Later that afternoon, when I arrived home from school, I was still thinking about Mrs. Conolly’s strange behavior, when my cell phone buzzed.
It was Tyler.
I answered. “Hey, Ty, what's going on?”
“Meet me at the park in twenty minutes,” he whispered.
I started to answer him, “I have too much home-”
He cut me off. “Meet me in twenty,” and then disconnected from the other end.
I sighed loudly as I put my phone back into my sweatshirt. What in the hell was that about?
I went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water and a granola bar from the pantry. I was famished after being in school all day and something told me that I needed food in order to deal with the rest of the afternoon. Then, I left the house and started the two-block walk to the park, where I found Tyler sitting alone on a bench.
I walked over to him. “What is with the Cloak and Dagger routine?” I ribbed. “Did you watch too many of your 007 movies?”
Tyler didn’t speak, only glanced around nervously as people walked by us in the park.
“Tyler?”
He motioned for me to keep quiet.
I normally would have laughed off his foolishness, but the look of fear in his eyes made the hair on my arms stand on-end.
Standing up, he nodded for me to follow him to his car, but once inside, he still remained aloof and quiet. Then he started the engine and we left, turning onto the main street of town. It wasn’t until we drove around for a few minutes that he finally he spoke up. “Something awful has happened,” he said, with a tear slowly rolling down his cheek.
“Tyler, you’re starting to scare me. Please just tell me what’s going on,” I pleaded.
Tyler pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store and parked the car. He turned toward me. “Now, Rani, I just want you to hear me out,” he said with desperation. “And please, don't think I’m crazy.”
I looked at him closely, trying to see if he was being serious, or just giving me a line of shit. The look on his face confirmed the latter.
“My mom and dad are dead,” he said quietly, looking out the window.
“Tyler, that’s not funny! I just saw your mom and dad yesterday at the grocery store,” I replied, refusing to believe what he was telling me.
He looked over at me. “I’m serious, Rani, they’re dead, and it’s all my fault.”
“What do you mean, it’s your fault?
“It’s my fault they’re dead,” he repeated, and then looked down at his hands again. “I killed them.”