Not An Accident Read online

  “Suit yourself,” Kayla replied, following me in. Well, she tried too, anyway. She was stopped - by nothing other than her boots. They tripped her up, and she fell. Figuring that she’d simply slipped on some ice - I chided her for being so clumsy, and then I headed on forward - by myself.

  The first thing I noticed was that there weren’t many clues. Sure, there was an outline of my body, lying beside the construction trailer - behind it an assortment of construction barriers - black and white barricades, orange and white cones, black and yellow construction tape.

  But nothing pointed in a specific direction, not even my outline. It didn’t matter wherever it was an accident or not, somebody would have had to move me anyway.

  Halfway determined to turn around and tell Kayla I saw nothing, I spotted the construction trailer’s open door. Huh, Maybe the person who’d moved me decided to hide in there... Even if they weren’t though.... exploring all possible options would give me something I could honestly tell Kayla.

  I quickly entered the trailer and found my hopes dashed. There was nobody there. Just a scruffy brown couch covered by a murky brown blanket, a desk holding a somewhat old-fashioned Windows 10 computer, and a full-color HP Officejet Printer loading with only black in- according to the warning sides on it.

  Looks like somebody wanted to save a bit of money, I thought as I sat down on the couch- glimpsing one last time at the printers warning light. ‘Hey, I’m out of paper! Help!’ Shaking my head, I settled deeper into the couch. Stuffing poured out. Nothing I could do, it seemed. Maybe there wasn’t anything I could do ‘bout the mystery either.

  The door opened. A boy, looking about 12 years old stepped in. He wore a pair of faded blue overalls, a yellow hard hat, and several muddied brown choices - brown shirt- brown jacket, brown shoes - which matched his brown eyes. “You’re in my seat,” he said.

  “What?” I stood up. I’d seen no name on this couch and I still saw nothing.

  “Dang,” The boy said, looking around, “I go mark this couch with everything, and then next thing I know, somebody comes in and takes whatever I mark.” He scowled and then looked at me. “You didn’t take anything from my couch, did you?”

  “No... No.”

  “Good. Now let me have it back.” The boy sat down, and his brown eyes developed a straight glow.... the kind of glow that tells you somebody’s a ticking time bomb.

  “I haven’t got your name,” I said.

  “It’s Robert,” Robert said flatly, “Robert Smith.”

  A chuckle escaped out of my mouth. I couldn’t help it.

  “Stop it,” Robert said.

  “Sorry.” I laughed again.

  “It isn’t funny.” Robert stood up. He didn’t cross his arms are anything, he just kept them down by his sides. “Teasing a boy like me. How you’d like it if I teased you?”

  “Robert... Look... I’m sorry... It’s just, you gotta understand –”

  “That’s what my sister says to me sometimes,” Robert interrupted. “Says you gotta understand the world isn’t for you, it’s always against you. Says you gotta follow the rules of the world or you gonna be left in the dust.” He crossed his arms. “Well, I’ve had enough.”

  Before I could back away, Robert had picked up a hardcover Employee Handbook and was about to throw it at me. Kayla quickly intervened, dashing into the trailer just in time to stop him from taking aim. “Whoa... Whoa. Robert!”

  Robert put his arms to his side and let the book fall. “Sorry, Kayla,” he said.

  “Don’t apologize to me, Robert!” Kayla said. “Apologize to Gabby. She’s the one you nearly hit!”

  “I laugh, Robert,” I said. “It’s kinda my instinct.”

  “Sorry, Gabby,” Robert said softly.

  “It’s okay...”

  “No, Gabby, this ain’t okay!” Kayla shouted, “You’ve already got a broken wrist, you can’t get hurt again.”

  “I’m... I’m sorry.” There were tears in Robert’s eyes. “I ... I didn’t know...”

  “Well, Think next time!”

  Robert sat on the couch and sobbed. I shook my head. Had Kayla always been this way with Robert? I wondered, or had she just started - because I was hurt? “Hey, Robert,” I said, “do you want to see my cast?”

  Robert perked up a little bit. “I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Kayla said.

  “He didn’t know, Kayla,” I said, “cut the boy some slack, will you?” I sat down next to the boy and unzipped my coat. He stopped sniffling. He didn’t really say anything, just looked at me a while. Then he wiped his nose.

  “How’d you break it?”

  “We don’t know,” Kayla said, “that’s why we’re here. Gabby was gonna ask you if you saw anything.”

  “I didn’t see anything,” Robert replied, “all I remember is Monday.” He leaned forward, sinking deeper into the couch. More stuffing spilled out. “I came over here to work but nobody came over here all day, not even my supervisor.” Robert sat up straight again. “Ended up going back home and then my sister got really mad and called the police.”

  “What did they say?” Kayla asked.

  Robert leaned back this time, his head sort of hanging over one of the couch cushions. “They confirmed my story, yes, but then, after they left, my sister blamed me, saying the police were all messed up and wrong.”

  “Robert... that must have been terrible...”

  Robert stood up, “I hate being blamed,” he said, “more than anything. In the world.”

  Chapter 5

  “I am so sorry, Robert!” I said, “do you need us to call your parents or something?”

  “It’d be no good,” Robert said, “They’d be dead now. They wouldn’t have listened to me anyway, they’d always thought my sister the better kid.”

  “What a shame, Robert,” I said, “listen, Robert. May I ask you, do you know where you sister lives?”

  “Course I do, I live with her,” Robert said, “but she told me to never to give out her home address to strangers. She doesn't even want me to share you her name. She'd be pissed at me if I disobeyed - she’s already angry with me, can't make her angrier."

  “Well, thank you, Robert,” Kayla said, “for your time.”

  “Yeah. Same.” I shook Robert’s hand, but I didn’t really feel thankful. For all I knew, we’d gotten no further than finding out Robert hadn't done it. It was almost like I'd wasted a whole day when I could have been safe at home in my own bed. However, at least I had fun.... probably the most fun in a while.

  “Gabby?” Kayla said as she closed the trailer door behind her.

  “Yeah?”

  “My shoes got stuck in the snow, somehow. Could I borrow yours?” I looked down my feet and shook my head. I couldn’t walk well without shoes, could I? “I’ll carry you.”

  “Yeah, that’s fine, I guess.” Kayla took off my shoes and lifted me into her arms. I hung onto her for dear life as she ran. Part of me occasionally worried that she’d somehow slip and fall, but she made it to my house, where she showed me a secret passageway - just to the right of the house.

  While she didn’t bring me in that way (The hole was just big enough for a single kid probably about our ages) I was glad she’d shown me it. I was also happy that the front door hadn’t been locked.... guess my Mom and Dad had been sleeping the whole night, not even realizing that I was gone.

  Then she brought me back upstairs, helped me out of clothes, asked me if she could keep the boots (I told her yes. After all, she was the one who brought them) and then tucked me in. I smiled at her. “Did you have fun?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied, “don’t me wrong, I enjoyed hanging out with you and everything.... but it’s not like we found very much.”

  “Nothing’s built, fixed, nor solved in a day,” Kayla said, "besides, we at least found one suspect.... and we figured out where the crime scene was.”

  “Robert’s not a suspect, Kayla." I retorted, wishing I knew the kid's last na
me.

  “Do you even know what suspect means?”

  "Of course, I do...." I replied, “they could have done the crime.'

  "You're half correct. They could have done it, but they also couldn't have. It's simply a possibility that they did do it.... not a guarantee."

  “But Robert couldn’t have done it!”

  “You don’t know that, Gabby!”

  “So, you believe he’d hurt me on purpose?”

  “No.... not on purpose.... but we do have to consider the possibility."

  Well, if Robert turned out to be behind this, this whole investigation would become futile... But I didn’t quite believe that Robert was a suspect.... he’d been too sweet (aside from trying to throw a book at me) “What even makes him a suspect?” I asked.

  “Well, one, he has access to the property, two, he was around the day of the crime— "

  “You’re missing motive, Kayla,” I said, “and he said he didn't see anything."

  “Didn’t you hear him sound anxious when he said it? Like he was trying to hide something from us.... something he didn't want us to know."

  It wasn’t enough information. Not enough to indict Robert.... not yet anyway. “Maybe you’re right, Kayla,” I said, “but I’m not going to heap the blame on Robert.... not yet anyway... He might be –”

  “Innocent.” Kayla finished my sentence for me.

  "Innocent until proven otherwise,” I corrected Kayla, "my Dad's a lawyer."

  "Did it ever cross your mind how much work your father had to do to become a lawyer? It takes years of school, training, and preparation to become one."

  “Did it ever cross your mind that Robert might be being honest?”

  “This isn’t funny, Gabby.”

  “It’s not nice of you to accuse Robert, Kayla,” I retorted.

  “You don’t know the kid, Gabby. I do." Kayla pulled the chair away from my desk and sat in it. "It's not typical of that kid to hide things.... something must be going on his life.... something that’s really bad.”

  “Only Robert knows what’s going on, and if he wants to keep him to himself, then let him keep it to himself."

  “Oh, Gabby, you really don’t get it do you?” Kayla placed her elbow on the table, and I quickly realized that I’d forgotten about the glassy wooden shards.

  I jumped up, ready to rush to her aid, but she asked me not to come any closer. She said she’d deal with it on her own, she knew where the band-aids were. I wondered how she knew. In the meantime, she grabbed a tissue from my Kneelex box to staunch the bleeding.

  “I’m sorry, Kayla,” I said, “see, Stephen gave me this... this bird. and I broke it earlier this day and forgot about it.”

  “No need to worry ‘bout it,” Kayla replied said. “It not that bad, it ain’t like it’s not gonna heal, and besides, it keeps my circulatory system working,” she removed the Kneelex. There wasn’t much blood - it had pretty much all dried up, “And I’m sorry for yelling at Robert- I don’t normally do that, but as you’re injured- extra precautions do have to be taken.”

  It was nice that she was carrying for me- but her words were staring to make me feel like a baby again- something I really didn’t want to feel like. "But that doesn't mean you don't have a lot going for you—”

  I gave Kayla a look. She blushed. Then she told me she'd be back on Friday and left the room.... so fast I had no time to say goodnight. I wondered if she was hiding something.... something important.... but she couldn't be. We were friends, weren’t we? Wouldn't she tell me if something truly was going on?

  No guarantee of that, I told myself, she doesn’t trust you. And you’re not friends, she was just your assistant ski coach. I quickly brushed the negative thought out of my mind and headed to sleep.

  When I woke up, I discovered something. Something amazing. My wrist wasn’t really hurting anymore. It made me feel so good, I wanted to dance around all day. But I couldn’t - my aid constantly kept on eye on me and if she thought I was moving too much, she’d tattle.

  I was restricted to the confines of my desk, doomed to sit and watch the teacher as my aid scribbled my notes. I could barely read what she had written. Even my Mom had trouble. “What’s this?” She kept squinting her eyes. She had 20/20 vision, “goodness gracious, that teacher’s really gotta provide you typed notes. You know what, I’m gonna take you to school tomorrow and tell the teacher.”

  “Mom… that’s really not.”

  “Shh… Gabby, good grades are really important.”

  I groaned. It was just as I’d expected, Mom always trying to help me with things I didn’t want help with. Kinda the reason why I wanted to get that trophy, I wanted to prove I was somebody else, not my mother.

  Unfortunately, there I was on Thursday, standing in the principal's office - cause the teacher wasn't being cooperative (according to Mom) and one of the mischievous children, who apparently didn't either realize that I broke my wrist or else didn't care, gave me a punch in the arm as Mom and I passed by. I bit my lip to keep from groaning in pain - I didn’t want the kid to think I was weak.

  Thankfully, the physical pain but all had disappeared when we got up to the principal's desk. But that wasn’t the end of it. As Mom complained about the girl, the Principal took all her considerations into account. “Sorry ‘bout that girl,” he said, “we’ve been having problems with her ever since she came, I don’t know how she’s managed to be Gabby’s aide.”

  “What’s the girl's name?”

  “I don’t remember.” I didn’t want to tell Mom.

  “Well, can you get my daughter some other aid?”

  The principal picked up the phone, asked, shouted what, and then slammed it down. "Sorry, “he said, “there aren't any other aids available.”

  Mom groaned. “Don’t worry, Catherine. We’ll do whatever we can to help your daughter. Care to offer any suggestions?”

  "You know what?" Mom grabbed my left arm, “just send all tests and class work home with her. I'll help her there."

  No…. Mom… No! “Come on, Gabby, Let’s go.”

  Mom took me back home, where she sent me up into my room and I spent the rest of the afternoon crying. The next day, Mom told me that there had been a bad snowstorm overnight and my school had been canceled. At first, I didn't believe her- I accused her of not wanting to take me to school. But then I saw the radio news. There was a snowstorm, and my small school, Minnesota Falls Elementary had been closed - for the weekend.

  I didn’t know what to think. At first, I was kinda happy because I didn’t have to deal with my aid, but as the day passed by, a couple of kids decided to throw snowballs at my window. Then I realized it was April 1st and the next week would be my Spring Vacation.

  I heard the plops of snow against my window, and then, after somebody decided to build a snowman, I wished again that I wasn't in here - I wanted to be somewhere else, Even Florida.

  I sighed and leaned my head realized Mom's shoulder. "Sorry ‘bout those kids,” Mom said, “they can be quite annoying sometimes, can’t they?”

  I nodded. “I’m sure whatever they’re doing has nothing to do with you. They have their own issues.” Feeling a little better, I decided to sit back up again- Mom stood up and walked to the kitchen. “I’ll make you some toast.

  “Peanut butter.”

  “Too sticky.”

  “Aww...”

  “You know what? When you get your cast replaced, I’ll ask Dr. Angie if can use - you know - those special liners that allow you to bathe and play outside in the snow.”

  “That’d be wonderful, Mom.”

  “It’ll be a couple weeks though. And you still won’t be able to ski. Or do anything that’s high contact...” Mom looked at the windows. Another kid, his fingers in his ears, his eyes closed, his tongue sticking out. Wanting to bang on the window and show the kid who’s the boss of this house, I stood up.

  Mom came to my side and wrapped her arm around me. “Maybe I should keep you away from
those kids also,” she said, “they don’t seem really nice.”

  “They’re just kids,” I said, “they don’t know any better.”

  Mom briefly shook her head. She wrapped one arm around me, pulling me close, and used her other arm to hold my free arm so I couldn’t get away. “Kids these days,” Mom said as she ruffled my hair, “they don’t know what respect means.”

  The boy continued to tease me, and I groaned. I couldn’t wait for Kayla to return.

  ***************

  “So where to next?” I asked, that night, when Kayla came in my room, bringing the pair of boots she’d taken home with her, along with a flashlight and magnifying glass.

  “Not sure,” She threw the stuff onto my bedspread, “did you see any clues at the construction site?”

  I shook my head. “Did you?”

  Kayla scratched her head. “I saw one mailbox with the name Sage. But I don’t think—”

  Sage? I’d seen that girl. “Did you get her last name?” I asked.

  Kayla shook her head. “She didn’t put her last name in her box,” she said, “apparently, she doesn't like strangers messing with her property.”

  “Well, if anybody wants to find out anything ‘bout her, they gonna have to break in.”

  “Crazy thing too, she doesn't trust alarms.”

  “What?”

  "She thinks they're simply techie machines bent on destroying the world and giving delinquents all our personal information. She doesn't use a computer and doesn’t let anybody under her roof use their computer or phone either.”

  “Do you think she could have hurt me?” I asked.

  “She doesn’t like sick people, Gabby,” Kayla said.

  Well, that could be a start to Sage’s motivation to hurt me. She might have thought I was bent on destroying the world - bent on making everybody sick - she might have thought I was a delinquent; might have thought I didn't care about anybody.

  “I heard she keeps her house so clean that it repels everybody, including possible friends,” Kayla said.