Saving Brownie | ✔

Chapter 60 : Look At Me

"W-What?" I snorted and narrowed my eyes at the picture. "This is ridiculous! This is not even funny! Why would you even joke about my mum's death, Brownie? Why?"

"George, it's not a joke," I heard my father's sombre voice while I was laughing hysterically and he placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's not a joke."

I cocked my head, analysing the picture and said, "Hmm. Maybe this isn't what it appears to be! It can be someone who-who looks exactly like him or-or . . . "

"This is him," I heard my father's voices, then footsteps, some noises, but my mind couldn't process any sound because my head was spinning.

A firm hand squeezed my shoulder causing me to flinch and I whirled around. My hand clamped over my mouth as I shook my head when I saw Clark standing right in front of me with handcuffs on. He just stood there frozen, his spine straight and his body rigid like a rock.

"What-What is going on . . . " I trailed off and took quick, firm steps towards him until I was right in front of him. "Tell me what's going on? Tell me it's revenge for the pranks I played on you! Tell me this is some cruel joke! I swear I'll forgive you!"

His jaw clenched and there was nothing but awful silence. Nobody uttered a single word until one of the cops tugged at Clark's arm. My eyes widened in alarm and fear as I clutched Clark's shirt tightly.

"What the fuck Brownie?! Tell them this is not true! Tell them that you didn't do this! Tell them that they're lying!" I pleaded desperately while pulling and pushing his shirt and turned slightly to the group of cops and my father. "This is not true! You see, my Brownie would never do that! He would never do such a horrible thing! Brownie is-is a good person . . . He would never do--- "

"George, it's him," my dad whispered softly and tears welled up in my eyes.

"No! No! He didn't do it! I know he didn't do it! He would never do it!" I yelled and averted my eyes back at Clark. His eyes were shut and his hard face was stoic with no trace of emotion. "Open your eyes Brownie and look at me. Look at me and tell me that you didn't do it. Look at me."

His eyes slowly fluttered open and I was lost in an abyss of black, searching desperately for some clue. His light brown eyes had darkened to the darkest shade of brown that it almost looked black. He gazed down at me intensely, his eyes unreadable and I whispered, "Tell them Brownie, tell them that you didn't do it . . . I know you didn't do it, so tell them please . . . "

His Adam's apple bobbled and his lips parted, but no words came out. He was painfully silent and his jaw clenched tightly. Slowly, he hung his head low so I couldn't see him and that's when tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Very well then, so you would just surrender? You won't say anything, not even to me? How can you do this after all the time we spent together?! How could you betray me like that?! How could you?!" I yelled, tears freely streaming down my cheeks and I clutched his shirt more tightly. My head hung low just like his and I sniffed. "Why did you do this . . . You ruined everything . . . You-You . . . How could you . . . "

We stayed like that for a few seconds until I started hearing shuffling noises. Within a fraction of a second, I was torn apart from him. My legs wobbled and my breath quickened as I saw the police officer taking him away.

Finally the reality struck me, Clark had indeed killed my mum.

My Brownie had killed my mum.

I ran after the police officer and Clark and pushed Clark with all my might. Clark just stumbled a little and regained his posture quickly, never once looking up. His head was hung low as I continued to try to push him furiously and shouted, "I hate you! I hate you so much! I never want to see you again! Never--- "

Suddenly, people caught me from behind, probably my father and Ian as I trashed in their arms. They tried to drag me away from Clark, but I continued to kick and punch aimlessly in the air. The police officer nodded at my father and quietly took Clark away. Before he could disappear out of my sight, I wiped my tears roughly and cried out, "I loved you Brownie, I truly did! But now I hate you! I would never forgive you for this! I would never fucking forgive myself for fucking loving you!"

His head snapped up quickly as his eyes met mine. I could see a flicker of shock passing through his eyes by my new confession. He stared at me and I could notice his eyes had turned glassy. Again, his lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but he was pulled away by the police officer, disappearing into a room.

I couldn't see anything clearly and everything was hazy and passed by a blur. Fresh tears rolled down my cheeks and the people who were holding me, dubiously released me. My body was limp as I broke down and sat on the floor. This wasn't how my story was supposed to end. I wasn't supposed to cry, I barely cried. But today, I couldn't stop my tears. I couldn't stop my body which was shaking weakly. I couldn't stop the tightening of my chest and the drying of my throat. I couldn't stop myself from feeling miserable.

I heard voices of my dad and Ian trying to soothe me, but I could barely hear them. All I could hear was Clark's deep voice and then my mum's sweet voice. I felt like I was torn in between. I felt like all this was my fault. It probably was.

I should have never thrown tantrums and bickered with my mum that day. Had I not been a stubborn child and quietly accompanied her to the award ceremony, she wouldn't have waited for me outside the restaurant. Had she not waited, she would have still been alive with me. And Clark wouldn't have been arrested either for a hit and run case.

However, I could never forget that although I killed my mum in some way, Clark too had killed my mum and then lied. He knew that he had killed my mum and still he had dared to fool with me. He never hesitated to come here as if he saw this coming and was bored with me so he decided to end this finally. And my confession had shook him because I had fell for his vicious games.

With trembling legs, I got up and shoved the person away who tried to help me up. I dashed outside the station in full speed, heading towards where my legs carried me. My lips quivered and more tears rolled down my cheeks. My hair swayed with the wind as I ran, some strands sticking to the salty tears. My hands balled into fists tightly which caused my knuckles to turn white and tears of sorrow mingled with the air.