I could hear my heart pounding as I stared back into Jeremy's eyes. "W-what was he talking about, Jeremy?"
Jeremy looked at the floor, like he was expecting the right thing to say to be written there. He sighed and said "I don't know. I wasn't on the phone with him."
Is Jeremy pretending not to know what's going on? Or does he really not know?
"Jeremy..." I couldn't think of what to say. The clock on the wall ticked monotonously. I felt like the tension in the room was about to split open my head. Jeremy stood there, his eyes silently questioning me, looking like he was on the verge of tears.
The monitor beside me transformed into an old, bulky TV. The chair turned into an ugly couch, and everything else faded into a bright yellow wall with family pictures on it. And just like that, I was reliving the day my life changed forever. The day my father died. I remember the morning of that day. We were all so cheerful, and we had no idea that anything bad would happen. It was a Saturday, and Jeremy and Dad were going to a lake to go fishing. Jeremy was 14 years old, and so excited. They packed up our old station wagon, and off they went. My mother and I were alone at home, cleaning and doing laundry. I wanted to go fishing with them. But Jeremy didn't want me to, because I was an "annoying tag-along". And Dad wanted some father-son bonding time. So, I, the tomboy, had to stay home and clean, thinking of all the fun Jeremy and Dad must be having. My mother and I cleaned and cleaned, until it was very late at night. We were expecting "the men" to be back home by now. My mother dismissed it by saying that there's probably a lot of traffic. But I had a horrible feeling that something went wrong.
My mother made me go to bed at 9:30, just like every other day. I couldn't sleep. I just stared at the ceiling and wondered what was happening. My door was opened and I could see into Jeremy's empty bedroom across the hall. I passed some time by reading Moby Dick, the book that Jeremy had been reading out loud to me every night. When I was completely immersed into the world of the book, I almost felt like Jeremy was back, reading it to me, and everything was fine.
These thoughts were rudely interrupted at 11:34, when I saw red and blue lights flash onto my wall through the window. I heard sirens blaring. I looked out the window to see Jeremy running out of a police car. A policeman chased after him, but I knew that Jeremy didn't care. All he wanted was to get to our mother. Something must have gone horribly wrong. He knocked frantically on the door. My mother answered, terrified, in her bathrobe. Jeremy began talking very fast and they hugged tightly. I put down the book, threw on a bathrobe, and ran down the stairs. My mother heard my footsteps and stepped aside to let me inside of their embrace. We were all sobbing, but only Jeremy knew why. I released myself from the tight hug, and stepped inside. Jeremy followed. Our mother had to stay at the door and talk to the police officers.
Jeremy and I stood across from each other in the living room. The tick-tock of the antique grandfather clock filled the room.
"Dad's dead.' Jeremy said, solemnly.
"I know." I looked down at my feet. I wanted to ask what happened, but the broken look in Jeremy's eyes made me stop. I slowly walked towards him. I opened my arms and pulled him into a hug. I felt his hot tears on my shoulder, and I began crying, too. That's how we stood, for what seemed like hours, until our mother came inside with the police officers.
"Jess, there's something you need to know."
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