Gemma knew she had to do it. There was no one else who could. But no one knew how difficult this would be for her. Still, it had to be done before the new tenants moved in. This was her last chance. Walking through Gran’s old house, now devoid of furniture and memories, she decided to be as quick as she could. ‘Make it quick and painless’ Gran used to say, of something that was difficult. And this certainly was. But Gran had no idea what had really happened down there on that fateful day so many years ago. Gemma knew. She had been down here playing hide and seek with her brother, Benny. She had seen it all. But she had never told anyone
about it. Not Gran. Not her Mother. Not even Benny. No one.
As she turned the light on, she hesitated before slowly descending the stairs to the concrete floor below. The air still felt a little cooler than anywhere else in the house. It would get colder the further anyone walked. But, she wasn’t going that way. She had to pick up a box of family photos and journals in the opposite corner. But, something compelled her to look back that way, to the place that held the worst memories she still had nightmares about. She could see him standing there, just a few feet from where she stood now. Her Uncle Graham – a man whom she had loved so much, and he loved her and her sister, Julie, so much, like his own children. He was funny, smart, and so very handsome, and so kind.
But, that day, his kind blue eyes turned steely dark with hatred, as he aimed a gun at a young man she’d never seen before. Blonde curly hair. Thin build. About Julie’s age. But she had no clue who he was or why he was here. Angry words were shouted between them. Threats if the young man didn’t leave Julie alone. The boy held his hand up in defense, trying to back away. Then the gun went off. It echoed so loudly she thought the whole street would hear. But no one did. The boy fell to the floor, screaming in agony. Then was suddenly silent. Graham reached down to touch his neck, and shook his head.
Gemma froze and held her breath, from her vantage point behind a tall stack of boxes, where she’d hid from Benny. She didn’t know if he’d shoot her too if he heard her, so she stayed quiet as a mouse. Working fast, Graham grabbed a large rug from the back of his truck, and rolled the boy into it, then picked it up and threw it back onto the truck, like a sack of potatoes. He got into his truck, revved the engine, reversing as the garage doors opened, and he sped off.
As the garaged doors slammed shut, Gemma stayed where she was for a moment. In case he came back. But he never did. In fact, she never saw him again.
She walked over to the spot where they’d stood, and saw a large pool of dark red blood on the cement floor. She turned and run upstairs and never came back to Gran’s house again.
Until today.
As she stood there recalling it all, she now knew that Graham had gone to jail for killing Seth Peterson. Seth’s only crime had been to ask Gemma’s sister, Julie, out on a date. She had liked him, and had told her mother, just as Graham had walked by. He had warned her against going out with ‘boys like that!’. But, she had laughed at him, because Seth was such a nice boy. She was going to the movies with him on the weekend. But, Seth was dead by then. Gemma could still see a faint spot of red where Seth had fallen that day, some twenty-five years ago. She walked back to where the box sat, picked it up, and walked up the stairs and through the house, one last time, then drove home.
She would never tell Julie what she had seen.
