Chapter Four
The Reply
The next day after their classes, and chores, the two visited a few different shops, to break up their money like before and this time buy two sturdy but small metal box containers, including a small hand shovel from a gardening shop. While Dorothy found the place interesting, Cap seemed bored out of his mind. Oddly enough one of many things Dorothy admired about the boy. They went back to the bridge, digging a hole on the side of the big rock before shoving one of the small containers into it. Stuffing it full of their earnings, they closed it and covered it up with dirt, and a patch of grass. Taking out a pencil and paper, Cap pressed against the rock and began to write.
“Is this cookie poisonous?” Dorothy read from over his shoulder.
“Yep, gonna ask the ghosts,” Cap said with an ear-to-ear grin.
“Or aliens! Most likely aliens,” She said, her gaze snapping from side to side, trying to spot a ghost that may or may not be hiding in the bushes or peeking from behind a tree.
“Yeah, yeah just go hide the other container. We’re putting the cigarettes, and the shovel in that one. Put the extra money in there too.”
“S-sure,” She said, hesitantly.
Luckily it was still somewhat light out as she went three trees deep to the left of the dirt road. Shoving it between the thick roots of a tree, she covered the spot with a few leaves before making it back over to Cap.
“I put it under some leaves at the base of a tree. The third tree that way,” She said.
“Got it. What’d ya think?” Cap asked as he showed her what he wrote. “Is this cookie poisonous? Yes or No. And are you a Ghost or an Alien? With check-boxes to make things simple,” Placing the paper on the rock, he pulled out the cookie wrapped in a cloth handkerchief, setting it delicately on top before stepping back next to Dorothy.
“If I see ghost checked, I’m never coming back here,” She said as a matter of fact.
Cap glanced over at the sundial they left there yesterday, showing that it was around five pm.
“Think we have enough for a watch?”
Dorothy stood there watching the rock intently. Her gaze flickered from paper to cookie a few times as she became lost in thought.
“That… depends… if we want a good one or not,” She replied absentmindedly. The question finally clicked in her head. Placing her knuckles on her hips, she focused her frown in his direction. “A watch? What’s wrong with my sundial?”
“Well for starters it’s a sundial,” He said, with raised eyebrows.
She grunted, looking back towards the rock.
“… I think Mabel’s gonna die. I wasn’t able to get the cookie from her,” She whispered.
“You said so yourself, the both of them may just be sick. Also, Jack was bragging about how he’s not a virgin anymore. So I’m partially right about them touching ass.”
“He’s a piece of shit that got lucky, that’s all. Doesn’t change nothin’,” Hearing her say that gave Cap goosebumps. A reminder of why she was his best friend. “The sisters made it clear that I wasn’t allowed to try any of her food. Even asking me if I did after I left the room. How about you?”
“No, nothin’ like that,” He said.
“That right there makes me suspicious.”
“Hey,” The familiar voice called out to them from behind. They quickly turned to see only one teenage boy from yesterday but this time he had something in his right hand. The boy slowly pointed it in Cap and Dorothy’s direction. “Give me back the cigarettes or I’m gonna put a hole in your head,” He demanded.
“I… I don’t have them on me,” Cap said softly, finding it a tad hard to speak.
“I-In the woods. We put them in the woods,” Dorothy said.
“Take me,” The teen said, quickly aiming at Cap when Dorothy turned. “He’s gonna take me. If you take another step, I’ll just shoot him and have my father hide his body. He’s good at that kind of stuff you know.”
Dorothy stood there her head spinning while her legs felt like they were gonna give out any moment. She watched Cap lead him into the woods. It wasn’t uneven ground with lots of naturally grown vines and bushes, causing the two to walk slower. Even when the two were out of sight, the teen’s warning rang in her head, acting as a verbal lock for her feet. It was violently replaced with the sound of a gunshot. She flinched, her eyes immediately filling up with tears she’d been fighting back until now. Gritting her teeth she ran after them, screaming her friend’s name. Another gunshot rang out, as a mix of rage, and fear filled her thoughts, fueling her with an extra burst of adrenaline. Dorothy strained her voice going from yelling her friend’s name to simply yelling. Her shouting tapered off into a small whimper, panting as she came into view of two bodies on the ground. Taking a moment, she saw the teenager lying flat on his face with Cap sitting back on the ground, gun in hand. He slowly locked eyes with her, trembling harder as he fought to hold back tears. In the end, he failed and wept.
The two of them remained balled up together, embracing one another on the ground for what seemed like hours. Dorothy couldn’t stop herself from trembling. But more importantly, no matter how tight she hugged him, Cap wouldn’t stop either. This was more than just upsetting because she had never seen him like this before, and wished she never did. Enraged because the one that caused this was already dead, and she had no one to take her anger out on. At some point, she wasn’t sure if she was shaking with fear or rage. Dorothy had used the small hand shovel to hide the body, gathering random flora to cover up the fresh soil. She even managed to find the two bullet casings. It took some time to do all that but she was tempted to dig him up and stomp his face in.
“Come on,” She whispered, slowly lifting her friend to his feet, and guiding him from the woods. Back on the dirt road, she tried to guide him back home to the orphanage but felt him resisting her. Still holding his trembling hand, she looked back into his wide empty eyes that stayed focused on the ground as if it was the most important thing in the world. Dorothy’s gaze remained on his face for a bit longer before slowly looking past him towards the rock. “That’s right… we almost forgot,” She said with a shaky tone in her voice. He finally moved his feet when she began guiding him back towards the rock. The cookie was gone, though the note remained, and like before, two stacks of hundred dollar bills resting on top. Pocketing the money, Dorothy slowly slid the note from the stone, and read it in the moonlight.
