Baseball Jerseys

Meghan continues

Meghan Continues

An hour later, I found myself in the police station being questioned by police officers, for the second time this month.

Detective Clarkslon asks me and my family questions about the murder.

We reply.

Some other detective, Detective Arielle, asks us questions.

We reply.

Both the detectives ask us more questions about Chloe's death.

We reply.

"So, Meghan," Detective Arielle says. "You say that you were upset at Chloe?"

"Yes," I reply. "I was mad at her. We got into an argument at the mall."

"Now, I'm not accusing you or anything," Detective Arielle says, adjusting her police hat. "But did you murder Chloe?"

"What?!" I scream. "No! I would never murder someone--especially not my sister!"
"But you said you got into a fight with her, did you not?" she says.

"Hey," dad warns. "If she said she didn't do it, then she didn't do it."

"I'm talking to Meghan," Detective Arielle snaps. "Did you kill Chloe, Meghan?"

"I said I didn't!" I holler. "What kind of psycho do you think I am?"

"I said I wasn't accusing you, I'm just asking a question!" she growls.

"Detective Clarkson, please control your detective partner," mom says.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," Detective Clarkson said. "But your daughter was murdered, and we have to find out who's responsible. Please just let Detective Arielle do her thing. This will be sorted out in no time, I promise. We're just doing our jobs."

"I apologize," Detective Arielle says. "It won't happen again. So Meghan didn't murder Chloe. That's taken care of."

Everyone nods.

"Oh, one more thing," I say.

Then I told them about the envelope in Chloe's mouth, and that Chloe was so eager to tell me something important.

"Could what she had tried to say to you been about her knowing who killed your sisters?" Detective Clarkson asks.

The question hangs in the air for a long time. I sat and thought about it.

"Oh...I don't really know," I saw, scratching my chin. "Maybe."

"Then that's all we need to know," Detective Arielle says. "You're free to leave."

"I will suggest, though," says Detective Clarkson. "That your kids all go back to school. They shouldn't miss so much school, and they should spend the least possible time not thinking about this month."

"Okay, sure," says dad. "That makes sense. You kids are going to school tomorrow, whether you want to or not."

The next morning, I got out of bed and got changed into another baseball jersey. I didn't try to fight it. I knew I had to go to school, no matter what. That made me feel honestly a bit better.

Dad drove me to AppleStone Middle School before his work, and I walked into the classroom just before the homeroom bell rings.

As I slowly walked over to my desk, a boy and a girl came up to me.

"Hi," the boy says. He looks down at my shirt. "Cool baseball jersey."

"Oh," I say, looking down at the jersey. "Thanks. It's my brother's."

"Your brother plays baseball?" the girl asks. "That's awesome."

"Yeah," I respond. "But...he's dead now. I wear these to remember him."

"Oh, I'm Sorry," says the boy. "That must have been tragic."

I nod my head.

"Are you guys new here?" I ask. "I haven't seen you here the last few weeks."

The boy and the girl look puzzled. They glance at each other, confused.

My face flushed red. Did I say something wrong or stupid?

"No, we've been here since September," the girl says, shrugging her long, wavy blond hair off her shoulders. "You just haven't really been at school a lot in the last seven weeks."

"...We're also your neighbours. You've never seen us before?"

My cheeks flushed a bright red.

"Oh, geez, I'm sorry," I say. "I'm Meghan. Meghan McArty."

The boy smiles.

"I'm Tyo, and this here is my friend named Emi. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah," I say. "Nice to meet you too. How have you been doing?"
"Good," Emi says. "Wanna hang out at recess? If you don't have anything to do, I mean. You could always join us."

"Thanks," I smile. "That would be nice."

I slug through the next couple of classes before recess, then run to catch up with Tyo and Emi. Tyo and Emi were so nice to me, even when I was being weird or stupid.

We walked around the field, played games, and talked all recess long.

The next day, we did it again.

And we did it again the next day, and the next day after that.

I then realized that Tyo and Emi were my best friends.

One day at recess on a chilly December afternoon, we started talking and laughing. Tyo is so funny.

"I have to ask," Tyo says. "Whatever happened to that girl Chloe? Isn't she your sister? She was here for a while..."
"Oh," I say, kicking the dirt with my shoe. "Chloe was murdered."

Tyo and Emi gasp.

At first, nobody speaks.

"Oh, wow," Tyo says, embarrassed. "Sorry. Who killed her?"

"I don't know," I sigh. "Whoever killed Chloe must have also killed my other sister, Julia. I have to find out who, though."

"We could probably figure it out," Emi grins. "We ARE kind of smart."

"Yeah," Tyo agrees. "We could figure it out in no time. I mean, if you need help cracking the case, we could help you."

I smile at my friends.

They smile back at me.

"Let's do it," I say. "Let's find out who's killing my family."