Lies in the Fog
1
Officer Williams wraps a blanket around me, asking again what happened. Images flash through my mind, but the words get caught in my hoarse throat. I can’t say anything, but for once I have the power to say what I have to; to unveil the truth. The rain sinks into the wool of the blanket, making it useless as I continue to shake underneath it. I see them carry Josh’s body out on a stretcher, bleach white sheet covering his body, except near the top where a red puddle soaks through the material. I wonder for a moment how many other pools of blood have soaked into this single sheet and in turn, been bleached out. How many cold, dead bodies has this sheet covered.
I wonder the time. It was already dark when Josh stormed into the barn, it had to be nearing at least two a.m. We had already had a few beers. Jeremy was already drunk. I look up to see him across the field, in a similar situation. Ben is closer, lost behind his glasses. We are all silent from what I can tell.
“Kimmy, you need to tell me what happened here.”
“He shot himself.” The words find their way out before I have time to register that I have said them. The boys all turn to look at me, not angry, but curious. Jeremy tenses. I feel distant- lost; as if I am here, but my body is elsewhere.
“Why?”
I find myself unable to say that the explanation requires an explanation of its own. I look up at Jeremy, a glow of red and blue lights cast across his face in sequence. They will take him away, but again, he doesn’t look angry.
“Kimmy, what happened?”
I wonder the time. It was already dark when Josh stormed into the barn, it had to be nearing at least two a.m. We had already had a few beers. Jeremy was already drunk. I look up to see him across the field, in a similar situation. Ben is closer, lost behind his glasses. We are all silent from what I can tell.
“Kimmy, you need to tell me what happened here.”
“He shot himself.” The words find their way out before I have time to register that I have said them. The boys all turn to look at me, not angry, but curious. Jeremy tenses. I feel distant- lost; as if I am here, but my body is elsewhere.
“Why?”
I find myself unable to say that the explanation requires an explanation of its own. I look up at Jeremy, a glow of red and blue lights cast across his face in sequence. They will take him away, but again, he doesn’t look angry.
“Kimmy, what happened?”