The Sky Has Fallen

| Chapter 06

"Oh, she's fine." The fake smile on the officer's face was a lie. That woman had been bleeding out from every cavity. If she had lived, she wouldn't be fine.

"Well, that's good." My uncle smiled at them. "But, as I said, they were there, scanned and everything. That'd make sense if you picked up their signal in the area."

"At night?" The first officer sucked on his teeth. "If they were there last night, then—"

"No, not at night," my uncle said. "They were here, watching movies. Weren't you, Gus?"

The last part was just for me. Spoken louder than the first, just enough for me to hear. When he glanced back at me, the look in his eyes told me to follow his lead.

I struggled. So, I nodded, instead. Quickly.

My uncle took that as confirmation enough.

"See," he said, turning back to the police officers. "We were watching Night Hollow. Have you guys ever seen it? Pretty good. It's got families, money, ungrateful kids." He glanced back at me and forced a laugh before looking back at the officers. "Highly recommend it."

"Ah." The officer pressed his thumbs into the belt loops on his pants. His partner shut off their tablet. "Never seen it," he said. "But I'll be sure to check it out when I'm off duty."

"Do that." My uncle nodded, shaking one finger beside his face. "I swear you won't be disappointed."

"Lovely, we'll take your word for it," the female officer said.

"And surely your word holds weight," the first officer added, but when he said it, he lifted his brows in a disbelieving way.

Yet, suspicion aside, that didn't stop my uncle from nodding and saying, "Well, y'all have a good day now, all right?"

When he shut the door, he locked it. Then, with a slow turn, he looked back towards the kitchen. In a bellowing voice, he shouted, "DAVID!"

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The incoming onslaught wasn't for me. I turned my back towards my uncle, hiding, because the moment he entered, he started yelling. He grabbed David by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up, close to his face. I could hear the spit fall off his lips as he screamed, "The hell was that, huh? What have you been up to? AGAIN!"

"Nothing!" I turned back in time to see David try to push his father off him. His hand was wrapped around my uncle's wrist. "Why do I always gotta be doing something!"

"Because there's always police at my front door!" My uncle let David go, but he didn't move back. "If it ain't one thing with you, it's another. And I'm fucking tired, David. Tired of the shit."

"Yeah, but not as tired as me," David hissed.

I froze. I thought my uncle would have a response, but there was nothing. Just silence. An angry hand over his mouth as he exhaled sharply into his palm.

"Do you know what's worse David?"

As my uncle continued, I turned back towards the window.

"You're an adult. You just turned twenty. You know what that means? Huh, do you?"

I couldn't see the Pylon girl outside. There weren't many bushes in the backyard and only one tree. Lifting the window higher, I stuck my head all the way out. Where'd she go?

"What, dad?" I could hear the irritation in David's voice ring in my ears as I searched the yard still. "What's that mean?"

"It means—"

I saw a shadow move, leaves rustle, in the large, flowery bush near my uncle's garage. She was there, wasn't she?

"—I can't protect you! If they had a warrant, David, I wouldn't be able to stop them! And if you think I'm going to risk it all because you can't grow the fuck up, then, then—"