Silent Pain

We Have Suspects

 At around nine o'clock that night, I was sitting in the living room with my parents when my mom got a phone call. My dad muted the TV and we just stared at mom. It sounded like it was the police. After she hung up, she told us that the cops had arrested two male suspects. One was tall with blonde hair and blue eyes and the other was just a bit shorter with black hair and brown eyes. One of those descriptions sounded familiar. Javier's cousin, Antonio was around Allen's age and went to Stanford University with him. However, he wasn't at Allen's funeral or memorial when all this started. I went to my room using the "I'm tired" excuse to text Kate and Javier about it. While I waited for a response from my friends, I called Shelby and asked her if she knew anything about Antonio Hernández. She answered instantly and he said he got into some family trouble. I told her that it was a lie and he was recently arrested as a suspect for Allen's case. I could tell Shelby was upset, I heard her voice shaking in a broken way, as if she were trying not to cry. She finally said she needed time to collect herself and she hung up. Right then, I got a response from Kate. She was glad that the police have found someone that could be behind Allen's death, but nothing from Javier.

When I left for school the next day, I was looking for Rebecca, Kate and Javier at the same time. I found Kate first and asked her if she's heard from Javier. She shook her head and we walked on together. After going to Kate's locker, she held her arm out in front of me and stopped us in our paths. Rebecca was straight ahead, but even though she saw us, she kept on walking. Kate put her arm down. "Huh, that's weird." "Yeah I guess, but shouldn't we look for Javier? I'm worried about him." "His cousin was just arrested last night, maybe he's just getting over the initial shock." "Yeah, but still. We're his friends". "How about we stop by his house after school? I'm sure his mom would let us talk to him". "Yeah, okay." So that was the plan. Get through this long day at school then go comfort my friend. Today will be better than I thought because Rebecca isn't on my tail for once, but why not? What's really going on here?

After school, I followed Kate to Javier's house. We knocked on the door and his mom answered. "Good afternoon muchachas, what can I do for you"? "We'd like to talk to Javier, he wasn't in school today." "What? He left this morning." Kate and I looked at each other. "I thought he stayed home because, well, Antonio." "Yes, I did offer to allow him to stay home, but he insisted that he goes to school." Just then, Javier pulled in the driveway. When he approached us, he didn't even bother trying to pretend he was at school all day. "Mamá!" "Javier Julio Hernández, you have some explaining to do!" Mrs. Hernández crossed her arms and let us all inside. "I was just with papá, he took me out for the day to help me cope with Antonio's arrest." "If you needed a day off, you should have told me this morning mijo." "Sorry mamá." "Because this was a hard day for you, I will let you off with a warning, but if you do it again, you will be grounded, do I make myself clear"? "Si mamá" "Good. You are excused." "Miss Martha, are you familiar with Rebecca Stone"? "The name sounds familiar, Javier said someone named Rebecca had a crush on him. However, I also heard that my nephew's friend, Daniel was dating a girl named Rebecca too." "Kate? Do you think that Rebecca is this Daniel person's girlfriend"? "Maybe." Just then, Javier walked back in the room. "Did I hear Rebecca's name? What did she do now"? "Nothing, we were just talking about her. Was she dating Antonio's friend"? "That's what Antonio said. You know, I wasn't interested in her for a lot of reasons. First, she was picking on you Sydney, two, she's annoying, and three, if she started dating me, she'd be cheating on Daniel"! Kate and I just dropped our jaws.