That evening, Josh and I led Hallie and Jess through the crowded
restaurant to the special “party room” in the back that we had reserved for the
whole group of us, which totaled thirteen – my family, Heidi, Chad, and their
kids, Brian, Leighanne, and Sean, AJ, and Derrick Randall, one of Hallie’s
friends, who was supposedly going out with Abby or something.
We had pushed two big tables together to make one larger table
that would seat all of us. Chad, Heidi, Sonny, and Abby were already
there when we got there.
“Hey, guys,” I said, giving Heidi a cheerful smile. She smiled back, but I could tell it was
forced. I knew something was wrong. I just wasn’t sure what that something
was.
“Here, Abby. Happy early
birthday,” Hallie said, smiling at Heidi’s daughter as she handed her a small,
wrapped box.
“Here’s mine too,” Jess added, handing her a gift bag.
“Aw, thanks guys,” Abby said, accepting the gifts and smiling at
them.
Just then, Brian, Leighanne, and Sean walked into the room.
“Are we late?” Brian asked.
“Nope, you’re right on time,” Chad replied. “Jules and Josh just got here, and we’re just
waiting on AJ and Derrick now.”
“God, I can’t wait to see AJ.
It’s been a few years now, hasn’t it?” Brian asked, sitting down beside
his wife and son.
“Here, Abs. Hope you like
it,” Sean said, handing Abby his present, which he had obviously wrapped by
himself.
“Thanks, Sean,” she replied, grinning at him.
AJ was the next one to get there.
“Hey, wassup, people?!” he cried, breaking into a wide grin.
“Bone!” Brian shouted, jumping up from the table to hug his
friend.
“Hey, AJ!” I said. “How was
your trip? Did you find the restaurant
okay?”
“Fine, and yup,” he replied, chuckling as he made his way around
the table, saying hi and hugging everyone.
He finally took a seat on the other side of Brian.
“God, it’s great to see you all again,” he commented happily. “Sean, you look just like your dad, you know that?”
Sean grinned. He really
did look a lot like Brian, with his wavy hair and sparkling blue eyes.
“And Sonny, man, you’ve grown up.
You had barely hit puberty last time I saw you,” AJ laughed. “And Hallie, you too. You just get prettier every time I see you,
you know that? I can still remember
when you were just a newborn.”
A lump rose in my throat as he said that, remembering the days
following Hallie’s birth. Those had been
some of the hardest times of my life.
Hallie had been born very premature, and the doctors were uncertain she
would make it. And at the same time,
Sammy had died, one of the worst experiences I had ever gone through.
I hadn’t known her for very long, but she quickly had become one
of the best friends I had ever had.
“And you two,” AJ continued, looking at Jess and Abby, who were
sitting beside each other. “You’ve
grown up too.”
We all listened with smiles on our faces as he went on and
on. It was Derrick’s arrival that
finally broke up the reunion.
“Hey, y’all, sorry I’m late,” he apologized, striding over to
Abby’s seat and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. Then he handed her a small box.
Abby blushed. “Thank you,
Derrick,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” he replied and sat down in the one last empty
chair.
“AJ, this is Abby’s new friend, Derrick Randall. And Derrick, this is one of our friends, AJ
McLean,” Chad introduced.
Derrick nodded politely, as AJ said, “Nice to meet you, Derrick.”
A couple of waitresses came in to take all of our orders. While we waited for our food, we all talked
to one another. I tried to keep a
conversation going with Heidi, but that was tough. She seemed so depressed, and I had no idea
why. I knew that this was around the
time that her first husband Sonny had died, but it was not like her to act like
that anymore.
Hallie and Jess were acting sort of strange too. Jess talked to Abby and Sean, and Hallie
talked to Sonny and Derrick, but they weren’t as animated and happy as they
usually were. They had been acting like
that all day, especially after they had gotten home from the mall, but I hadn’t
had a chance to ask them what was up. I
hoped nothing was wrong.
***
After dinner, Derrick headed home, and the rest of us went over to
Chad and Heidi’s house to hang out and talk, reminisce with AJ.
When Heidi went into the kitchen to pour drinks, I offered to
help, eager to get her alone.
“Heidi, what’s wrong?” I asked, once we were by ourselves in the
kitchen.
“What do you mean?” she asked softly, getting glasses out of the
cupboard.
“You’ve been acting really strange lately. Sort of depressed, I guess. What’s wrong?”
Heidi sighed and put the glasses down on the counter. She bent over for a moment, letting her dark
hair fall into her face, her back to me.
I came around beside her and rested a hand on her back. “Heidi?” When she glanced at me, I saw that
tears had filled her eyes. “What is it?”
I pressed. “What happened?”
She let out a shaky breath and led me out of the kitchen and into
the small study. She went to the desk
that the computer sat on and opened a drawer.
Fishing around in it, she pulled out a white envelope and handed it to
me.
There was a stamp and her address on it, but no return
address. The address was typed too, not
handwritten. When I opened the
envelope, I saw the backs of some photos and took them out. I turned them over to look at the top one…
and I gasped in horror.
It was dark in the picture, but I could still tell what it was
of. It was a picture of the elder Sonny,
lying crumpled on the ground, blood covering the front of his shirt.
I suddenly felt the urge to vomit.
I gagged and covered my hand with my mouth, taking deep breaths as I
fought it back.
“Oh my God,” I choked out, tears rising in my eyes. I quickly flipped over the photos so I
didn’t have to look anymore and shoved them back in the envelope. I looked at Heidi, who was crying silently.
“I got them last week… on the anniversary of Son-… well, when it
happened,” she said softly.
“Oh, God, Heidi,” I cried.
“Who could have taken these?”
“Well, I think that’s an obvious one,” she said bitterly, and I
knew she meant it had to be Justin or Britney.
They were the ones who had murdered Sonny, after all.
“But where would someone get these to send them to you? And why, after all these years?”
“I don’t know,” she sighed.
“I just hope it’s meant to scare us, not a warning of what’s to
come. Things have been happening, you
know. Sonny’s accident… Hallie’s
car… I just hope it’s all one big
coincidence.”
I nodded, suddenly remembering my conversation with Nick earlier
that day. “You’re not the only one who’s
gotten something like this,” I said softly.
She looked up sharply.
“Have you-?”
“No. But Nick has,” I replied.
Her eyes widened. “Of… of
Sammy?” she whispered.
I nodded tearfully. “He
called this morning and told me,” I replied.
“Oh my God. Who could be so
heartless to do this?” she sobbed angrily.
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe we should call the police or something.”
I shrugged. “I don’t
know. I don’t think it’s anything
serious. You know, someone probably came
across these and just decided to get a rise out of us by sending them. Justin’s dead now; nothing can happen to us.”
I’m not sure if I really believed that, but comforting Heidi was
my main concern at that point. Little
did I know how wrong I was.
***