First of the Gang to Die

Chapter Three: Telling Vanessa

The next morning, I called in sick to work to stay at home with Alex. He kept saying he didn't need me there, but I know he did. The house was silent. We barely spoke, the TV was off, just the ear-splitting silence of not knowing what to say. Alex finally broke the quiet.

"I've got to call my mom, you know," he said. "She has to know. I can't just leave her in the dark on this."

I left the room when he picked up the phone. I knew this was going to be painful for him, but having me there listening to the conversation wasn't going to help. He needed to be alone for this, and I knew it.

I could still hear bits and pieces over the phone. I heard him tell his mother to sit down. The next thing I heard was him apologizing to her. Begging her to stop crying... telling her to lower her voice. More apologizing, more crying.

About 45 minutes later, the phone call had ended and he numbly shuffled his way into the kitchen, made himself a glass of water and begun to drink it as if he had never had water before. I looked over at him and raised my eyebrows, as if to say, "do you want to talk about it?"

He quietly said, "She knows. She knows everything."

He then, threw his glass against the wall. It shattered into a million shards all over the kitchen. I had to shield my face from the debris. When I moved my hands away from my face, Alex had slumped to the floor. He was crying so much, he had begun to hyperventilate.

I went over to him. We sat in the middle of the kitchen floor. I had his head, again, cradled in my lap.

He cried himself to sleep...again. Or had just passed out from exhaustion.

I still hadn't cried at all.