Elijah

Saturday, July 20th, 8:12pm.

Past: May 17th

"This way," Derrick says as he leads me around the side of his parent's party cabin.

The music from the dock fades only to be replaced by the music that is coming from inside the cabin as we walk around to the front door. Danica and one of her friends are sitting out front in a couple of plastic adirondack chairs as we approach. I wonder what Derrick has in store for me as he laughs suddenly to himself.

"Good evening ladies," Derrick says right as another song comes on, this one louder as it makes my teeth rattle in my skull.

Danica looks up at him, confused as she narrows her eyes, "Can you turn that down?" she shouts as she covers her ears against the loud music.

"Just relax Dani, I'll turn the music down some," he yells over the music before he grabs his phone from his pocket and does as she says.

I unclench my jaw as the pain lessens and Danica looks up at him.

"You were saying?"

"I said, good evening ladies," Derrick says in a southern drawl as he keeps walking for the open doorway of the cabin.

I follow him, not wanting to look at Dani as I suddenly feel nervous, my foot catching on the doorframe as I nearly fall on my face.

"Bye Elijah...," Dani says in a quiet voice and I feel a pinch of regret for not acknowledging her.

I dart back to the doorway and look out at her as I wave, "Bye Dani."

I duck inside as I work my way through the crowd after Derrick. He waits at the base of the staircase for me before he starts up it. The beer in my system is almost too much as the stairs dip and sway under me, but I push onwards anyways.

We make it to a small landing that branches off into a bedroom as we walk through the open door. Luckily no one is in here as he opens a closet in the corner of the room.

"Do you have your phone?" he asks and I nod as I clumsily pull it out of my pocket.

"Yeah."

"Good, get in the closet."

"What-?"

"Get in the closet."

"Why?"

He shoves me then and my drunken legs buckle as I fall into a stack of beach towels that vaguely smell like sun-block. I blink up at him in confusion as he blankly stares down at me.

"I'm going to go get Olivia, she's probably wondering where I went, when I bring her up here, take a video of us."

"Dude, why?"

"Do you want that basketball scholarship or not?"

That shuts me up for a second as I think about it. I could get a degree with the scholarship, I could get a real job that would help my mother out because I could finally pay off all her bills. Maybe even buy a new house, or have enough money to fix our current one.

I nod and he smiles and shuts the door on my face to reveal that it's a slat-type door with enough gaps that I can see out into the room.

"Just stay in here, shut up, and take the video."

****

I've tried to forget what happened that night and I clamp my eyes shut against the memory as it works its way through my thoughts to poison them.

I barely said anything at all when I 'talked' with the detective, his card sitting on a cardboard box that acts as a table by my bed.

I couldn't have done anything to Derrick.

It just doesn't make sense, I could have sworn that I had been conscious the whole night. But one thing that does make sense is that someone would be angry enough to hurt Derrick.

All I can do to help is convince everyone else that he deserved it.

I reach for my phone as I squint at the number on the detective's card and type it in before I hit the call button.