Death and the Deeds ✔

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Oliver. The emotions I felt for Mr. Arlo's murderer changed. Only transforming into some other form of hatred. My legs felt shaky as Rachel's beautiful face reproduced in my mind. Peace is always in demand but is seldom available. Even after death, when they say rest in peace, what surety you have that you will never feel yourself at war.  
"Monsters." It was only when Mr. Ben collected the pictures to put them back in the drawer that I realised I had said it out loud.
"Well the world's full of them. And it is our job to make sure that they are exactly where they deserve to be."
"When are they set to be executed?" I asked. Knowing it was none of my business.
"Hazel honey, you don't have to worry about that. These people know their job well enough." My mom interfered as she gently grabbed my by my elbow.
I nodded and began to walk towards the door.
Some unfinished business needed closure before her brother was killed and I had to make that sure.
The funeral day arrived and I found myself dressed in black. It was a wreck with Mason constantly avoiding meeting my eye and I being unable to soothe the ache he must be feeling. Everyone had a memory to share, a hymn to sing before finally putting the dead to rest. As the flowers continued to bloom and the birds carried to sing, the graveyard had yet another entry.
I knocked on Mason's door the next night. He slightly opened it, making sure to cover the way so I could not enter. Or at least that is what it felt like.
"Can we talk?"
"Not yet. There are something's I need to figure out, some dots I need to connect before we talk." His voice was stern and it sure hurt like hell to see him talk to me like I did not matter. But underneath the mask he had on these days, was the boy I loved and I would do anything to take that mask off.
On the first day of my last week, I headed to the police station after I read the news that was boldly written on top of every news paper.
  The murderers of Mr. Arlo to be hanged on the morning of 19th.
I wondered how this news would have affected me if it had been anyone other than Rachel's brother. But somehow him being related to Rachel made me biased. Made me wanted to protect him. But justice must be served. And it's not like I had any say in this matter. Like I would go to the police and request to not kill them and they would be like aww whatever you say Hazel dear.
"Who again?" Asked the officer in charge of Oliver and his partner.
"Oliver. The..the person who.." I stammered, making it hard for me to finish the sentence.
"Who killed Mr. Arlo?" The officer said, harshly.
I would have preferred a different sentence.
I nodded.
"Why?" He raised himself to an upright position in his chair which made me uncomfortable. Or maybe I was just overthinking the situation.
"Because he is a friend's brother and I need to say goodbye to him."
Please buy my story it is every bit true. I thought.
"What friend?" He further asked.
"She's dead. That is why this is so important to me." I folded my arms and gave him a look to let him know that he's getting on my nerves. I felt bad using the dead friend card but I had no other way to convince him.
"Oh. Sorry to hear that. Well be quick  because no one is allowed to meet them tonight. We need to take strict measures because this is a high security case. Any mistake could cause half of the department their jobs..."
I trailed off as he continued feeding me with unnecessary information. I began thinking of all the things I wanted to say to Oliver. On my behalf and on Rachel's. Would he believe me? What if he did not want to meet me in the first place. I felt like a silent gernade had burst inside of me. I made a mental note to stop overthinking.
"Miss hazel?" The officer's voice broke my train of thoughts.
"Yes? Sorry." I replied, surprised.
"He'll take you to him but no more than ten minutes. Okay?"
I nodded and looked back only to find out that HE who was to take me was Mr. Jordan.
"You again?" I smiled.
"Hello innocent Hazel. It's good to see you."
I narrowed my eyes at him as he lead me to a room that was uncomfortably small. It barely had any furniture yet it felt like presence of people more than two would cause suffocation. There were two chairs with a small table between them. There were no windows and the only source of light was a small bulb hanging from the ceiling. Even a small sound seemed exaggerated in such tiny space.
"Wait here. I'll get him." Said Mr. Jordan.
I chose to sit on the chair facing the door. A few moments later Mr. Jordan entered the room with Oliver who looked miserable. He extended his arms towards Mr. Jordan to unlock the handcuffs but he shook his head.
"Sit down." He placed his hand on Oliver's shoulder, pushing him down.
He then left, closing the door behind him. I was able to get a detailed look of Oliver. His hair was like a bunch of twigs, each going in it's own direction. He looked tan and his baggy clothes only added to his look of misery. His eyes had a different touch to them. I could not tell whether that was because of guilt or the realisation that he was to be hanged soon. He placed his hands on the table with a thud and stooped forward.
"Hello. Um.. I'm Hazel."
"Rachel's friend?" His brows drew together.
I did not know whether I should be happy that he knows me or should I be scared.
"Yes." I curtly replied.
"She always mentioned you when she talked to me. You were really a friend to her."
I chose to be happy.
"Yeah well she loved you a lot too. She always worried about your future, your safety. She did everything she could to protect you."
The expressions he wore clearly showed that be did not know how much she did for him.
"She umm.. she was an amazing person. Despite whatever the shit she went through, she refused to stop loving. She loved you with all she had." I paused and waited for a response.
"You know when she was young, she always protected me from dad. She stole jam for me because she knew how much I loved it." He let out a small chuckle. "I was supposed to be her elder brother. I was supposed to protect her and I became the biggest problem she died fixing." He was looking down but I could still see the tears building up in his eyes.
"She always took care of everything." He continued as I placed a hand on my forehead and tried to hide the grief. "I remember once I spent two nights outside in row because I had this huge fight with dad. Rachel did not eat a single bite and demanded that she'll eat only if I return. Dad requested me to come back." He laughed again and so did I. "She never really told me how much she loved dolls because she knew I'd steal one to gift her. But I knew she loved them because she had imaginary doll friends she talked to. And when I stole one for her, she cried and kept saying that with every bad deed you disappear a little and if you continue to be bad, you'll become invisible. I have no idea where she learnt that from." He kept smiling.
"She was a gem. I had been her friend for a very short time but I loved her like a sister. I'm sad I did not tell her that enough times."
"I'll tell her. That you loved her."
There was an awkward silence as I drew a long breath in and let it out slowly.
"When we were children, she ate mud. Alot. And always ended up getting sick and still ate it even though I remember scolding her countless number of times. She just had it in her to do everything for whoever and whatever she loved."
I smiled.
"Time up." Mr. Jordan interrupted.
No.
"I'm glad you came Hazel. Thank you. For letting me know how much she loved me."
I smiled and nodded. I closed my eyes and sank into the chair.
These were the memories that were so dear to him, that he recalled them the day before he was to die.