The Cursed High School Reunion

Chapter 7

“Mom, what are you doing right now?” Marsha asked as soon as her mother answered the phone, her head leaned into her hand.

“I am sitting with my neighbor, Jane. Why? What’s wrong? Are the boys okay?” her mother asked, concerned by the sound of Marsha’s voice.

“Do you remember our friend, Curtis from high school?” Marsha asked.

“Wasn’t he the theatre kid?” her mother asked.

“Yes, ma’am. He was,” Marsha answered.

“Yeah, I remember him. What about him? How are his parents doing? That entire family are sweethearts,” her mother said.

“His parents got divorced a couple of years ago. After his baby sister graduated high school,” Marsha told her, trying to keep her voice even.

“Oh, dear. That is such a shame,” her mother said. “So, what did you want to tell me about Curtis?”

“Curtis was found murdered in his apartment last night, mom,” Marsha said, her voice finally cracking as a tear ran down her cheek.

“What?!” her mother almost screamed into the phone.

“Yeah, I just got off the phone with my friend, Tasha. She is the one that saw it on the news this morning. Do you think that you could ride over to his mother’s house and check on her. I know that you guys were good friends when we were all in school. She is still living in the same house where we had all the pool parties,” Marsha said in a rush, trying to say what she needed to before she started sobbing.

“Oh my god. Of course, I will head over there right now. Have they caught whoever did it?” her mother asked, her voice thick with sadness.

“No, they haven’t. They are baffled by something. Mom, he was drowned in the middle of his living room,” Marsha said, fighting to not cry.

“What? How is that possible?” her mother asked, completely shocked.

“I don’t know, but Tasha said that she would keep me posted with any news that she finds out. But I am sure that you will probably find out before I do if you are going over to his mom’s house,” Marsha said.

“That is true. Does Mike know yet?” her mother asked.

“No, ma’am. He left right before Tasha called me. I am going to wait until he gets home for lunch to tell him,” Marsha said, smiling half-heartedly at the boys who were doing silly little flips and spins.

“That’s probably a good idea. Well, I am going to get ready to head over to his mom’s house right now. I love you, Marsha,” her mother said.

“I love you too, mom,” Marsha said. Then she hung up the phone and just stared at it for a minute.

How was she going to tell Mike that one of his best friends was dead? And not just dead, but murdered in his own home? she thought to herself.

She was sitting and contemplating this for a while as she watched the boys playing with their toys when she received a text from Mike. She sighed as she read it.

‘Sorry, babe. But I won’t be home for lunch. I forgot the inspectors were coming today.’

At least now I have time to think of a way to tell him what happened. She thought as she took a toy truck that Ryan was offering her.