Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.
~André Malraux
***
"What do you mean the investigation's been cancelled?!"
"Yap. That's what he said," Marcus replied.
Jeff finally put two and two together and told Marcus, "Now I understand why everyone is wearing these 'Justice for Sheila' t-shirts. Wish they had given me one though."
They were at Sheila's funeral. It seemed like the whole of Middlewood had attended. It was exactly four days since school was closed and the Perkinsons had decided to hold Sheila's burial as soon as possible so as to minimise the grief period. Every Arabellan was present at the function. Marcus had managed to convince his mom to accompany him to the burial and they arrived just as the hearse was also arriving. Luckily for Marcus, Jeff had saved him a seat and Marcus left his mother to go and see what was happening.
From where he sat, Marcus saw it a little difficult to identify people. Everyone was donned in black, making it look like the devil's cult had gathered, if they wore black at all. The wails of Sheila's mother were however very significant and filled the atmosphere. Most of the parents sympathised with her and supported her as her daughter's coffin was brought up for display. None of the family members had the courage to see Sheila's body and therefore it was unanimously agreed that the coffin would not be opened.
When it was time for speeches to be delivered, breakdowns were the order of the day as the people who came forward to speak started crying in the middle of their speeches. Two hours and many shed tears later, the speeches were finally over and it was time to finally put Sheila to rest. Handkerchiefs were seen being fished out as the choir sang an emotional tune. Marcus was on the verge of also crying himself. All this was too much for him to handle and his heart felt overwhelmed. He spotted his mother and noticed that she was wiping her tears. Indeed, this would be something that would remain in the hearts of Middlewood's residents for a long time.
As people were leaving, Marcus was with Jeff debriefing him on what he saw.
"Jeff, I didn't picture burials to be this...emotional," Marcus confessed.
"You're saying that you haven't been to a burial before?"
"You know that I don't exactly know my family tree."
"Oh yeah! You told me."
Marcus didn't come from the normal structuring of an extended family. His mother had been raised in an orphanage and consequently did not have any knowledge of her family. She had given up on the thought of trying to find her real family claiming that if they didn't want her then they probably wouldn't want her now. On the side of his father, Marcus didn't know much except that it was a topic that was barred from being discussed at that home. All Marcus knew about his father was that he was an irresponsible young adult at the time he made Jane pregnant with Marcus.
"Marcus, have you also noticed that Michelle wasn't present for her best friend's burial?"
Now that Jeff said it, Marcus also noticed that Michelle had missed the whole ceremony. Her position in Sheila's life was quite dominant and therefore it was somewhat odd that she opted not to attend the burial.
"It's not only that," Marcus added, "She has also been behaving rather oddly nowadays. Do you remember the incident with Mr Stevens? I'm hearing from other students that she ran away when she met him again."
"Maybe it's the grief, as you said."
"No. My gut's telling me it's something else. Maybe she knows something about what really happened to Sheila and she's hiding it."
"Looks like we'll need to do some looking into."
"Looks like we'll need to pay someone a visit," Marcus clarified.
"Son, are you coming?" Jane interrupted their conversation. Marcus hesitated for a moment.
"Mom, why don't you go ahead. I'm going to Jeff's house to pick my drawing pens," Marcus replied.
"Okay then, but don't let the darkness catch you outside. It is no longer safe for people like you," Jane replied and left in the company of Jeff's mom as they both discussed how it had become insecure for their children.
"Now, let's go do some digging, shall we?"
"So according to where the bus usually picks her this must be her house." Jeff pointed to a house situated at the end of the lane. It was an old-fashioned two-story house which was damnably large. Its Elizabethan architecture indicated that it was one of the pioneering homes of Middlewood. Marcus and Jeff proceeded to the front porch where Jeff got a hold of the door knocker and knocked three times.
A woman answered the door. It was Michelle's mom.
"Hello ma'am, is Michelle there?" Marcus spoke.
Michelle's mom looked at the two over her glasses and then called out to her daughter.
Michelle came to the door and halted shortly when she saw Marcus and Jeff eagerly waiting for her. She wasn't expecting any visitors and these two boys who rarely spoke to her had decided to interrupt her alone time. She released her mom and raised her eyebrows at the boys asking for an explanation.
"Hey Michelle, how are you?" Marcus began. He was suddenly lost for words now that he was actually speaking to her.
"Still coping, but I'm fine," Michelle replied, unsure of where he was getting at.
"We just wanted to check on you," Marcus said, aware that he was fucking it up but unable to bring out the real reason as to why they really came.
"Why didn't you come to Sheila's burial?" Jeff blurted, surprising both Marcus and Michelle. He was shocked at Marcus' inability to get straight to the point. Damn! Marcus couldn't even look Michelle in the eye. Was he crushing on her or what?
Michelle was speechless. She tried coming up with an excuse but she failed terribly. At last, she said, "I couldn't. I don't know why but I just did not find the energy to come."
Now that Jeff had irresponsibly stated their objective of visit, Marcus had gathered some courage and decided to talk.
"Ummm...Michelle, you've been acting weird around Mr Stevens of late. Is there any problem? Anything you might want to tell us?" Marcus asked in his sweetest voice ever.
The fear in Michelle's eyes was evident when Marcus mentioned Stevens' name. Marcus noticed it and quickly browsed for some reassuring words.
"It's okay Michelle. You don't have to say anything. We just wanted to check if you knew anything concerning Sheila's death. Apparently, the investigation has been cancelled."
"What do you mean the investigation's been cancelled?!" Michelle exclaimed.
"Gosh! Why does everyone keep saying the exact words I heard?" Marcus muttered to himself.
"Yeah. That's what he heard from the principal. That is why we wanted to know if you knew anything about the murder that could help get justice for Sheila," Jeff said, his voice showing concern.
Michelle kept quiet and looked at the two boys before him. Would it be dangerous to share what she knew with them? They had just shown up at her doorstep and started interrogating her. If anything she was supposed to suspect them and their intentions. Yet she was burning with the urge to tell them what she knew. Keeping the secret to herself was proving to be killing her slowly. After a fierce battle in her mind, she finally came to a decision.
She looked around to see if anyone else was listening and then turned to Marcus and Jeff.
"Meet me tomorrow, ten o'clock at Old Bob's Abandoned Garage. And make sure nobody's following you."