LOGIN170. LUTHER "I..." I look at my mother. "I don't want your money, Mrs Huston. I'm not taking it to court either." She snorts, as if calling me stupid in her heart, before she turns back to the officers. "If he doesn't want my money, and he is not going to sue, then what am I doing here?" She snarls. "For all I know, you would have arrested me if you had enough evidence to do that?" "And what makes you think that we don't?" The officer asks. "You think that we are only here to talk about Jamie? Imagine the kind of evidence that we have on Agatha and Reuben Huston!" "I have no business with what happened to that old hag and her bastard child!" Nancy screams back in his face. "I was in my fucking house when hers burned to the ground! I have an air tight alibi!" "I bet if we dig real deep, it's going to lead right back to you, won't it?" My fingers go through my hair, because I don't think I can take this anymore. I don't know why, it feels like I'm watching someone get skinned al
169. LUTHER Right in our eyes, Nancy Huston goes dumb, maybe because she didn't think they would bring this up, especially since the deaths have been after almost ten years. She first reaches and waves off the strands away from her face. "I-i don't understand why my dead husband or his dead ex-wife and child is being brought up now," she straighten her back. "Is this just a heartless questioning tactic? Because I want justice for my daughter?" Quietly, my mother and I sit at the back, but somehow, we are no longer a part of what's happening. It's now Nancy Huston against the police. Two files are dropped in front of her, and I can see the clean film of dust on the covers. They have been in existence for a while now. "Mrs Huston, please answer these questions truthfully, if you want our help," the first police officer urges her. "Of course, I do!" "Then kindly tell us what happened to your husband again. Tell us from the beginning. When you met Jamie Huston." The amount of
168. MARLON I've never been one to believe in God, or miracles, but I certainly do today. I laugh so hard that even Luther and the police man look at me like I have gone crazy or something. The police officer stands up, "Now, my colleague and I will go and tell Mrs Huston about the latest developments on the ground." He walks out of the room, and Luther exhales through his mouth, and I snort at him. What's he still so bothered about? "You've got to tell them that you were there," I told him. "What? But that's not right! I was at home, worrying about my mother when Bernice died!""Don't you want to win a bit of money from this? You can sue the hell out of that woman," "You want me to sue her? Marlon, her only daughter, died! Why don't we give her a little more grace?" My lips are parted in shock, I can't believe that Luther actually said that. He is too good for himself, and sometimes it just irritates me. I pull my chair close and look at him the way one would look at a stub
167. LUTHER I hold my breath, because this can't be real. I can literally feel hundreds of eyes pushing me into the ground. Honestly, I wish I could disappear right now. My mother warned me, she foresaw the future, but I was feeling so guilty about Bernice that I chose to come to her service of songs. Her mother's eyes are bloodshot and her facial veins are popping like crazy. Her brutal finger is pointed directed at me, and no matter how much I try to dodge it, it always finds me. "Oh my God, the new kid killed Bernice?!" "What the hell?" "Why hasn't he been arrested?" I look to my left, my throat rippling with anxiety, as my eyes try to find the only person that can help me. Marlon. He looks just as terrified as I am, but the way his shoulders are stiff and his eyes are shaking, I am sadly on my own. Even Maybelline looks like she could cry for me, but I won't be getting any help from them today. Fortunately, everyone is in a bit of shock, so that gives me enough time to
166. MARLON His lips twists up, and I immediately know that he didn't like my sarcastic joke. In fact, he turns around to leave, but May dashes out of the room and pulls him into a hug. "Don't listen to Marlon, Luther, he is just being very mean today," she pouts. I can't believe it, he has a smile on his face. He is more happy to see my sister. Thank God that William's room is not a cube sized coffin, so all four of us can stay in here comfortably. I sit at one end of the room, and Luther sits at the other. He won't even look at me. William winces every now and then, as May checks on his wound. It's been only about a day and half since he got shot, but we are very thankful that the wound did not get infected or anything. "My mum has been asking why I have been wearing hoodies all day," he runs his hands over his eyes. "Oh, poor Mrs Feynman," May sighs. "She would totally freak out if she finds out." "What happened to him?" Luther blurts, making everyone look at him. "Oh
165. MARLON Mrs Hudson has always been very soft and fond towards me, but now, all of that has disappeared. There is a kind of hostility in her eyes that I thought I would ever see. "I... Um." I wipe my hand over my mouth. "This is very awkward and stupid, but I thought I heard someone in the room." She scoffs, bites down her lower lip, and then looks away. "Are you trying to mock me?" "Excuse me?" "You thought you heard someone in my late daughter's room?!" "I didn't mean it like that, I'll go." I am already walking back to the door. I should have just gone straight to the damn restroom. "Bernice told me your secret before she died, you know," Mrs Hudson drops the bomb, and suddenly, I can't move anymore. My hand is firmly against the doorknob, but my entire body is frozen. What was I even thinking to believe Bernice when I said that she didn't tell her mum? They are cut from the same evil cloth, of course she told her mother. Managing to gain back control of myself, I tu
LUTHER I'm boiling with rage because I am being forced to clean up the hallway while the rest of my mates are in their classes, receiving lessons. Why did Marlon do something like this to me? He didn't have to, he knew that it was a mistake, but he turned it into a whole other thing. My arm star
LUTHER On one of those quiet school afternoons, everyone is seated around the rink and watching the shirtless players. The coach is punishing them for what he called “Sloppy teamwork” in the home exhibition played against another team last week. He has punished them by making them practice witho
LUTHER I can't believe that I cried in front of this asshole, and explained to him that my mom's car is not just an old piece of junk to be insulted, but a sturdy girl that has been through hell and back with us. He blinks at me from the driver's seat while I bawl my eyes out, and gosh, it's the
LUTHER “A date, Luth?” My mother looked up from the pile of dishes she was taking to the kitchen, at the back. I am sitting in one of the booths at her diner, and thankfully, it's empty for us to have this delicate conversation. “Yes, mum, I'm going on a date. Why do you look so surprised?” I f







