Safety Among Scars (A story of Depression)

Chapter 2: The Stranger

Hurrying down the dirt path to the main road, Percilla had absolutely no idea where he was going. Hell, he didn't even know if there was a mental help center in his town, or even his small county. Too consumed in his thoughts to pay attention, he mindlessly bumped into another boy, knocking him over.

"Oh my god.. I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Percilla apologized,

"Yeah. I'm good.. Hey, why are you walking along the dirt path at this time of the morning anyway?" The boy dusted off his leather jacket as he stood up.

"Uhm.. just going for a walk. What's it to you?"

"Jeez, chill man. Just wondering. I'm Angelo by the way," the boy said, extending his hand out to Percilla.

"Percilla. Nice to meet you Angelo. If you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way." Percilla shook Angelo's hand before continuing down the dirt path. A few moments later, he took one last glance back at the mysterious boy, but he was no longer there. Did he imagine the whole thing? Was he really going insane?

Finally, Percilla reached the main road. The usual sounds of cars bustling, pedestrians chattering, and goods being sold rang throughout the town. It seemed as if most of the citizens had already forgotten the brutal double murder which had occurred just two days earlier. Scanning the street for anything that may be useful, Percilla took account of his surroundings:

An empty barber shop, a small restaurant with a few customers, a police station and sheriff's office, a packed ice cream parlor, and a host of other small businesses. There was nothing, however, that Percilla found useful. Deciding it might be his best bet, he headed west along the road to Katherine's house.

Katherine and Percilla had been friends since before they could talk. Growing up, they went to the same daycare, went to the same preschool, had always been in the same class in elementary school and middle school, and even had the same homeroom and AP courses afor the upcoming freshman year.

Crap. Percilla hadn't even realized high school started in a week and a half. He tried not to think about that as he jogged along the road, now drenched in sweat.

Finally, he arrived at Katherine's house. An large old house with boarded up windows and very little lighting, most passerby's kept their distance from the house. Percilla knocked once quickly, two slowly, and one more quickly. Katherine and Percilla used Morse code in their knocks as 'secret code' of sorts.

Before long, the door swung open revealing a tall, blond woman in Van's and denim jeans.

"Hi Mrs. Samuel," Percilla greeted,

"Hey Perce. Assuming your here to talk to Kate?"

He nodded.

Mrs. Samuel stepped aside and gestured to the flight of stairs behind her. "She's upstairs in her room. Go ahead."

Percilla thanked Katherine's Mom and jogged up the stairs.

"And Perce," Mrs. Samuel called from downstairs, "I'm sorry to hear about your father. He was a great man."

Percilla nodded absentmindedly and knocked one Katherine's door. Before he could move, he was engulfed in a tight hug as a mass of long blond hair brushed his shoulder.

"I'm so glad you came, Percilla!" Katherine squealed, blushing a bit. She straightened herself. "Uhm, I mean, I'm glad you could make it. How you holding up?"

"I'm fine." Percilla replied instinctively. Katherine raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as she closed the bedroom door behind them.
They stood for a while in silence before Katherine broke the tension.

"Why would anyone do this?" She asked,

"I don't know."

"But surely there must've been a motive! Maybe someone with a grudge against your dad?"

"My Dad was a good man, Katherine."

"I'm not sayin he wasn't, Perce. I'm saying someone must've had a reason to kill him!"

"And how would you know?!" Percilla shouted angrily, "My Dad did nothing wrong!"

Katherine didn't speak. Tears welled in her eyes as she turned to look away from Percilla. She knew he was upset and hurting, but she didn't expect him to react like this.

"God.. I'm sorry Kate. I shouldn't have yelled, but what I'm trying to say is-"

"I know what you're trying to say." Katherine cut him off, "I get it. Your hurting. Your angry. You want answers. But I'm just trying to help you, Perce. We're on the same team."

Percilla sighed. He felt awful about yelling at his best friend. He leaned in for a hug, when suddenly the door burst open and Mrs. Samuel stood in the doorway.

"I brought some sandwh-" she stopped, "am I interrupting something here?"

Katherine blushed, "No Mom. Just talking if you know what I mean. Yeah.. that's all it was. Just talking, y'know. School stuff."

Her mom grinned, "Kate, dear, you know school hasn't started yet, right?"

Katherine cursed under her breath.

Mrs Samuel just laughed and put the sandwich plate on the table. "I'll leave you to it." She said, closing the door with a wink in Percilla's direction.

"Does she have to be so weird about EVERYTHING?" Katherine exclaimed with an eye roll, "I mean we were just talking, jeez."

Percilla decided to pretend as if the whole scene never happened. "So anyway," he began, "who do you think could've done it?" At this point, Percilla was desperate to break the tension in the room somehow.

"Could've been that window salesman down on 3rd street. I heard that dude hated your dad."

"Yeah.. maybe." He knew it couldn't be true. That guy was selling windows on Percilla's street that same hour. But for conversation's sake, he entertained the notion that there could be a slight sliver of truth to her potential suspect accusation.

"He has always been rivals with your dad. With how well he's been doing lately, maybe he decided to eliminate him from the picture? And the police officer could've been a witness.. Oh my god! It all works out! We need to tell the police!" Katherine shot to her feet, attempting to rush to the door.

"Woah there, Kate.. it can't be him."

"But why not?" She insisted, "it all fits perfectly!"

"For starters, we have absolutely zero evidence to back up our wild claim. Not to mention he was on my street selling windows that very same day. We can't just blindly walk into a police station and report someone with no proof!"

"Oh. Sorry"

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Percilla stood up. As he did, his blade clattered to the floor.

Katherine gasped, "Oh my god, Percilla! You brought a knife to my house? Are you trying to kill me?! MOM PERCILLA BROUGHT A-"

"Shh!" Percilla clamped his hand over Katherine's mouth. "I didn't bring a knife to hurt you! Calm down Kate! Take a deep breath or something!"

Kathrine did as she was told. "Not helping, Perce. Care to explain why you brought a knife to my house?" She pauses. "And don't you dare lie to me Percilla Prince Laurence."

Percilla sighed and shook his head. He looked Katherine straight in the eyes. "Katherine, can I trust you?"

She nodded.

Percilla took a deep breath, and rolled up his left sleeve.