by R E Swirsky
"Used to be my home?"
"Shit, Oliver. Yous don't hear nothing does you?" Doogie was pleased to be the bearer of this news. "Your house has been sold. It's not yous anymore." He chuckled again. "Yous homeless, man." He spread his arms out wide. "Take a look around Oliver. This is the only home yous got now. Better get used to it."
Tommy clenched his fists. He wanted to lunge at Doogie but held himself back. He turned away and quickly pulled on his fresh clothes. He couldn't help but wonder what happened inside the house, but Tommy knew why they had broken in.
Doogie continued to amuse himself. He jumped under one of the showers and immediately began a barrage of comments out to Tommy.
"Don't think your friends will be coming back up here to see yous for a while. Ricky's busted up pretty good. Probably still in the hospital. Hey, wait a sec! Maybe yous will see that skinny-ass, wobbly Bobby. He might get thrown in here with yous. Then the two of yous can jack each other’s off in here. What do yous say, Oliver? I hear yous'd like that."
Tommy tried to ignore the comments that drifted out from the shower room as he pulled on the final items of clothing, but if what Doogie said was true then he had reason to worry about his friends.
"And ask Ricky how's he's gonna jack himself off now. One bust up arm. Here's hoping it's not the one he uses at night. Let me knows when yous talk to him, hey, Oliver? I wanna knows!" Others in the shower laughed along with Doogie.
Tommy got out as quickly as he could as Doogie continued to rant. He felt his anger rising. If it rose any higher, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself from rushing back across the room to tackle Doogie.
"Hey, Oliver! I don't hear yous! Are yous still out there? I really wanna knows about Ricky!" He laughed and hollered. "Is he a lefty or a righty? I really wanna knows!" More giggles and laughter accompanied his voice.
Tommy ran out of the shower room and into the hall. He was relieved to finally escape the plethora of verbal nonsense that spewed from Doogie's mouth. He gave the guard who still stood in the hall outside a quick stare, but the guard just grinned at Tommy. He clearly enjoyed the banter. Tommy needed to find Jason, and he headed towards the common room where Jason would be. Things were escalating.
CHAPTER 60
"It's alright, Sarah," Simon said. "I'm sure everything is going to be fine."
Sarah looked at Detective Dean Daly for assurance.
"It's only the front living room window. It has been boarded up already, and the alarm on the house is still active."
"But I'm supposed to take possession of the house this week! I just closed the deal a few days ago! Oh my goodness, Simon." Simon put his hand on her arm to comfort her.
As the three of them sat next to the window inside the Flattened Frog Bistro, Dean could see that Sarah was quite upset. He did his best to assure her that there was nothing significant about the break in.
"It was just a random act. It's an empty house and a couple of kids got out of hand, that's all. It was grad night. Kids get up to some crazy behaviour during grad night."
"So what did they damage inside? They didn't wreck it or write graffiti all over the walls with paint, I hope?" Sarah asked.
"No damage at all other than the window. I was onsite right away. I don't think they were inside for more than a couple of minutes. With the exception of the front window, nothing else was touched. And I am sure if you call your lawyer they'll have that window replaced before you even move in."
Sarah looked to Simon for support. "You know what I've been through, Simon. I don't know if I can handle anything like this. I mean, what if this had happened next week when I was moved in already?" Sarah shuddered. "I couldn't help but think it was Gerald! Oh my God, Simon. I don't know if I can do this."
"It wasn't Gerald, and like Detective Daly just said, the house was empty. That's why the kids tried to break in. Once you're all settled in that house, things will be fine. You'll see. Gerald's nowhere near Bluffington."
Dean was confused. "Gerald? Who's this Gerald?"
Both Simon and Sarah looked at each other and almost laughed despite the situation.
"Gerald is Sarah's ex," Simon stated simply. "He's not a very nice guy. And he doesn't know that Sarah is here in Bluffington. He's very nasty and lives up in Calgary."
"That's where I want him to stay," Sarah added.
Dean listened intently. "If there's someone bothering you, miss, you just need to let me know. I'll make sure no one bothers you."
"You can call me Sarah," she replied. "I just haven't gotten over the trouble he's caused me yet, that's all."
"Well either way, if there's anything you need, just call me." Dean pulled out a business card and slid it across the table to Sarah. Sarah smiled as she took the card and stuck it into the inside pocket of her purse.
Before Dean left, he turned to Simon. "And this little feud you and Jens have going." He shook his head. "I'd like to see it stop before someone gets hurt. These little games you both play to provoke each other aren't doing either of you any good."
Simon took immediate offence, and he thrust his finger out the window in the direction of where Jens property and his acreage sat. "You talk to him! He's the one who let the cattle loose and destroyed my beautiful flowerbeds! And just last weekend, with the party!" Simon was furious.
Dean raised his hands to calm Simon. "Okay, okay. I hear what you are saying. But if you don't stop, he won’t either. That is my point. I am going out to see Jens today to tell him the same thing. I don't want any further trouble from either of you. Understand?"
Simon pulled his hand back down. "If you get him to promise to stop, then I'll see. But I'm not promising anything if he starts up again."
CHAPTER 61
Tommy found Jason in the common area and led him over to a table in the corner where they could talk privately. He told him about Bobby and Ricky breaking in to their house.
"But why would they break into our house? That's just a shitty thing to do. Don't you think, Tommy? I know we will probably never go back there, but still. That was our home. They had no right." Jason was visibly upset.
Tommy knew it was time to let Jason in on what he knew. He began by reopening the dialogue about Tim's suicide. This brought a deep emotional response from Jason who had not talked about that night for many months now. Tommy's conversation moved from Tim's suicide to the frequent visits from Ricky. Tommy revealed to Jason that Ricky too was a victim of their father, just like Tim. Jason was horrified.
Tommy reluctantly prodded Jason to remember everything he could about the afternoon of the murders, specifically the room behind the fireplace. He then revealed what he heard as he first entered the study and confronted their father and told Jason what now sat undetected in the secret room of their old house.
"Shit! Someone should get that stuff out of there before it's found," Jason said with deep emotion.
Tommy could see Jason getting angry as Jason realized what remained in the house and what significance it held.
"How could you keep that a secret from me, Tommy?"
"I had to, Jason. I didn't know what to do about that room at the time, but I knew for certain that I didn't want anyone to know what was in there. I couldn't talk about it, and I knew how much it would upset you. I cry each night thinking about the horror of it all. It is horrible."
"Why are you telling me this now? Shit! Shit! I thought I was through remembering what happened in that house! I miss them, Tommy! I do! I miss them so much sometimes!
Tommy stared back at Jason with deep sadness. "I miss them too," he replied.
"Tommy, I really just wanted to forget everything." Jason wiped his eyes and tried to go back in time. "Can't we just leave it? No one else even knows it's there. Maybe it'll stay hidden forever. Our secret."
Tommy sighed and shook his head. He wasn't finished telling Jason everything he
knew. "We have a problem now, Jason. Things really aren't turning out so well." He paused to make sure he had Jason's full attention. "The reason Ricky and Bobby tried to break into the house was to get to that room."
Jason stared back with an angry denial, and he began to shake his head slowly.
"I told Ricky about the room and what's inside it when he was up here last week."
Jason suddenly slammed his fist against the wall. "Why would you tell Ricky? Shit, your stupid! Jesus! He was probably suffering enough from what happened to him, and you turn a bad thing even worse for him! For all of us! No wonder he tried to break in!"
"I didn't want to tell him. I really didn't. The shit hidden in that room was slowly eating me up, and Ricky could see it. He knew I was holding back something each time he came to visit. He finally broke me down, and I told him everything. And I do mean everything, Jason." Jason turned away from Tommy and stared down at the floor. Distress clearly took over.
"Everything?"
Tommy could see Jason's eyes wander about, and he knew Jason was reliving the murder scene. He could see Jason recall everything that occurred that afternoon.
"Yes, everything. But believe me, I tried to talk him out of going after what is in there. I really did. I told him that the house was alarmed and there was no way to get in. I didn’t think he would ever try to break in anyways."
Jason looked up with anger still imbedded deep within his cold stare. "Well they did try, Tommy, and it's your fault! They were caught! That's what you really wanted to tell me, right?"
Jason challenged Tommy's loyalty.
"If you had kept your mouth shut then things would still be the same. Now they got caught, and the tapes or recordings or whatever was in there is now out floating around in public, and everyone knows about everything! Jesus, Tommy!" Jason dropped his head down into his hands in grief, and sobbed and mumbled through his tears. "Everyone will know now, and we will be disgraced."
"No! No! That didn't happen! They got caught before they had a chance to do anything in the house. Ricky got a busted arm, that's all. I'm not sure how bad he is, but that's all that happened," he replied. "Honest."
"How can you know anything about what really happened while you are locked up in here? We should be out there taking care of this!" He lifted his head, gazed about the room and suddenly shouted, "No!" He stood up, pointed at Tommy and clenched his teeth as he spoke. "We should have taken care of this that same day, before we even called the cops on ourselves. That's when we should have taken care of this. But you kept it secret."
"Listen. If that room was discovered, Doogie would have been shouting it from the rooftops. He's the one that told me about the break in. Doogie didn’t say a word about it, so I'm damn sure no one else knows about it."
Jason sat back down, mulled over Tommy's words and eventually calmed down. "Okay, let's say you're right, and I believe you about all of this. You're telling me all of this because...?"
Tommy didn't hesitate. "Ricky. That's why. And Tim as well, and any others. Ricky is so torn up about this whole business to risk breaking in while the alarm was activated."
"No shit, Tommy. But I really wish you would have told me this earlier. We should have been the ones to take care of this. We let our friends get molested by our dad right in our back yard, and you let the recordings just sit there. I bet every one of our friends is so scared every time they turn on the internet wondering if they are going to suddenly see their own faces staring out at them in some horrible scene." Jason ran his hands through his thick hair. "This is so bad. We should be taking care of this, Tommy, not Ricky."
"I tried to stop him. I told them there was no way to get in with the alarm on. I really didn't think he would try to break in."
"But there is a way," Jason stated, pointedly.
Tommy frowned. "What?"
"There is a way to get in with the alarm turned on."
"No, there isn't."
"Yes, there is!"
"No, there isn't. You need the front door key."
"No, you don't. I've done it myself many times."
Jason told Tommy how the alarm on his upstairs bedroom window was disabled two years ago when he was sick with a bout of Asian flu. He was flat on his back for nearly three weeks. It was mid August, and Bluffington was experiencing a deep heat wave. The air conditioning system was running all day and night. Their mom believed deeply that air conditioned air wasn't healthy and insisted the window in Jason's room remain open all night so he could have fresh air to recover from his illness. Marie Oliver also insisted the alarm system be set every night and didn't know how to disarm just the one window, so she had the alarm company deactivate Jason's window from the program temporarily. She had forgotten to call them back to have it reactivated once Jason recovered.
"I've snuck in and out of the house a number of times through that window. There aren’t even any motion detectors anywhere in the house. Just the windows and doors are alarmed. You know how Mom was at night. We could always go down to grab a drink in the middle of the night while the doors and windows were armed."
Tommy stared at Jason dumbfounded. A smiled momentarily drifted across his face. "You snuck out of the house?"
"Lots of times. It's not easy to get in and out," Jason said. "You have to walk along the ledge around the corner to get on the roof at the back porch. Harder getting back in, but I've done it many times."
"And once back inside, you could just walk to Mom and Dad's room and turn the alarm off if you wanted to?" Tommy asked.
"Uh huh. The second key pad is in their closet. I never had to do that since I always just went back in my own room to bed."
"But what if the window is locked?"
"It can't be locked. I rigged it that way. Unless they fixed it, but I doubt it."
Tommy was deep in thought. "Could you do it again? Get inside?"
"Easily," Jason replied. "Why? What are you thinking?"
"Just that we gotta help Ricky get what's in that house out of there."
Jason chuckled, and couldn't believe what Tommy just said. "We are at Spy Hill, Tommy. Remember? There is barbed wire across the top of the outside walls. How are we going to help Ricky do anything from inside here?"
"Leave that to me. I'll need to think about that one for a while. In the meantime, can you call Bobby to see if he can come up to see us as soon as possible? Ask Ricky to come visit too, if he is able. Doogie made it sound like Ricky's not going anywhere for a while."
"Doogie's an ass," Jason said.
"And he doesn't like you at all, that's for sure."
"That's good. I'll never back down from him, and he knows it. He's such a liar. Ricky's probably just got a bad bruise or something."
"I don't know about that, but just watch yourself around him. Doogie's thirty days are up in a few and I wouldn't put it past him to try something before he leaves."
Jason nodded. He clearly understood his situation with Doogie.
CHAPTER 62
"I'm not supposed to even be here," Ricky said to Bobby. Bobby opened the back door a little wider and quickly ushered Ricky inside.
"Mom's still at work." Bobby looked down at Ricky's right arm. The bright white cast started just below his elbow and covered most of Ricky's hand. Just his fingers protruded out from the end of the cast. "Nice cast," he said and smiled.
"Whatever," Ricky replied, uninterested. "So what is so important that you couldn't tell me on the phone or text me? Why did you have Tommy call me to tell me to come see you?"
"Mom took my phone away. She's so pissed at me."
"Uh huh," Ricky replied. He knew Bobby got caught because of him. "My dad gave me a great big smile and then a great big bear hug when he saw me standing there at the front door with blood dripping on the carpet and my wrist broken real bad."
"Really?" Bobby replied and grinned. He was glad to see his fri
end again.
"C'mon Bobby. I'm never supposed to talk or hang out with you again. My dad says this is what I get for quitting hockey and hanging out with kids who have no ambition. He says if I'd stayed in hockey none of this would have happened."
"Your dad really is an ass, isn't he? If he knew the truth he wouldn't be saying that. And I do have ambition."
"Well, he'll never know the truth, so let's just drop it okay?"
Bobby shrugged, "If you say so."
"So what's so important anyway? I can't stay long. Gotta get back home before mom or dad gets there."
"This will be quick. I went to see Tommy today. Tommy has a plan to help us get inside the house. He says..."
"Don't be stupid! We'll never get inside again," Ricky interrupted.
"Hang on a sec and listen. Tommy heard at Spy Hill about us trying to break in. Tommy told Jason and guess what?"
"What?"
"Jason's window is not alarmed. It's the only one in the house that isn't. Someone could get in that way. There are no motion detectors, the alarm panel is in the master bedroom closet and he says the window is jimmied so it can't be locked."
Ricky rolled his eyes. "Who is going to get in there that way, Bobby? Jason's room is on the second floor. "You couldn't even lift me up to the front window, let alone climb up to the second floor. And I'm not climbing anywhere with this thing." He shoved his cast towards Bobby's face.
"But at least we now know there is a way in. And a good one." He waited for a positive response from Ricky.
"No. It's not going to work. Neither of us can get in that window up there, and there is no way we are telling anyone else."
"But..."
"No buts! It's over. I really gotta be going."
Ricky brushed himself past Bobby and headed out the back door.
"When can we meet?" Bobby asked.
"Don't know. Call me in a few days. Maybe the old man won't be on my back then. Oh right, you can't call me. You don't have your phone anymore."
