"And.. again!" Coach says, blowing her whistle.
"Coach, this is our fifth lap!" Bridget complains.
"Keep up the whining, and y'all are gonna get another five!"
We rush to complete our last lap, and race to the cooler to get Gatorade.
"I call dibs on the last blue!" Isabel says.
"Blue sucks ass. Orange is superior." I say, pinching Bridget to make her let go of the Gatorade I have my eyes set on.
"Ouchie! Coach, she just pinched me!"
"Hurry up, ladies, and get hydrated, so we can get started!"
"What have we been doing so far?" Izzy says.
"Transition! Good, now load!"
Load, as in getting the flyer up to the top of the pyramid.
"Hold on, we're missing a base, Coach." Bridget says.
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"You're right. Page, where's your sister?"
"I don't know, Coach. My mom said not to worry, she didn't want me to be late."
"Did Julia know about today's early morning practice?"
"She did. Coach, I can call her now, if you want."
She nods. "Tell her to get her butt to my office. I don't want my captain missing out on any more meetings!"
I go off to a corner of the gym, and call Julia.
"Hey, it's Julia! Sorry, I can't come to the phone right now! Please leave a message after the beep!"
"Jules, hey. Where are you? You're missing practice, and Coach is not happy."
10:30 a.m.- Second period:
"Hey, Jules, it's Jo. I gave you some time to answer the phone, but I'm starting to get a little pissed. Call me back."
11:20 a.m.-
"Jules, it's Jo again. Mom is worried sick, she's called you like a thousand times."
12:15 p.m.-
"Mom is super pissed right now. She wants you to call her ASAP."
1:13 p.m.-
"Dad is ready to call the entire Heaton Police Department to hunt down your ass. Call me."
2:20 p.m.- Mom from my phone
"Julia, it's Mom. If you don't fucking pick up your phone.... Call me right fucking back. NOW. Or call your dad. Call somebody!"
2:45 p.m. -
"Jules, I don't know if you got all our messages... but everyone's really worried. Call me back."
3:55 p.m. - (To Dad)
"Dad, it's Jo. We've been calling Julia, but she hasn't answered. Something is definitely wrong. Mom is a wreck right now. When are you coming home?"
7: 45 p.m. (Dad)
"JoJo, I got your message. I was at a budget meeting with Mayor Cowell. I'll let my Lieutenant know."
8: 50 p.m. - (Dad comes home)
"Where have you been?" Mom demands right as Dad walks into the house.
"I told Jo. I was at a budget meeting. Lieutenant Seamus, this is my wife Diane."
Lieutenant Andrew Seamus is a short, pudgy, balding man. And you know if my midget ass considers someone short, then that person's short.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Page. I wish it were under better circumstances."
"Have you heard anything about my daughter?"
"I'll tell her, sir." Dad says. His eyes are red and swollen. He's been crying.
"Tell me what?"
"Mommy, what's going on?" Luna asks from the top of the stairs.
"We found Julia."
"Thank God! Where is she? When can we see her-"
"She wasn't alive when we found her."
An inhuman wail emits from my mother's mouth, and she collapses to the floor. Dad puts his hand out to help her up, but she slaps it away, continuing to wail.
"Luna, honey, go back upstairs." Dad says.
"But Daddy, what's-"
"Now, Luna."
"Dad, how did she die?" I say, my voice weak and childlike.
"Blunt force trauma to the back of the head."
"Anything else?"
"She-"
Lieutenant Seamus shuts him down with one shake of his head, indicating that there's more. And they think I can't handle it. Maybe I can't.
"So she was murdered."
"She was, yes." The way Seamus says so in a careless way, as though I just asked if the Dodgers won the World Series, makes me want to wring his thick, flabby neck.
"Jo, go take care of your sister, okay?"
"Where are you going?"
"I won't be home for a few hours. Take care of Luna and your mother for me, you got that?"
Yeah, Dad. I got that. You're leaving me to clean up a mess that you should be cleaning up. And I can't even process the news that my sister... my sister is dead.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
