Peaceful Night

Ruby

Everything started when we were hanging out in Nino's backyard. A true misadventure that lasted a night. His parents had left for some holiday back on the mainland so we had the house for ourselves. We spent all of our time outside, though. As always. We had made a fire in the brasero Nino had built, planning to have a barbecue. Paper lanterns were hanging on the trees around our camp since the beginning of the summer. Our hammocks were waiting for us. It was a warm evening, with crickets singing ; the four of us were together and I couldn't have been more happier.

« Beer ? » I asked, reaching for some bottles in the old blue cooler.

« Yup ! » answered Jesse, a dirty blonde-haired boy, with a wide smile. His hair was kind of always messy. I think he kept them like that on purpose, because it suited him. His eyes were light brown, his lips were thin and he had two dimples. He was wearing a worn out navy blue Gotcha t-shirt, with dolphins on the back.

« Here you go. » I handed out a bottle to him and to my other friends, Nino and Carter. Nino's dad was spanish. Spanish and surfer. Everyone surfed on the island, but his dad was a good one. His son's name was a reference to « El Niño » a Pacific weather system that occured rarely and brought a monstruous swell : every great surfer's dream. Was his son Nino monstruous like the waves ? No, he was calm and thoughtful. Also, he could fix anything. So we'd tease him and call him our handyman. He had shoulder-long curly hair, which matched his hazelnut skin colour. Next to him, was sat Carter. He had jet black hair, his skin was tanned as he spent so much time in the sun. I met these three when I moved to the island with my family, when I was 7 years old. Eleven years later, we still stuck together.

« So, any plans for the weeks to come ? » Carter inquired.

Jesse replied without hesitation « Surfing and kayaking are on for sure ! »

« How about your job at the restaurant ? » I asked.

« I'll do both, who d'you think I am ? »

Nino added « We said we'll help down at the school too... Remember ? »

The night went on as we talked, stuffed our faces with food and goofed around for hours.

Nino

One o'clock in the morning. Everyone was dozzing off. I unplugged the lights and jumped into my hammock, which was hanging inbetween Ruby's and Carter's. The fire was still burning and casted shadows all around us. Suddenly, a voice rose.

« No no please, don't do it. » 

It seemed only a few meters away and my blood froze. Was I the only one who heard it ? Surely my friends weren't asleep yet. Quietly, I called out their names.

« Carter, Ru, Jesse... Did you hear that ? »

« Yeah » they whispered back in unison.

« Shit what's happening, where's it coming from ? »

« I have no idea, do you have your flashlights ? » We all got up but before anyone could move more we heard a shrilling scream.

« It's coming from the cliff. » murmured Ruby. 

We ran towards the wired fence and jumped over, bending it like we did so many times before.

« NOOO. MAN, DON'T. »

BANG.

Oh boy, I can tell you when we heard that we stopped dead in our tracks. Only twenty meters or so separated my garden from the cliffs overlooking the sea. It was a dangerous place, because the trees had grown so thick that you wouldn't guess there was a cliff.

« Guys, that was a fucking gunshot ! » said Jesse in an urging tone. « We can't just go and say 'hi, is someone in trouble ?' »

Then, Carter simply said : « Stop talking Jesse, someone's coming. »

Carter

We were hiding behind the thick trees when I saw a silhouette moving towards us. He was tall, strong and wide-shouldered. I didn't see his face as it was pitch black. We didn't dare turn on our lights. For the second time of the evening, I can assure you we all stopped breathing. We could hear the sounds of the waves crushing against the rocks, ten meters below. The man, I was sure he was a man, by the look of his walk, went right past us and joined the path leading to the street. We waited for a car to leave but we didn't hear it, so we assumed he left by foot. Nino was the first to talk.

« What the heck was that ? Y'all thinking like me, right ? » 

« Murder. » replied Ruby, breathlessly. « That was a cold blood murder. »

Jesse nodded. He was clearly shocked which was destabilizing ; he was the toughest of us all.

« We should call the cops. » I said. Silence. Usually, we weren't the ones to call the cops.

« Okay, I'll go back to Nino's. My phone's there. It'll take me two seconds. » Ruby disappeared.

I looked at my friends, standing still in the dark. Well, tried to. I had an idea.

« I'm going to see if that man's really dead. Whistle if someone's coming. »

Before leaving the thicket and venture onto the grassy cliff, I glanced around. I couldn't see anything, nor hear. I got my lamp out and hid under my shirt so the light wasn't too bright.

I distinguished a figure. Who was it ? Who would've thought things like that would happen on the North Shore ? As I approached, I had a bad feeling about the person... No breathing, blood shining in the moonlight. He was gone. 

Jesse whistled.

Ruby

Once I had my phone, I didn't linger and rushed back to the boys. Unfortunately, someone found me before. As I was walking quickly back to the trees, someone grabbed my arms and put a hand on my mouth. I kicked and bit his disgusting fingers but he didn't let go.

« You'll take me to your friends, I heard you, idiots. » whispered a voice in my ear.

I started walking again, strongly hoping they were seeing all of this from our hiding place. Having trouble to move like that, he added :

« I'll release you but you make one move, one sound... You're the next one I'll shoot dead. » My plan was simple. Take the stranger further down and count on the others to act. Once in the tiny wood, I pretended to call out for my friends.

« Thomas ? Leo ? » I deeply hoped they'd understand. Suddenly, I turned my flashlight, dazzling my aggressor. He didn't have time to react : from behind, Jesse hit him hard with a heavy branch. 

« Quick, come on Ru' ! Run ! » he said, chucking the branch away.

« Where are Carter and Nino ? » I asked, catching up with him.

Before he could reply, I heard footsteps and Nino saying « We're here, let's move ! »

Running as fast as we could, we jumped again over the fences towards the street. Jesse got his keys out and we all jumped into his dad's rusty pickup. The car was old and the engine was slow. 

« GET A MOVE ON ! » I yelled. « Look who's coming ! »

At the other end of the street, the man who got knocked out a few minutes earlier was running towards the car. And he was fast. 

« You can do it. » muttered Jesse to the car.

« Man, he's close ! » said Carter, checking the side mirror.

Finally, the engine roared and we were off. Hopefully, we didn't wake up the entire neighbourhood. No one said anything for a few seconds, then Jesse glanced at us from the inside mirror and started laughing. The pressure disappeared instantly and everyone cracked up in (nearly) hysterical laughs. Funny what stress can do. 

Carter was the first to pull a straight face.

« Hey, listen. We should go the police. We were four witnesses, we can testify. If we don't say anything and they come to us, we won't be able to deny. Plus, they'll find our footprints and we weren't far from the scene... Better be suspects than accused. »

« Yeah, but the step between these two isn't big, Carter. » replied Jesse.

« Hum, there's something I didn't tell you... » I said.

Nino who had been quiet up to this point, looked up.

« What did you do, Ru ? »

After a 50 minutes drive to the sole big city on the island, we knew what we were going to say. We didn't plan one thing though.

« Okay, please wait there. We'll take care of you in a short while. » said an old man, waving at a few chairs near his desk.

It was around half two in the morning now and the police department was calm. Only a few officers were on duty. We sat on plastic chairs in the entrance and waited. When a door would open, one of us would look up, hoping someone was coming for us. After waiting twenty minutes, a woman in her early fifties came towards us.

« Hi, we're ready for you. I'm Officer Gray. Follow me. »

Leading us to a small and narrow room near the entrance of the building, she added :

« My colleague is Officer Boro. We'll both be asking questions. »

She opened the door and we saw him. 

His large hairy arms leaning on the table, looking neat and peaceful : the man we'd seen an hour before, the murderer.

What happened afterwards ? Well, it's history. History for us four, I mean.

Jesse pretended he was sick and in need of the bathroom. He grasped the door handle, as if he couldn't stand on his feet.

« Are you alright, young man ? » asked Officer Gray. « Boro, you take him to the restrooms. Make sure he's okay. » Officer Boro stood up and walked out with Jesse, who winked discreetly at us. For a few seconds, I feared that something could have happened to him while he was with the madman... But it was Jesse. He was clever.

« Right, you three. Let's get started. »

We sat down in front of Officer Gray.

« Tell me everything which happened tonight. One thing at a time, in chronological order. »

Carter explained everything and finished by saying. « You need to believe us, we haven't done anything. »

Officer Gray looked straight at him and said « And how can I be certain of that ? »

My turn. I took my phone out of my jean pocket. « We have something. I recorded it at exactly 1:27 am. You can hear the person who did it and I'm sure you'll recognize his voice. »

« You'll take me to your friends, I heard you, idiots. »

« I'll release you but you make one move, one sound... You're the next one I'll shoot dead. »

Jesse

Coming back from the restroom, I could feel the man walking next to me was tensed. Who wouldn't be, tho ? Four kids show up when you're killing someone and everything goes up in air. I'll always remember the moment we entered the interview room and the look Officer Gray gave him : she looked disgusted.

We'd done it.