Cypress Alley

Chapter 3

I peeled my Harry Potter poster off the wall, revealing the gap in the wall between my room and Eliza's. Eliza had already pulled her poster away and was sitting quietly, facing me.

"Hey," she said.

My stomach growled in response. We weren't given dinner because we burnt the onions. Though as we were cleaning up, we managed to find some scraps in the pan. 

Remembering something, Eliza crawled under her bed and pulled out what appeared to be a secret stash of snacks. I guessed they were also stolen from Ms Hartley - or perhaps even the school canteen. After grabbing a few packets of chips, she shoved the box back under her bed and tossed me a bag.

"So," she said, opening her packet. "The case."

I stuffed a handful of chips in my mouth and chewed.

"We have to figure out some suspects," she said, reaching for her notebook and pen. "One: Ms Hartley."

"Definitely," I say. "Ms Hartley could possibly be our prime suspect."

"Let's not go that far," she said. "I doubt Ms Hartley even knows that North exists."

"But she's still a suspect. I don't think she would bat an eyelid while killing a child."

"True. Who's out next suspect?"

"I'm not sure," I reply. "There's really no one else that- "

We were interrupted by my three roommates scrambling into my room. They scamper quietly onto their beds and eye the door.

"Dude," Dylan whispers to me. "She's coming for ya."

"Ms Hartley?"

"Yeah. She's really mad about the onions."

I roll my eyes. "I know. She told me that she would 'have a word with me' later."

"I can hear her outside," John said quietly.

Henry peeped out the door and ran back to his bed. "Brace yourselves."

"ELIJAH!" Ms Hartley screamed from outside the door. I replaced my poster on the wall and Eliza followed suit. Ms Hartley stomped into the room like a rhinoceros with her ugly, shrunken face. When she frowns, her face scrunches up into a tiny, shrunken ball, and her head seems too small for her body. I watched her in silent amusement as she scolded me and stormed out of my room.

The house shook when she slammed the door.

When Ms Hartley left to scold Eliza, Dylan stared after her. "God, I hate her so much."

"Don't we all?" John said dryly. I settled into my warm corner with a book, as Dylan, John and Henry gather into a circle to play cards.

When Eliza pulled her poster away again, she already had the notebook out again. "Gosh... Hartley almost found this," she said, pointing at her notebook. "I was prepared to punch her if she came too close."

I rolled my eyes. "And then what would you have done? Run away?"

"Well it didn't happen, so it doesn't matter." She opened back to her half-filled page, the pencil marking the page. I noticed a fresh bruise on her forehead.

"Hey sis," I said slowly. "What is that?"

"Oh, this?" she pointed to her forehead. "Hartley hit me because I spoke back to her."

"Oh my god... it's swelling."

"Yup. Not the first time it happened, it is? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost?"

I swallowed. I knew Eliza was pretending that she didn't care, but she did, and so did I. It hurt so much to think she was beaten. To me, she's my sister. We may look entirely different, born from different parents, but she is my sister, and I know she regards me her brother. I felt burning hate rising in my throat and swallow it down. There was nothing I could do.

"I'm alright," I managed to say. "You're the one that's hurt. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said. We were silent for a while. Then, "So, North."

"What the heck?" I look at her incredulously. "This is serious. Ms Hartley hit you so badly that it's bruising, and all you can say is 'North'?"

She giggles. I don't know how she does it.

"Go to sleep," I said. "We can talk about North tomorrow at school."

"Fine. Night." She turned off her light and replaced her poster.

"Who's North?" Dylan asks slyly.

"Is he her boyfriend? asked John, who obviously liked Eliza.

"Or is he your boyfriend?" Dylan smirked.

"No and no. North is a girl and she was murdered. We found her body this morning in Cypress Alley while we were on an excursion."

They stare at me.

"Dude..."

"A real murder?"

"Jeez."

"Yep," I answer pathetically.

"That's awesome!" Henry whispered.

"What? No no no no no. Not awesome. Awful."

"Guys we should solve this together! That would be so awesome!" John exclaimed.

"No we should not," I said firmly, but John, Henry, and Dylan had already started making plans.

"We could be detectives!"

"Or forensic scientists!"

"No, we could not," I said loudly. "Ms Hartley is going to shout at us if we don't go to sleep."

That got them. As soon as I mentioned Ms Hartley the three of them fell silent.

"Maybe we should go to sleep too." Henry yawned. "I don't want to be shouted at next."

"Me neither," John agreed. "Goodnight, guys."

"Good night," I said. The lights switched off.

---

The next day, Dylan, Henry and John seemed to have forgotten about North and acted as if nothing had happened last night. I was relieved. I already had Eliza to deal with and didn't need anyone else getting involved with the case as well. At breakfast, they talked about normal things like video games and football, while I sat at the other end of the table with Eliza, thinking about yesterday.

Ms Hartley loses her temper pretty easily. I guess Eliza and I usually carry the brunt of it since we're her most despised tenants. At least we have each other, though. Eliza's a pretty hopeful person - the only source of it in my life, really. I don't know what I'd have done without her.

Maybe I wouldn't have made it this far. Who knows?