After his fit of rage stopped he turned and rushed toward me. He wrapped his arms around me and cried into my neck. He mumbled things I couldn’t interpret until I heard one coherent sentence.
“I look like my mum’s murderer.”
I didn’t know what to say. Calm down seemed stupid. How could he be calm? Shhh, seemed trivial given the circumstances. I settled on.
“It’s going to be okay.” Those were just as bad as their predecessors but I couldn’t really think straight. His pain was my pain and I was feeling it deep in my soul.
Jagger pushed away from me and grabbed a chair. He lifted the chair over his head and hurled it at the window. It went crashing threw the glass. I stood there speechless. Before I could blink Jagger rushed down the stairs and out of my sight. I wiped my face and followed him. I didn’t see him but I heard him running down the steps.
I followed the sounds down to the first floor. I came upon Jagger, Linda, and Joann standing at the open front door. Linda had a basket of flowers in her hand. Joann was looking at me. Mandy had grabbed one of her dolls. She ran past me up the stairs.
“What’s going on here? Did you two have a fight?” Joann asked.
“Jagger, there’s a broken chair that’s been chucked out of a window,” Linda noted what I already witnessed.
Jagger stood calmly and that gave me more worry than it should have.
“Linda, Daniel Paul murdered my mum.” He was clenching his teeth with every word.
“Yea, that’s public record. He’s in prison for a category A offense.” The nervousness in her voice gave her away.
“Is, Daniel Paul, my bio, biological—” Jagger couldn’t get the rest of the words out and I didn’t blame him. When Linda didn’t speak, Jagger yelled. “I found the bloody suicide letter!”
“Listen, Peter, he’s your dad. He loved you. He loved your mum. He took you on your first trolley ride.”
“I! Don’t! Give a fuck! About a trolley ride!” Jagger’s voice rattled throughout the room. I held my balled fist to my chest.
“Jagger!” Linda cried out his name like that would be enough to ease his pain.
“You’re a fucking liar!”
“Now calm down,” Joann mumbled calmly.
“You, shut the fuck up!” Spittle spewed from his lips. He was foaming at the mouth. I didn’t know what to do and standing frozen on the rug seemed to be my only course of action. I didn’t even remember walking all the way down the steps.
Jagger reached into the bowl on the table. He grabbed the SUV keys and rushed out the front door leaving us all standing there in utter disbelief.
He was gone. We heard him pull away from the property. He was in no condition to drive. My heart was aching. My throat was scratchy. My eyes were itching.
“Oh gosh, Katrina, I’m sorry.” Linda was talking to me. “He’ll cool off. We can call him on his mobile. He’ll be back.”
What made her so sure? I’d never seen Jagger blow up like this. Had she? I was sure he didn’t have his cell phone on him. Calling him wasn’t possible. I was stuck out here without him. He was stuck out there without me. I was worried. This wasn’t a normal bad day. Everything happened so fast. I wasn’t prepared for this. I wanted him back here with me. Out there anything could happen.
“I’m going to pack our stuff up.” I found something to say.
“No, you don’t have too. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to keep it from him forever. I just didn’t want to ruin anything he had going on in his life.”
“I understand.” I turned and made my way up the stairs. I could hear Linda crying distance and Joann trying to console her.
I passed Mandy’s bedroom and peeked in. She was sitting on the bed with headphones over her ears. I went to the room and packed my things. I packed Jagger’s things too. I didn’t know if he was coming back. I didn’t know what to do. Go back to the hotel was an option. I could call an Uber or something but what if he returned and I wasn’t here for him.
I sat on the bed for a few minutes and tried to figure out my next move. The cell phone, he spiked it somewhere in the attic but where? I got up and went to the attic to look for it.
I found the phone in a corner. The screen wasn’t cracked at all. The clear case was also intact. The crash made a lot of noise but didn’t seem to do any real damage. I took his cell back to the bedroom. The face recognition was denied right away but I knew the code.
I didn’t know whom to call. I was going to wait an hour and reach out to someone. Maybe Jagger would return. Once the time ran out and no Jagger I called Winston. I didn’t want too but perhaps he’d heard from him.
“Hello, Winston. It’s Katrina.”
“You have Jag’s cell.”
“He left it.”
“Left it?”
“At his aunt Linda’s house. Have you seen him or heard from him?”
“No, why? Is he missing or something?”
“He left here sort of pissed.”
“At you?”
“No, at his aunt. He found this suicide note his father left for him. He didn’t take it well and I’m worried about him.”
“What note? There was never a suicide note?”
“It was hidden away in Linda’s attic. He snapped. He’s very upset.”
“Bloody fuck! So he just took off?”
“Yes, but I don’t know where. I’m really worried. He doesn’t have his cell phone on him.”
“I’ll be there to pick you up. We can go look for him together.”
“Okay, thanks Winston.”
I couldn’t say I felt better. I didn’t feel anything but concern.
Chapter 33
KATRINA
I hoped Winston was really on his way. When he pulled
