Dead at 15

“No! December, listen to me!” Tommy yelled as I pushed him towards the front door, tears of betrayal blurring my vision.
“Get out! Get out!” I screamed at him.
“Stop! I didn’t even know!”
“Fuck off!” I slammed him up against the door, clumsily reaching for the door handle.
“Listen to me! I didn’t know! You’ve got to believe me!” I tried pulling the door open but Tommy was leaning against it, keeping it in place.
“Get out!”
“No! You’re being stupid! Listen to me!”
“Get the fuck out right now!” I screamed again. He grabbed my wrists, opened the door and pulled me out of my house.

I repeatedly kicked him in the shins and watched him wince but his grip didn’t falter. He dragged me down the steps and onto the footpath, me kicking and screaming all the way.
“This would be much easier, December, if you just walked,” he said as I went to bite his hands. He head-butted me lightly and I cringed. I then dug my nails into his wrists but he didn’t let go of me.
“It would’ve been much easier if you just left like I told you to,” I shot back.
“Don’t you mean if I ‘fucked off’?”
“Yeah, that!”
“Can you stop pinching me? I think I’m bleeding.” I assessed the damage and noticed he was right. I reluctantly let go and he began walking again, pulling on my wrist again. I yanked it out of his grip and he sighed.

“Well, where the hell are you going to take me?” I asked.
“Away from here,” was his reply.
“Why? That doesn’t make any fucking sense.”
“I don’t want to talk to you around them. And I fucking swear on my parents’ graves, December, I did not know about it. If I did, I would’ve told you!”
“Unless you were in on it.” He fell silent and I took advantage of his lapse in concentration, turning around and walking back in the direction of my house. We were only a few doors down from my own. Tommy really couldn’t drag a stubborn bitch like me that far.

“December, wait.” He didn’t grab me again but I groaned and faced him.
“What? What can you honestly tell me that’s going to make it all better?”
“If you would believe me-”
“Exactly.” I turned on my heel.
“But you still need to talk to my brother.” My step faltered.
“Shit,” I mumbled, and turned around yet again. He smiled, grabbed my hand gingerly in his (at first), and then began dragging me off in no apparent direction, at a full on sprint.

***

“I thought you guys were eating at December’s?” Timmy said, a confused look on his face.
“Change of plans,” I replied. “Can we come in? It’s fucking freezing.” Tommy pushed straight past his brother so I did the same thing, following him to the small couch. Timmy awkwardly shuffled into the room, scratching the back of his neck.
“So, uh, what are you guys doing here?” He asked.
“There was a bit of an issue that came up at dinner,” I said. Timmy gave his brother a look that said ‘what the fuck did you do’? “You didn’t tell me you used to date my sister,” I stated. Timmy’s blue eyes widened and as he took an abrupt step backwards, he tripped over a chair. Tommy laughed as Timmy scrambled to his feet. I simply raised an eyebrow. He went a terrible shade of red in his embarrassment before nodding for me to continue. “Care to explain?” I prodded.
“Not particularly.” I narrowed my eyes and he sighed. “I was only fifteen when it happened!”
“You should be able to remember exactly what happened though. Right?” Tommy chuckled and I glared at him.

I was still ‘mad’ with him, well not really, but I couldn’t trust him entirely. He was the one who moved here pretty much as soon as I got involved with my investigation. I talked to his brother most days – not in depth but he knew more than most people. Somehow I got the feeling that Tommy told his brother more than I would’ve liked as well. I mean fair enough, they seemed quite close. Their family members had just died; they had to hold onto what they had. But the fact that Tommy was there from basically the beginning of me finding out stuff, along with everything else, was just too much of a coincidence. And I didn’t believe in coincidence. I had to get to the bottom of this. They knew too much for me not to.

I think I was more frustrated with myself anyway. I knew Jan had a boyfriend named Timothy. I saw a guy with the same name, around the age of twenty-seven years old, that just so happened to live in our town, frequently. The pieces were there right in front of my nose and yet I’d failed to put them together. What was it with me, and getting slack? Honestly.

“Fine. Well, we were dating,” Timmy started.
“I know.”
“You want me to tell you or not?” I rolled my eyes but stayed quiet. “As I was saying, we were going out, I didn’t think I really liked her in that way anymore. I could feel that ‘L’ word coming – on her part so I wanted to end it as soon as possible. I didn’t really plan for it to happen when it did but I was thinking about it that night so I just went with it.”
“You dumped her…” I said slowly. What a dick.
“On her birthday?!” Tommy yelled. He got up and said, “You, fucking, jack ass,” slapping him every syllable.
“Get off me dickhead.” Timmy pushed Tommy off before turning back to me.
“Yes. I did.”
“Then what?” I asked.
“She started yelling at me-”
“Good job!” Tommy said and Timmy threw the TV remote at his head. “Ow fuck!” I’d definitely noticed that Tommy swore a lot more around his brother than with me alone. I’d noticed he let a ‘fucking’ slip earlier though.

“Yeah, I know. I was a jerk, and then I told her she should probably leave. I asked her if she wanted me to ring her dad but she said no and then she left.”
“What time did she leave?”
“Eight twenty-one.” I raised my eyebrows, but he seemed so confident in his answer that I didn’t question the accuracy of his memory.
“So she just left? That was it?” He shook his head.
“Just left.”
“Did Tommy know?”
“Know what?”
“That you went out with my sister.” Timmy gave me a confused look.
“Not that I know of – well, except for tonight of course.” Timmy quickly frowned at his younger brother. “You haven’t been going through my stuff have you?”
“Nope!” Tommy replied. I chewed on the inside of my lip. I couldn’t figure out if I could trust Tommy or not – then again, he knew this much and there wasn’t much point in keeping anything else from him. Not that I could tell.

“So there was a blow-up at dinner huh?” Timmy asked with a smile, lightening the mood ever so slightly.
“Yeah. Mom was crying and everything,” I said, even laughing a little.
“Over this?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You didn’t kill their cat or anything did you?” Tommy asked. “They seemed to really hate you.”
“No! You fucking idiot.” Timmy turned to me. “Screaming and stuff?” He was really into this – should I have been worried? Probably.
“Na, just the waterworks and running out of the room. I didn’t even get to make any obvious sexual innuendos about me and Tommy.” Timmy laughed.
“You’re the shit-stirrer huh?” I grinned.
“Yes sir.”

***

“Jump! Jump! No, hold down the – you just died.” I chucked the Xbox controller at Tommy’s head. Sure, I’d spent most of my time over Thanksgiving break playing the damn thing with George (who has the patience of a saint) but that did not mean I was any good. Tommy sighed and turned the stupid thing off. We were in his tiny bedroom, on his bed, because there was absolutely nowhere else to go.

“Tell me, how is it you guys can afford an Xbox but not any room to breathe?” I asked. Tommy’s face went blank.
“Mom and Dad bought it for Timmy ages ago. Way before I moved in apparently. I don’t know. I’ve never had much to do with him until now. I don’t remember a whole lot…”
“Oh.”
“Yup!” Bi-polar. “So how much more digging do we need to do?” he asked. I frowned.
“Almost done,” I replied sharply. I could feel my heart beat faster as the full weight of the words sunk in.
“You skipped February didn’t you?”
“No, I’m just…fuck, I’m not going to find anything. We both know that.”
“What do you mean?” He furrowed his eyebrows. I buried my face in my hands and shrieked. “Hey! Don’t go psycho!” I lifted my head.

“I haven’t found anything of real use. No solid evidence.”
“Well you do know it’s all premeditated. They all knew that – October’s diary, March’s pictures and the letter. That’s evidence enough isn’t it?”
“But it’s all circumstantial. Just like everything else. No one’s going to believe me unless I have irrefutable evidence.”
“And who do you suspect?”
“Mom and Dad,” I answered without hesitation.
“Anyone else?” You – maybe not, just your brother.
“My uncle.”
“Yes.”
“Timmy.” He stared at me wide-eyed for a moment before gulping.

“Right. Now who could’ve carried out all of the murders?” I thought for a minute.
“Mom and Dad.”
“So why don’t you put it to them? It seems like the only solution if you can’t be bothered digging more.” My eyes nearly popped out of head.
“Come again?”
“Tell them that you know.”
“And risk them killing me?! Are you insane?!”
“I doubt they’d miss up their pattern now.”
“Okay, say I do tell them, what the hell is that going to do?”
“You’ll get an answer?” I bit my lip again.
“Alright. Time to be stupid and impulsive – you’re coming with me.”

***

“December! Where did you go? It’s eleven o’clock! You’ve got school tomorrow. What on earth is he still doing here?” Mom yelled, placing her hands on her hips. Dad wandered into the room, his expression unreadable.
“I’ve got something I want to ask you two,” I enunciated carefully.
“Yes?” I took a deep breath and Tommy reached out to grab my quivering hand. I squeezed his back in response.
“Did you murder the others?” That’s when Linda let out the most chilling cackle.