almost looks like my room.

Wood invaded the room, so it was tricky for me to walk on them without making a sound, a small bed which was never made, a closet, and there were hardly any windows. A small lamp sat still besides the bed. I checked under the bed, tossed folded polo shirts and pants out of the closet, and searched under the lamp.

Just then, I stepped something then looked down: a loose floorboard hovered on the soles of my shoes. In disgust, I pried it off with my hand then groaned when I saw a used tape sticking on the board. It had dust and dead bugs on it. Why didn't Grandpa get rid of this? I thought. I then looked at the hole on the floor and peeked inside.

Hidden in the dark, I could see a box and books of some sort. Immediately, I pulled each of them out of the hole. One of the books is from Arizona High, Grandpa's old high school, and the other is from Langston Hughes. My guess is that they were both yearbook. Rather focusing my energy on the box, I took the Arizona High yearbook and studied the cover.

It was a red cover with a red cardinal on it. I remembered  Arizona High, it used to be a good school until it became a center of a Vietnam War protest. Hippies with bell bottomed pants, long wavy hair, and accessories used this school for one of their secret meetings until someone ratted them out. I think it was before the Summer of Love occurred.

I opened the book and flipped through the pages until I saw an entire row of pictures. Underneath them are a list of names. Some had different hairstyles, different clothes, signs of acne. I trailed my eyes on the names until I found three that shocked me: Lewis Porter, Xavier Rodgers, and Amanda Jade.

Grandpa's picture showed a sixteen year old boy who reminded me of the Jackson Five. He had a big afro, glasses, and a yellow t-shirt. I could easily see a necklace of a peace sign rapped around his neck. Amanda Jade had brown skin, black eyes, and has a black ponytail rested against her neck.

She wore a pink plaid sweatshirt and a brightening smile. But when I look for Xavier Rodgers' picture, it has been secretly scribbled out in blue pen. However, I could see some writing underneath Grandpa's and Mrs. Jade's picture. Long Live the Summer Nights  I read. What does that mean?