I stepped off of the bus with a sigh. I looked down at the directions on my phone. I had two more blocks to walk before I reached my destination. I tucked it into my back pocket before beginning to walk.
I stood still as I gazed at the door of the huge house. I couldn’t help feeling guilty for doing this behind Officer Lee’s back. But if I wanted to know what was really going on with him then this had to be done.
I took a deep breath, swallowing my nerves. I rang the doorbell before stepping back slightly.
A few moments past before I heard a person behind the door. It opened a few seconds later revealing Officer Lee’s father, Richard.
“Hel… Oh! Sian?” He said shocked.
I cleared my throat, “H-hi Richard. I’m sorry I came by so unexpectedly but I didn’t have your number to call you. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
“Nonsense, come in.”
I stepped into the house slowly.
Richard closed the door behind me. “Please, come into the living room.” He took my hand, leading me.
He took a seat on the black leather chair, motioning for me to sit down on the couch. I obliged.
“So, what brings you here today?”
“I’m not sure exactly. I just decided that I wanted to take you up on your offer from yesterday… just to talk.”
“Oh, great. What would you like to talk about?”
“Offi…” I cleared my throat, “Jett.”
“Ahh, I thought so.” he said smiling. “What exactly do you want to talk about involving Jett?”
“Well… I just want to know more about him. He’s so… mysterious and brooding. He has crazy mood swings, I mean they practically give me whiplash. When I say certain stuff he gets so angry I think he’s gonna smash something. Oh, and his eyes change colors which might creep me out the most.”
“Hmm, what stuff do you say that makes him so angry? Though I’m sure I know what it is.”
“Well… I recently found about his mother, Agatha.”
“He told you about her?”
I nodded, “But it was like pulling teeth to get it out of him. Whenever we have talked about her, the little that we have, he gets really angry and upset. But he won’t tell me why.”
Richard shook his head from side to side slowly. “I am going to reveal some things to you Sian, and you and I both know Jett won’t be happy about that.”
“I won’t tell him, I promise. I just want to know more about him. S-so that I can help him… like you said.”
Richard remained silent for a minutes. He sighed before launching into his tale. “Jett and his mother were incredibly, incredibly close. He is our only child.
I met Agatha when I was 17 years old, she was 15. She grew up an only child. All she would ever talk about was how badly she wanted to start a family. She wanted at least seven kids.” He chuckled lightly to himself. “And she wanted to start her family right then, at 15. Now I of course didn’t want children at all, especially not at such a young age.
We got married when she turned 18, and she was determined to begin her family.
He twisted the wedding band around his finger. “I loved her so much, and I wanted to give her what she wanted so badly. But I just didn’t feel that either of us were ready for children.
This of course led to endless fighting. We were damn near ready to divorce… until I finally gave into her wishes.”
“So how did you only end up with one kid?” I asked.
“Well we got to work with making babies that’s for sure. Agatha got pregnant numerous times, at least five. But each time… “ he shook his head, “she miscarried.”
“The doctor didn’t know exactly what the problem was with her, just that we were an unlucky couple.”
“We stopped trying. Agatha went into a sort of… depression. She would eat very little, she didn’t talk much. She lost weight, her face became sunken in and tired looking. At only 25, people thought she was my mother.
I tried everything I could to cheer her up. But I knew that only a baby would do the trick.
I considered adopting, maybe even getting a surrogate.
Until we took a trip to Ireland for her birthday. The saints there must have felt bad for us and decided to gift us… with a baby.
We came back to the states and nine months later Jett was born.
The change in Agatha was blatantly obvious. She gained her weight back, the color came back to her skin, the tiredness and wrinkles seemed to disappear, and joy was in her eyes again.”
Richard smiled to himself. “I had never seen her happier than when she looked at him. And he looked back at her with the same adoring affection.
We decided together that we didn’t need any other children. The three of us were happy.”
“That’s beautiful.” I smiled, feeling the same joy in my heart that they must have felt then.
“But…” the smile slowly disappeared from Richard’s face, “she died a year ago.”
I felt my face fall also. Oh no, oh no, oh no. She died because, I killed her. I tried hard not to let my thoughts reflect on my face.
“My mother, who now lives in New York, was sick. I went away for a few days to see her. Agatha decided to remain here.
The police told me, two people came into the house while she was sleeping. They stole almost everything.
They went upstairs searching for a safe. Agatha heard the commotion and went to see what it was. T-they shot her… before they fled the house.”
I could see Richard’s eyes turning red. I tried to swallow the sick feeling rising inside of me.
“They told me she could have survived. But help got there to late… a-and she was g-gone.”
One tear trailed down Richard’s cheek. He looked down, trying to hide it from me.
“R-Richard I’m so sorry. I really am. Please believe me.” I willed the tears not to fall from my eyes, causing a slight burning feeling.
“It’s alright Sian, it wasn’t your fault.”
“But no, Richard you d-don’t understand I’m sorry. I wanted to help her but I co…”
“Sian, Sian, please. It’s alright. It’s the past, you couldn’t have helped her.”
I willed myself to stop talking before I revealed my secret. Inside I was dying to say it. I needed to say this to someone. It was slowly killing me. I needed to let it out.
I felt my breathing quickening. Oh no, not this!
I breathed in and out slowly, trying my hardest to calm down. I couldn’t do this in front of Richard.
“Jett hasn’t been the same since her death. He’s angry at everyone. It’s as if he is blaming the whole world for his mother dying.
I’ve tried to talk to him. But he just pushes me away. That’s why he hasn’t spoken or seen me in a year, up until the party.
I believe that if he comes to terms with her death, he’ll be fine. He really needs a counselor so he can let out all of his pent up feelings and emotions.
And you know what, you’re that counselor.”
“Me? I can’t be, he refuses to tell me anything anymore.”
“Sian… I’ll give you a tip.”
“Okay.”
He smiled, “Jett’s a sucker for cartoons and food.”
“I’ve noticed Batman is his favorite.”
Richard chuckled, “Yes, he’s always loved that. Put on Batman, and give him a plate of food and he’ll tell you anything that you’d like.”
“I don’t know.”
“You still might have to pull it out of him, but you’ll get all the information you need out of him.”
“Ok, I’ll try that.”
“Would you like something to eat or drink? I’m rather parched myself.”
“No thank you.” I looked over to the clock on the wall, 1:45 pm. “I should really get going now anyway.”
“Of course. How did you get here by the way?”
“Public transportation.”
“Ugh, horrible.” Said Richard, wrinkling his nose. I couldn’t help but notice how much Jett resembled him when he did that. “I’ll drive you back.”
“Oh no, no. It’s fine, I don’t mind taking the bus.”
“Nonsense, you are my friend now Sian. Ill drive you.”
“It’s just that… I-I’m really not supposed to be here. I told Jett I was going to school, and that I would be catching the bus there and back. I don’t think it would look to good if I came back in a fancy car.”
“Hmm, then I’ll let you out a block away.” He smiled. “Deal?”
I sighed, “Okay, deal.”