RIVERS END

CHARPTER FOUR

After all the harrasment from the press krist didnt want to take a nap.he tried because aunt jamie had asked him to,and lay on the bed that wasn't his.

It was a pretty room with little violets climbing up the walls and white curtaims with little dots in it that made evrything soft and filmy when you looked through them.he always slept in this room when he visited them.

He heard voices down the hall in the room where his grandparents were staying.krist climbed out of bed and tiptoed toward their room but when he opened the door he found his grandma crying his aunt sitting beside her holding her hands..

"It doesnt matter why he did it.he is crazy with jealousy and drugs..what matters is he killed her..he took her away from us,hes going to pay"

"We should've made her come home"tears continued to slode down grandmas cheeks.."when she told us that she and sam were having problems,we should have told her to bring krist and come home for a while until everything cools off"

"We didnt know he'd gotten violent,didnt know he'd hurt her,"grandpas fists balled at his sided..."if i had known i would have come down here and dealt with that son of a bitch myself"

"We cant go back dad,"jamie spoke wearily,for some of that responsibilities were hers.she had known and had said nothing.julie had asked her to say nothing.

"If we could,i know i'd be able to see a humdred different things i could do to change it..to stop it.But i cant we have to face the now.the press_"

"Fuck the press"
From his peep through the doorway,krist widened his eyed.grandpop never used tbe bad word.he could only goggle as his aunt nodded calmly.

"Well dad before much longer they might look to fuck us.thats the way of it.they will canonize julie,or make her a whore.or they will do both.we have to take as much control for the sake of krist...there would be speculations and stories about her mariage with sam and about other men.particulary lucas manning"

"Julie is not a cheat"grandma voice rose,snapped.
"I know mum,but thats the kind of game thats played"
"She is dead"grandpop said flatly."julie is dead,how much worse can it get,?"

Slowly krist backed up from the door.he knew what dead meant.flowers got dead when they were all brown and stiff and you had to throw them away.tiffy's old dog ,casey had died and they'd dug a whole in the yard andput him i nside,coverd it with dirt and grass
Dead meant you couldnt come back.
He kept moving away from the door while the breath got hot and thick in his chest,while flashes of blood and broken glass and monsters and snapping sciscors raced through his head.then that breath burst out,burning over his chest as he started to run and scream.

"Mama is not dead.mama is not dead and in a whole in the yard.shes coming back shes coming back soon"

He kept running,away from the shouts of her name,down the steps down the hall.at the front door he fought with the door knob while tears flooded his cheeks.he had to get outside.he had to find a tree.a sky brushing tree,so he could climb up and call mama home.

He fought it open and race out..the were crowd of people and he diint know where to go.everyone was shouting at once,like a big wave of sound crashing over his head hurting his ears.he pressed his hands to them crying calling for his mother.

A dozen cameras greedily captured the shot.ate the moment of his grief annd fear.someone shouted for them to live him alone."he is just a baby"but the reporters surged forward,caught in the frenzy.sun  shoys of lenses,blinded her.he saw shadows and shapes,a blur of strange faces...voices boomed out questions and commands...

        Look this way,krist!over here.
       S  Did your father try to hurt you?  Did you here them fighting?

All krist could do was cry asking for his mother