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closeChapter 5: Taking a secret to the grave
Friends forever bonded by the past
By Elaine Williams
Chapter 5: The conclusion
CDT Photo Illustration/Nabil K.
That night changed the course of five lives forever. One died. Four made a pact to keep a horrifying secret. And it ate away at them year after year. David hardened. Jack drank. Jack’s cousin, Ray, withdrew into a world of silence. Ann ran away from the truth into a life filled with lies. And 25 years later, she was still running.
It started out like their typical Friday night. They had a good buzz on thanks to the beer Ray had bought. Normally empty, the cabin had become their party zone. They were laughing at another one of Ray’s raunchy jokes until the moonlight betrayed the shadow lurching across the room. “Bear!” Ray screamed. It happened before any of them knew it. The gunshot. The shadow choked for air. Collapsed. Twitched. Then stillness.
Minutes ticked by. The four of them stood there in the dark. Finally Jack grabbed the flashlight from his pocket and shined it on the floor.
Ann gasped.
“He’s d-dead,” Jack stuttered.
David kicked it, “Yep.”
“The bear’s dead?” Those were the last words Ray ever spoke.
“No you idiot. That isn’t a bear, it’s a filthy bum.” All eyes were on David.
“Where did you get that gun?” Jack asked.
“My pops.”
“And you brought it tonight, because … ?” Ann looked closer into David’s eyes and saw something there she’d never seen before. Contempt. Hatred. How could she have missed it before now?
“You never know when you’re gonna need it. That’s what my pops always says. Looks like he’s right.”
“It was an accident, right?” Jack shook his head in disbelief. “You thought he was going to harm us?”
David sneered “What difference does it make? He’s nothing but an old homeless drifter. He isn’t gonna be missed. And no one’ll ever know what we did here tonight. We’ll bury him by the river and never speak of it again ... to anyone.” He waved the gun in his hand, pointing it at each one of them in turn to make his point. “Pact.”
They nodded in agreement and remained silent as they dragged the corpse down the slope to the river and buried him in the gritty soil.
“Shouldn’t we say something?” Ann pleaded.
“Yeah. Thank God that it’s him and not one of you.” David’s coarse laughter ripped through Ann. She knew then and there if she ever told, David would kill her.
u u u
“Ann. Ann, where are you?”
“I’m in my old bedroom.” Ann took a deep breath, not wanting her mom to see her distress.
“David’s on the phone for you.”
She took the phone and waited for her mother to leave the room. “Hello?” Ann listened intently, “Yes. I’ll be there.” “How nice you’re going to see David after all these years. You know your dad and I always thought you two would get married. David’s such a sweet man, and I adore his mother, Sally. Always lending a hand to others.” She gave Ann a hug. “Enjoy your reunion.”
Ann knew it wasn’t a reunion, nor would it be enjoyable. It only meant trouble. But then if David had intended to kill her he wouldn’t have called her at her parents. They knew she was going to meet him. That calmed her a little. She thought about telling them why she’d left town, but now she knew she couldn’t. Her dad was too frail to hear what she’d done, and her mom had her hands full taking care of him. Ann knew she could never tell Sally just what kind of a monster her son David really was. How had he fooled all these people all these years? But then Ann too had been fooled until she learned the truth that night.
When she arrived at Jack’s house, David and Ray were already there. “Why did you come back?” David’s voice was thick with malice and accusation.
“To see my dad. He’s dying, you know.” As soon as Ann said it, she wished she hadn’t.
David’s face crinkled into a callous mask. “Well, say thanks that it’s him and not you.” “What do you want, David?”
He glared at Ann then looked around the room. “Have you all kept your mouths shut?” “Yes.” Ann’s voice sounded small and ineffectual. It was how she saw herself. She felt she deserved every miserable moment in her life after what she’d been a part of.
Ray nodded, still unwilling to utter a word.
“You know I have, man,” Jack mumbled.
“Good, then it looks like we’re all going to keep this agreement. Wouldn’t want to have to shoot another bear.” David’s cackling shot through Ann.
“I need a drink.” Jack grabbed a flask from inside his coat pocket and took a long swig before collapsing on his couch. His bloodshot eyes unfocused as he continued drinking.
Ray silently walked to the door. Ann followed behind him, muttering to herself. “I’m going to take the assignment in California the magazine offered me.”
David headed out the back door, slamming it shut as he left. He spotted a ceramic pot and hurled it across the porch. It grazed a light pole before shattering on the back of the house, raining to the ground in a hundred little pieces. “That’s exactly what will happen if any of them talk. I’ll make sure of that.” Not satisfied, he picked up another pot of flowers and sent it after the first.
Ann sat in her father’s car and watched the headlights of her fellow conspirators recede into the night. Twenty-five years ago they had committed a crime and chosen to be their own judge and jury. How long does one suffer for a mistake? A lifetime? Tonight had been their chance at parole, and they had been denied, choosing to stay trapped in the past and condemned to a haunted future. They would never be free from this prison of the mind. Not at home. Not at work. Not even on the open road.
