His to take

Flashback

Nathaniel

I looked at the burning house in tears. It was not me. It was not me. It was not me. I repeated it to myself like a mantra. I knew I wasn’t the one who had done it but why did nobody believe me? Mrs. Delaney was on the floor beside me crying for her husband who was still trapped in the house. She suddenly turned to me and grabbed me by the collar

“Why did you do it? How could you do this?” She asks amidst tears

“It wasn’t me” I cried “It wasn’t me”

“You are lying. Why did you do it? He was your teacher. He loved you like a son” She said

“I am sorry” I apologized and she must have taken my apology to mean something else because her eyes cleared

“You killed my husband and you’re sorry? My son is in the E.R and you’re sorry? What does your sorry have to do with me?!” She yelled

“I didn’t do it” I told her again”

“You didn’t do it then what are you sorry for?” She asks

I was sorry I didn’t notice the fire in time. I was sorry I panicked as I watched the flames lick up the house. I was sorry that I couldn’t warn the others. I was sorry that when they were saving me, I couldn’t tell them there were other people just next door. I was sorry for a lot of things but once again, my mouth refused to open.

When the fire man came out, she ran to him but he was not holding her husband. Instead he was holding the only person who was in the room with me. He knows I didn’t start the fire. He was in the room when I got there. He had been the one who called the 911 and then he had tried to leave through the backdoor. Somewhere in my muddled mind, I wondered how he was still in the house. The medics ran to collect him from the fire man and they started their work

“Where is Arthur?” Mrs. Delaney asked and the fireman shook his head

“We couldn’t find him”

“What do you mean you couldn’t find him?” She wondered “He was in the library” She turned to me with question in her eyes “Wasn’t he?”

“He was” I managed to get out shakily

“He was not” The voice came from behind me and I turned to look at the person on the bed

“Yes he was. He was in the library with Sol” I said. He was. He was.

“He was in the bathroom sir” He told the fireman who looked my way before relaying the message to the speaker

“Which bathroom?” The fireman asked

“The one on the first floor by the left” He told the fireman and I watched wondering what was happening

“They found him” The fireman told Mrs. Delaney then made a run for the building

“So you set the house on fire and you still don’t want to tell us where he is so we can save him? You are a horrible human. Why? Why?” She repeated and I watched the woman who used to bake me cookies every Sunday look at me with a vile hatred

“I didn’t do it. Tell them I didn’t do it” I cried

“Yes you did. He did. I saw him” The boy answered with conviction