Can I Be Your Girl

9.2

This sudded revelation quickly reversed the course of the investigation. Since I had been the target all my life, naturally, we thought it was me they were after and that my aunt was simply collateral damage. But this information my aunt just laid out to us, proved otherwise. She was, in fact, the intented kill and the two dead bodies were her hunters. While the rest of us were the unsuspecting and unfortunate animals snared with her unintentionally.

"Does he-" I paused to breathe properly. "Does Greg know this?" I asked, my voice coming out low and brutish as a gut feeling told me he did. And if he did know that his mom was currently suffering from whatever stupid mistake he committed, the way he regarded the situation was nowhere near applaudable.

When she nodded in the meekest manner, my resolve was blown away together with the fuse in my head that controlled my temper. How could a son let something as vile as this, happen to his mother?! How could he be so indifferent especially when whe knows he's at fault.

My anger beat me, and before I knew what I did, I already stormed out of the room with one goal in mind:

Beat some residual sense out of my retched cousin.

In the distance, I heard my father call my name but I didn't look back. couldn't. My attention was solely on Greg and how he turned into a pile of bullshit.

*****

It wasn't as hard to locate him as I thought it would be. The moment I pulled over their yard, I saw him faltering on his steps towards the back of the house.

Fueled by outrage, I sprinted down the small yard and rounded the corner to the dim backyard. I found him standing stiffly in the middle of the dark with a bottle of beer dangling from his hand. "Bastard." I hissed behind him but didn't move. He didn't budge or showed any indication whatsover that he acknowledged me but I expected it. Still not giving me the time of the day, he took a long swig of his beer and that's when I noticed that he wasn't merely standing there, staring mindlessly at the dark. In his right hand, gripped tightly by his forefinger and thumb, was a small card that he was holding to his face. I walked forth and inspected the thing that held his attention and to my surprise and utter confusion, the card was in fact a picture. A photograph of an unfamiliar girl.

The girl had voluminous blonde curls, shot up haphazardly in all directions, decorating her pale face, a wide-lipped smile, showing off her set of pearly white teeth and smiling eyes that further accentuated the mirth she exuded. The picture was taken in way that it suggested that it was a class photo.

"Her name's Geraldine." I was taken aback when he suddenly spoke. "I thought she's the weirdest girl ever. The odd one of the bunch." A chuckle passed his lips but carried no amusement with it. And then he paused, the silence taking over the night. This is not what you came here for. I thought and exhaled in frustration. "No. I'm not here to listen-"

"But then she did something surprising..." He interjected through my speech. His back suddenly tensed as his inhilation took a sporadic cadence. Now his breathing appeared unnatural in way that it looked labored and unsteady. As if he had a hard time doing it and the short gasps whenever he inhaled proved that he wasn't alright. I fought the urge to ask and instead listened to him as he spoke, gasps slowly turned to wheezes.

"Greg.."

"She spoke to me. Insisted that we become friends." He panted longer this time and his hold of the photograph tightened. "Big mistake." He croaked, voice cracking in disdain. Whoever this girl was, she's surely important to Greg.

"Greg, you're mother-"

"Don't talk about her!!" He pivoted and in a blink of an eye, I was pinned on the wall. There was outrage in his eyes that wasn't translated well by his harangue. Something his words couldn't or wouldn't relay. I didn't know for sure but it was there, begging to come out but not able to. "Leave Grey. You don't want to be here." He spoke as he detached his hold on me. Then, with not so much as goodbye, he padded towards the back door.