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Chapter 6: Child's Slay
Noah
Noah place an arm around Brooke giving her a small side hug, his hand sliding down to grasp her hand.
"Don't blame yourself Brooke, you have to look out for yourself first in those situations." He told her. He thought about what she said about Stavo and tried to reassure her.
"He'll be cleared. Don't worry."
_____
Drew
Drew stepped closer to the guy, looking him right in the eyes, "I'm a hard scare, but you're welcome to give it a shot."
"You know better than that," Brooke told him heavily, "He's suspicious as sin, you've been saying it yourself since you met him. If they decide it was him, that he did this..."
She ran a hand down her face, wiping at the stubborn tears that clung there, "And they will, you know, I...I'm not an idiot. Noah, he...she was obsessed with him, or...or we thought she was. Until she wasn't. Everybody knows about that fight we had today, Stavo even..."
She shuddered, "He promised me he'd take care of her. It's too perfect. And you and I both know they've settled for much less than perfect before."
***
"I bet..." Ryan paused, "So..."
He dropped at the table across from him, his tone and manner completely changing, "There's these two brothers. And they live with their Ma, all alone in this tiny shithole in some backwater somewhere.
"Ma let herself go. She wasn't as hot to trot as she'd been, and...well...she knew better than to wait for Daddy to come calling," he paused, as if relishing the tale, "Most of the time, she didn't know where she was...so the kids had to keep themselves occupied, yanno.
"The bigger one was a little prick, same as all big brothers. He loved tooling with his little bro. Pulled pranks all the time and..." he shrugged, "One day, kiddo's prank went too far," a sudden, harsh rumble and a shriek, surprisingly decent sound effects, "Don't play in traffic.
"Ma was freaked out of her mind. Crying, screaming...she pulled the big bro aside, 'Why'd you do it? He was all I had, one thing I ever did right...'
"What does a kid do when his own mother tells him a thing like that?"
-Brooke and Ryan
"I was supposed to be there," Dave repeated, tightening his grip on Yvain's arm. "She needed me there and I couldn't stop it."
"Ya can't help everything, man," Nicodemus tried to offer his advice, in spite of the pain he was in. "Ya gotta let it go." He quickly added, "Ya gotta let me go."
"He's right."
Dave turned to face the voice coming from a shadowy corner in the room.
"It's not your fault."
The English scholar let go of Yvain's hand and approached Stavo, slowly, muttering to himself, "Not my fault. Not my fault. Not my faultNotmyFaultNOTMYFAULT!" He took both hands and grabbed the boy by the throat, throttling him, repeating the hollow phrase, knowing it to be a lie, furious at this boy's gall.
Stavo desperately clawed at the big man's hands, gasping for air, bending backwards as Mr. Evans lurched forward, being absolutely overpowered.
Nicodemus gripped his wrist, reddened by the sturdy man's grip. However, he only had a minute to recover before Dave was off to his next target. "Please, man! Get a holda yourself! Chill!"
-Dave, Nicodemus and Stavo
"Dave! Calm the hell down!" yelled Teague, stepping forward.
"Dave!" Phyllis seized the bigger man by the shoulders, "Dave, stop this!"
She wrenched him around, "You are angry and you are upset, but for the love of God, this is not then! Your daughter, love her, or miss her, or resent her, is dead, dead and gone long before this, just as dead as my son. And nothing you may or may not have done then has anything to do with what happened to Sawyer tonight."
She held him steady, "You loved Sawyer, I am sure, in your own way...but Dave, she was not your daughter. And nobody hear warrants your anger."
Unless, she realized with a chill...they did.
Phyllis's words, though muffled at first, became louder and louder, until reality was no longer blurred and Dave saw what he was doing, looking into the frenzied eyes of Stavo Acosta, his hands on the boy's throat.
Murderer again, Evans. Murderer again.
He unhanded the boy, staggering back, horrified by what he had just done. The room was a quiet as a pin drop, Stavo catching his breath the only sound to be heard.
Finally, Dave broke that silence. "I'm going to leave now." His voice was weak and timid, a shell of it was once mere moments ago. "I don't know when I'll be back but..." He nodded slowly, as if convincing himself. "I'll be going."
With that, Dave walked out of the infirmary.
Nicodemus attended to the boy after Dave had left, checking his neck. "Red as rubies! Wow, he did a number on you."
Stavo nodded, getting back to his feet, uttering, "I'm fine."
-Dave, Nicodemus and Stavo
"In that case, Mr. Acosta, I'd like to have a word with you," said Teague, stepping forward. He turned to Phyllis and said, "Theodora is in the Common Hall. She could use your help."
"You're dismissing me?" Phyllis asked, voice brittle, "But what about..."
She looked off after Dave, biting back what she wanted to say.
"...the body?"
"Actually, you're right," He said, "Because I need to speak with you after I've talked with Acosta."
"A..." Phyllis bit her lip, "Alright, then."
She stepped back, looking furtively at Nicodemus.
Drew
"I never really cared much for brothers anyway, or parents to be fair." He smirked, a dark gleam in his eyes.
"You wanna hear a real scary story?"
_______
Noah
"Brooke..I'm really trying to be sensitive for your feelings right now, do you want supportive friend Noah, or Detective Noah?"
"You don't wanna hear the rest?" Ryan asked, eyes bright, "Ah, why should ya. Something tells me you already know..."
He leaned forward, "Shoot."
***
"I..." Brooke began, "I don't know what I want."
She looked from him to Zach, "You...you trust me, right?"
"Oh, Brooke...yeah," Zach sounded almost surprised to have been asked, "Totally."
-Ryan, Brooke and Zach
Drew
Drew reaches across the space between them and grazes his cheek with his finger,
"Our story starts with a young man who's parents never really gave him any attention, so naturally he starts acting out. At first it's just for their attention, but then it's for everyone's. He's gonna make everyone know his name, make sure he's never ignored again. And the rebel thing, he little no good thug bit...It's cute for awhile, but he doesn't know when to stop. It stops being cute, or charming, or mysterious eventually. Next thing you know, he's just that bum, asking for beer money on the street."
_____
Noah
"What are you gonna do Brooke?" He asked worried.
Ryan grimaced, "Ooh shit...I think I just pissed myself."
He looked Drew up and down, "Beer's not my drink."
***
"I don't know yet," Brooke hesitated, "I know what I want to believe, but how many times has that ended up being wrong, or a lie, or just some stupid misunderstanding that screwed a bunch of people over? On one hand, I want so badly to be right, for it not to be him, for them to be wrong and..."
She broke off, "On the other hand...what if I'm wrong? I don't know. I guess...I guess that's just...unusual for me."
-Ryan and Brooke
Drew
"No, you're more of a whiskey man, but give it some time and a ninety-nine cent beer is gonna be like liquid nirvana for you my friend." He grabbed Ryan's arm and flipped it palm side up.
"Or maybe a little heroine."
_____
Noah
"Are you saying....You wanna investigate Stavo?" He asked Brooke.
"Because believe me, I've done my share of digging into his past, and it's a dark past Brooke."
Nicodemus glanced back at Phyllis. Figuring it was cool and all now that Mr. Evans was gone, he took the blanket and raised it over Sawyer, finally putting her to rest.
"Sure," Stavo replied, his voice hoarse. "Go ahead."
"Tell me what happened," Teague said, trying to keep his voice calm. To keep it from breaking, "What were you doing, when you found Miss Martin?"
Ryan wrenched his arm back, the smirk vanishing from his face, "You want hard stuff...I'd ask your pop."
He leaned back, "Whatever you think you know about me, Pretty Prick...forget it. Your info's as fake as your hair."
***
Brooke turned to Noah, unable to hide a flicker of hurt in her face, "Then you know more than I do. He never talks about..."
She thought of Micah and pressed on, determinedly, "I just don't want every man I've gotten tangled up with to be a liar or dead...or, ultimately, a dead liar. And if you'd help..." she broke off, "I'd be grateful."
-Ryan and Brooke
Drew
"What my father does, is not my concern. He could be making money of the backs of dead hookers for all I care, as long as I get what's mine." He told the boy with gritted teeth.
"There's a million men just like you, all wasting their life, and never just fucking ending it, making everyone around them more miserable." He told Ryan, the venom dripping from his words.
"In ten years I'm gonna be a billionaire and you...You're just gonna be another dead junkie they bury in an unmarked grave."
______
Noah
Noah pulled Brooke into another hug, "Say no more." He told her.
He pulled away and looked at her, pulling out two notepads with the name Stavo written on it.
"I was working the Stavo angle for a while, all I know is in here."
"You don't know a damn thing about me," said Ryan lightly, "But, sure, you keep telling yourself whatever makes your dick pop," he pushed himself up to his feet, "Stop by when you feel like hearing the end of that story."
***
Brooke blinked, "Why am I not surprised?"
She turned the notes over gingerly in her hands, "Thank you. And, Noah...if you find anything about Stavo, you...you tell me. I..."
It was hard for her to say it, but she pressed on, "I'll do the same. Deal?"
-Ryan and Brooke
Noah
Noah's Blue/Green eyes looked into her brown orbs and nodded.
"That's a deal, Detective Maddox."
Brooke smiled, "I...I'd better go back," she paused, "Not that I imagine I know waht the hell you're doing, but you should too."
She started off. It was a while before Zach spoke.
"So...do you have little notebooks for all of us, or..."
-Brooke and Zach
Noah
When Zach asked that Noah just smiled and put an arm around his shoulder,
"Don't worry Zach, you aren't a suspect, but yes, I do. You have an...Interesting history my friend." He said. as they walked back to the common hall
"...news to me," Zach said heavily, following.
"Where the fuck you been, man?"
"Hey, Ryan."
"Is it true what they were saying? The little freshman girl..."
"Uh...yeah."
"Shit," Ryan hesitated, "You didn't see it?"
"Nah...I didn't, but..."
Ryan followed his gaze to Brooke and folded his arms, "Gets better and better, don't it?"
-Zach and Ryan
"Brooke? Are you ok?" asked Audrey as she rushed over to the trio.
"I heard about the kid. I'm sorry."
"The kid..." Brooke began flatly, "Yeah. I'm sorry too."
She walked a few steps away, "How's it been over here? You..." she hesitated, "Emma hasn't been back, has she?"
"No, have you seen her?" asked Audrey.
"Oh, I've seen her!" said Brooke bitterly, "And if she sees me again, I've been told I'll have to watch my back. She's gone nuts. Totally batshit. She's squatting in some hold in the woods as we speak."
"Good lord," Audrey said, slack jawed. Her best friend from childhood...her closet key....
She'd completely lost it.
The tiny gay spotted Ted nearby. Completely oblivious to the danger he possibly now faced.
She had to do something.
"Teddy Williams, get your giant ass over here!" she called out.
As the giant approached her, Audrey asked, "You know that advice I just gave you, about Emma?"
"Yeah, you said play it smart."
"I take it back. Don't try anything with her."
"Why not?"
"In the parlance of our nineteenth century forebears," said Brooke, "She's gone mad."