The Sword and the Scythe

Chapter 4: If I Died Today

Holly shook her head at him, thinking over what he'd said. "I'm only sixteen—I'm not looking for a life partner."

"But someday you will be. I'm not telling you to cancel your date. I just want you to take a minute to think about what you want and how you feel about this boy before you go on a date with someone you don't even like."

"I'll think about it. But thanks to this little lecture, I'm running late for school."

"I'll drive you," he said, taking his plate to the sink and grabbing his briefcase and keys. "If you do decide to go and it isn't going well, you can always text me. I'll make up an emergency or something that requires you to get home." He said, wiggling his phone as they walked out to the car.

She laughed, "Thanks, Dad, but I doubt it'll come to that.

***

Her date with Sebastian was the worst hour and a half she'd ever lived through. The whole time they were out, he'd done nothing but sidle up too close to her and try to cop a feel. As soon as she realized that she should have followed her father's advice from the beginning, she excused herself to the bathroom and texted her dad to call with his fake emergency in twenty minutes.

An hour later, the movie ended with still no call from her dad. She wondered if he was still in his office and had been too absorbed with his research to look at his phone—as he was often prone to do. She convinced Sebastian that she wasn't hungry and that she needed to hurry home to work on some homework. He didn't seem happy about it, but he drove her home. He walked her up to the door, leaning in for his expected goodnight kiss.

"Thanks for the movie, Sebastian. I had fun, really." He leaned in more so that he was just centimeters from her mouth. She swerved and got her body halfway into the door frame. "I think I hear the phone. Gotta go! Goodnight." She slipped the rest of the way into the house and closed the door and locked it before sliding down to sit on the floor.

All the lights were off, so her dad wasn't back from work. She was mustering up the will to stand and go to bed when there was a knock on the door.

"Sorry, Sebastian, I'm not allowed to have people over when my dad's not home."

"Holly Barnes?" An unfamiliar voice said. "I'm Deputy Joseph Boone. I'm with the Richmond Police Department..."

Holly stood up and looked through the glass pane at on the door to see that it was in fact a police officer standing on the porch. She opened the door, confused and a little freaked out.

"Holly Barnes?"

"Yeah...?"

"I'm afraid your father has been in an accident..."

"What kind of accident?" she asked, her stomach twisting up in panic.

"There was a mugging, and I'm very sorry to tell you this, but your father was killed tonight. He suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head."

Holly felt as if all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. "What? No...no that can't be right."

"I'm very sorry for your loss, Miss Barnes," the officer continued speaking, but Holly couldn't hear any of it—all she heard was a high-pitched noise as she tried to force her brain to think through the shock.

The next thing she knew, she was sitting on the extra bed in her best friend Tameka's room, being fussed over by Mrs. Lewis. She didn't remember calling them, or even how she'd gotten there. "Don't you worry about a thing, Holly. You just go ahead and go to sleep and get some rest."