Trouble in Tiltown

The tape

Once we had gotten home and put all the groceries away, my mother sat on the floral sofa in the living room as she watched shows on the television.
I'm gonna go hangout with Jerrick." I admitted before I headed out the door.
My mother grins at me, "Be safe!" She hollered right before I rushed out the door. Although winter was finally coming to an end, the nights still became a harsh cold. Even more so when a breeze accompanied the cooler temperature. While my old, worn and torn tennis shoes fought through the muddy patches of grass, I attempted to keep my head low or else the brutal wind would knock tears from my eyes. If I just focus on getting to Jerrick's house, it won't seem too long of a walk. I thought that to myself in my mind on repeat. It wasn't helping, if I were to be honest.

I knocked on the front door of Jerrick's house finally. As I awaited for Jerrick to greet me, I instead saw him peek through curtains.
His older brother, James answered the door.
"Hey kid." He smiled a tired but warm grin. Before I was able to greet him back, Jerrick came into view, Sliding in and bumping James out of the way. He threw his arms up as to not fall on his face. Weirdo.
"I thought we could hangout." I said. He smiled in response as though he were flattered.
"Yes! Come in, I need to show you this." He replied, already pulling my arm along. Classic quote, coming from him. We sat on his tan sofa with an unnumbered amount of coffee stains from his parents. He tucked in a vhs tape before landing back onto the sofa next to me.
My shoulder leaned into him, "What is this?"
"You'll see." He whispers, not even looking at me. Suddenly, the television showed what was on the tape. James face showed up on the tape, he kept the camera close to his face as if trying to keep it a secret he was recording. In the recording, I noticed that they were walking toward an abandoned mall. It appears grey and worn out as though it was tired after all these years. My head turned slightly as my eyes focused more causing a crease appear in between my eyebrows. The camera scanned over the inside of a store, showing mannequins that were falling apart or already broken in pieces.
I turned my head back at Jerrick who's eyes were focused hard on the television, "What am I supposed to be looking at?" I inquired him for more information.
"Shh!" He ordered me to stay quiet before pointing to the television again. As I began watching once again, the both of them seemed fearful.
"What was that?" Jerrick asked James who was holding the camera out of view. The only thing visible was darkness. Perhaps he was hiding it in his jacket? Suddenly, Jerrick had paused it after a couple seconds.
My head slowly turned at Jerrick with annoyance, "Why would you do that?" I asked him.
He got up and sat down right in front of the television and pointed. At this point, you could see Jerrick in the tape standing in front of the stairs. Though, that wasn't the strange part. I crawled over and took a closer look at what he was pointing at. There was a tall man that stood on the second story of the mall.
"My brother had brought the camera with us. I didn't know he was actually going to record but I'm kinda glad he did because of this." He explained to me as I continued studying the man.
"I can't tell who it is, it's just too fuzzy." I sat back, leaning back on my arms.
He threw his arms up, motioning to the screen, "You what? You're kidding me!" He said almost as if he were angry with me. James walked in the room with a sandwich on a plate and sat on the couch.
"What are we watching?" James asked us. His eyes ping-ponged between the two of us until his eyebrows furrowed together.
"Your little movie you took at the mall." Jerrick admitted to his brother. Without hesitation, James stood and snatched his vhs tape out of the box.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Stop taking my things." James spat at Jerrick before grabbing his dinner and going off to his bedroom.
"Jerk." Jerrick whispered aloud. As a few minutes passed us by with silence, a startling knock on the door sounded. Jerrick threw himself up with was and answered the door up to Kat.
"Are you guys okay now?" I questioned them as though they seemed like nothing ever happened. They both walked over to the coffee table in the middle of the living room and sat down by it.
"Yeah. We're not mad at each other and thought we could still just be friends." Jerrick spoke as he was pulling something out of Kat's green backpack she carried on her back. As he placed it on top of the table, i realized what it was quickly.
"Oh no, no, no." Shaking my head at the two of them.
"I gave it to Kat so that I wouldn't get busted for having it." Jerrick replied as their hands only slightly touched the planchette.
"I'm going home." I stated but before I could move from where I stood, Jerrick stood up quickly.
"Wait, don't! If you don't want to join, At least just hangout with my brother." He begged me to stay. I hesitated but groaned before finally deciding to stay. I wandered up the stairs and into his brother's bedroom.
"It's just Laurence." I announced as I walked in. He laid on his bed, ankle crossed as he held a small bouncy ball in his hand. Playing with it as boredom got the best of him.
"I know, if it were Jerrick, he'd already be out of here." We laughed as I took a spot at the edge of his bed. It was silent before I finally gained up the courage to speak again.
"Tell me the truth." I said.
I feel his eyes land on me, "About?"
"West." I replied back.
"Nobody really knows him." And that, was all he said for the rest of the night. It also happened to be the only thing I repeated to myself in my mind for the rest of the night. 'Nobody really knows him.'