One Pink Balloon

It was an unusually cold afternoon in the city of Brisbane where Cassie, Thomas, Sebastian and Adam had crowded together under the school building during lunchtime.

“Hey, where did Scott run off to after English?” Cassie asked.

“He gave me a huge hug and said he was going home” duckie replied with a mouth full of hot dog. Thomas laughed at him and smiled.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full” he spoke before hugging his best friend. “Don’t worry Cazza, I’m sure he’s okay”

”I hope so” she said as she looked across the school grounds. She thought about Scott and what was going on with him and little Angelo, their son who was at first the consequence of a broken condom, but had turned into more. He looked exactly like his father down to the eyes, which had locked her in to begin with.

“Cazza?” Adam said awakening her from her daydream.

“Yeah, sorry” she blushed as he helped her up of the ground.

“It’s time for art, are you sure your okay?” he questioned his worried friend. Her body was slightly shaking and her eyes seemed dull.

“I’m not sure, I’m just worried. It’s unlike Scott to just run off after a class”

“I know, but did he talk to you afterwards?” Adam enquired.

“Yeah, he gave me like a huge hug and told me he loved me and Angelo to the fullest”

“Well don’t sweat baby, I’m sure he just needed a breather” Adam said as they entered the art room together. Cazza tried to shake off the feeling in her heart but it stayed with her all through class. When the final bell rung Cazza decided she’d pick Angelo up from day care early and go check on Scott. Adam, Sebastian, Cazza and Scott all lived in a small house together so they could help one another with little Angelo. Adam and Sebastian were waiting in the car for her when she walked out of the day care centre with Angelo crying and sobbing.

“What’s wrong little man?” Adam asked when she tried to fasten him into his baby chair.

“I don’t know, his teacher said he’d been really unhappy for about an hour or so”

“Don’t worry Cazza, we’ll take care of him whilst you and Scott talk, okay?” Sebastian said as Adam drove down the hill towards their house.

“Sure thing..” she sighed. The pain in her heart grew stronger as they neared home and Angelo cried even more. Cazza took this as a sign that Scott was in trouble or even worse.

“Hey, give me a minute okay?” she asked the two boys as they got out of the car with her.

“Sure babe, just make sure he’s happy” Sebastian said with a smile. As Cazza went up the stairs she couldn’t hear anything, no TV, no Xbox and no computer.

“That’s weird’ she thought as she turned the key in the lock and entered the house. She looked in the kitchen and their bedroom before she noticed the bathroom door was closed. The pain in her heart grew stronger with every step she took towards the door until she finally opened it…

Chapter one-when friends mean everything.

“T-t-Tommy??” Cazza asked.

“Cazza, what’s wrong?” Thomas asked as he pulled over on the side of the road. He turned his car off so he could hear his friend better.

“I-I-I nee-e-d you t-t-o me-e-t m-m-e at-t the ho-o-spit-tal. Please?” she managed. Thomas could hear Angelo crying in the background.

“Cazza what is going on?” he asked with a stern tone.

“It-t’s s-s-scot-t-t. j-j-just p-l-lease me-e-et me th-th-there” she managed before Adam got on the phone.

“Thomas, we seriously need someone, please?” he choked. Thomas could tell his friends had been crying and feared the worst as he put his car into first gear.

“I’m on my way, hang on” he said as Adam hung up. Thomas wondered what was going on so he drove over the speed limit to get to the hospital. Cazza wouldn’t have been that upset if he’d accidentally hurt himself or got into a fight with her so he rushed as fast as he could.

When he arrived at the royal Brisbane hospital he saw his friends cars and parked with them before racing toward the hospital emergency entrance. Through the doors he could see his friends all red-eyed and huddled together. When he ran in Cazza automatically ran to his arms and held onto him tightly.

“Cazza, what’s wrong?” he asked as she looked up at him.

“Sco-o-t-t. He-he, he tr-r-i-ied to k-k-il-l-l him-him-s-e-lf” she managed before bursting out in tears again. Thomas held his broken up friend and sat her down.

“Cazza, he’s going to be okay..” Thomas trailed off. Sebastian and Adam looked at him.

“You didn’t see him. There was blood everywhere, cuts to his wrists and arms, chest and stomach. He’s mobile was lying on the ground with my message opened”

“Breathe..” Thomas said to his friend as a doctor approached them.

“Are you Cassandra Bratby, Mr. Wilson’s…” the doctor trailed.

“Fiancée” she finished for him. He smiled and knelt down beside her.

“Look, I’m sorry to tell you this, but…” he sighed as he saw the tears grow in her eyes. “..your fiancée passed away a few moments ago” he finished as Cazza cried onto Thomas’s shoulder again causing Angelo to cry out in frustration.

“I’m sorry for your lose but your able to see him if you wish, say goodbye..” the doctor asked. Cazza looked at him then Thomas.

“Can I take someone with me?” she questioned.

“I’m sure you can, this is a special circumstance..” he trailed off as she picked up Angelo and motioned for Thomas to follow her. The doctor showed them to an emergency room and stepped back. Cazza stood for a moment before looking at her lover. He was still drenched in blood and his body looked limp. Thomas held onto Angelo as she walked over and kissed Scott’s hand one more time before she broke down in tears. Thomas walked over to her and led her away from him; he was staying strong for his best friend although tears were escaping onto his cheeks. When they both walked over to Adam and Sebastian they held Cazza in their arms and kissed her forehead.

“Cassie!” cried Scott’s mother as she ran toward her son’s lover and took her into her arms. “Where’s my baby?” she cried.

“H-h-e’s… gone” Cazza choked. Scott’s mother automatically cried and hugged Cazza close.

“I’m sorry..” Cazza spoke as the doctor took Scott’s mother to see her son before they took him out of the emergency department. Thomas handed Angelo to her and put his arms around her. She kissed the top of Angelo’s head and breathed in.

“What went wrong..” she sighed as two police officers arrived. They looked at the grieving teens and approached them.

“We need to speak with miss Bratby?” they asked.

“That’s me..” Cazza said with a timid voice. They smiled at her and introduced themselves.

“I’m officer O’Neil and my partner is officer Connors. We were the officers who attended the scene of your fiancées accident, now we need to ask a few questions if you feel alright..” the officer spoke. Cazza stood up and sighed.

“Yes, I can answer some questions” she said as she followed the police officers into one of the emergency ward offices and sat down with Angelo still in her arms.

“We’ll just see if we can get his mother in here with you just to see if she knows anything..” Officer O’Neil said. Cazza nodded her head and waited for his mother. When she entered her mascara was on her cheeks and she looked at least a decade older.

“Now, we just have to ask a few questions when it comes to this.. Please let me know if you can’t go on..” he spoke. Cazza nodded and looked at Angelo.

“Was you fiancée in any trouble with school, friends… that kind of thing?”

“No, not that I knew about..” Cazza trailed off. The officer looked at her hand, which was wrapped firmly around Angelo’s.

“Who is this gorgeous one?” officer O’Neil asked her. Cazza sniffed and smiled.

“Angelo, our darling son” she frowned again as she kissed the top of his head.

“Well, Officer Connors, could you just go with the doctor who tried to treat Mr. Wilson and look over…” he trailed off. His fellow officer nodded his head and left before he continued. “Now, when we searched your fiancée’s, surroundings, we didn’t find anything sharp that could have caused his injuries…”

“What?” Cazza exclaimed. “What are you saying?” she said even more confused.

“He didn’t do this to himself…” the officer sighed. “We believe someone helped him or they did it” he frowned as Scott’s mother began to break down again. Cazza held her as Officer Connors returned with a piece of paper. After discussing something with O’Neil outside they both returned with interested looks on their faces.

“Who would “Cazza” be?” they asked. Scott’s mother looked at Cazza and frowned.

“I’m Cazza” Cazza spoke with a tremble.

“And you know who “duckie” is?”

“Yes, that’s my friend. Why?” Cazza asked confused.

“Would you follow me?” officer O’Neil asked. Cazza stood up and followed the two officers to the room where Scott lay. They walked over to beside him and turned over his wrists one by one. Cazza pushed her hair from her face and stood shocked…

Chapter two-the aftermath in the schoolyard.

When Cazza walked into school a day later she felt a sudden wave of emotion hit her. She once spent her day here, with Scott, talking about the future and how everything was going to be okay. She pushed Angelo in his pram and watched all the students go on with their day. She was there for one reason, to tell her peers about the tragedy which was unfolding in her and her peer’s lives. She walked to b block, her friends and her own little spot, to meet with Thomas, Sebastian and Adam so they could walk with her to the year 12 assembly that was surely going to be bad. When they sat down she looked across the room and noticed some of the jock guys laughing and joking around. Some girls were complaining about being disrupted from their morning gossip sessions.

“Students, teachers and friends” the deputy, ms hedges, began. “I have called you here to express my deepest sorrows and apologies to the lives of those who this information is going to tear apart, but I have some very hurtful news for you all. One of your peers was involved in an accident yesterday, which sadly took his life. Now I say accident in the case that the police are still questioning whether he committed the act of suicide or if someone helped him, or if someone in this very room committed the act of murder” ms hedges stopped noticing the look on Cazza’s face.

“I’m sorry to inform you that the student was Scott Wilson and that he left behind his fiancée, Cassandra Bratby and his 12 month old son, Angelo. Now, we do not wish you to bombard miss Bratby or her friends with questions about Mr Wilson, but you are to support her through this tragic time”

“Can I say something ms?” Cazza asked from the back of the room. Everyone turned and looked at her, their eyes on her. She could feel more than one guilty stare and she tried to look around and find out whom it was.

“If you want to..” ms hedges trailed off as Cazza approached the front of the room.

“So, your probably all wondering, why do we care that some teen who ruined her life at 16 by having a child has now lost her future partner and the father of her child. Well you know what? I know Scott didn’t do this. I know he didn’t take his own life and LASTLY, I know somebody helped him. There’s some guilty stares in this room and I regret to inform you that I will find out whom they belong to and I swear to god you will regret it” she said before leaving. Thomas, Sebastian and Adam followed her as well as a lot of other friends. The hour after was painful, from close friends to teachers came and said sorry, hugged her or wiped away her tears.

“Cazza, I’m so sorry…” Joshua spoke. He looked her in the eyes and wiped away a tear from her cheek.

“It’s okay..” she frowned.

“No, it’s not. You’ve just lost someone so close to you.. How can it be okay?” he said angrily. “How can it be okay when I think I can tell you who helped..” he said quietly. Cazza looked at him and stared into his eyes.

“What are you talking about?!?” she exclaimed causing Angelo to cry in her arms.

“I found a piece of paper, I couldn’t work out who was writing it because they didn’t say names but they were talking about him.. Saying they had fun.. Tormenting him”

“You need to give me this piece of paper” Cazza said to josh. He smiled and reached into his school bag.

“I found it in the library. They tried to hide something, but you can still kind of read it” he handed over the piece of paper and Cazza looked over it.

“I’ll find out who it is…” she said as Thomas walked over and looked at her. “We have a clue” she smiled as her phone rang…

Chapter three-blogs of hatred and poems of pain

“we found journals, blogs and poems on his computer..” officer O’Neil spoke. “he refers to people but he never says any names. We need you to read one or two of them and see if you can guess the names whilst we get this note you’ve acquired into testing”

“okay, where are these journals you want me to read?”

“just here, now some a quite graphic…”

“show me those” Cazza interrupted. “show me the most graphic..” she sighed as the officer opened a journal entitled: “When rainy days subside..”

“When rainy days subside I believe I’m going to get back at all those fucking fags who have made mine and my sweet girl’s lives hell as well as those who have said shit to duckie, Sebastian and Thomas. They are all going to fucking pay. Fucking Blondie with his stupid headband! Argh he is the fucking most fucked up fag ever in this fucking existence. He gets one of the worst punishments, I’m going to cut his fucking throat ear to ear and watch him beg me for mercy.. Beg me to save him.

And the fucking Asian looking fag. He’s the faggot getting the worst pain ever possible. His girlfriend.. The way to break his pathetic mind down. Slit her wrists as deep as possible so he can literally watch his girlfriend die as an “emo slut” as they call my babe. Well they’ll learn not to fuck with a sadistic twisted fuck. Oh no, they’ll learn. They’re going to learn…”

“Can you guess who Blondie or the Asian fag could refer to?” officer O’Neil spoke. Cazza looked over the journal as tears fell from her eyes.

“The “Asian fag” is Liam Tong, year 12. He called me an emo slut last month. And Blondie I’m guessing is his best friend, James Eaton..” Cazza trailed off.

“Okay, we need to go and interview these two now!” O’Neil yelled as a few fellow officers ran off. He looked at Cazza who was pale and un-rested. “You need to put Angelo with someone you trust and have a good rest. Also you need to eat. The sooner we get these hoodlums the better”

“Okay, I’ll find someone..” she trailed off before standing up.

“As soon as we get some information we’ll let you know.. oh but first, I believe you need to read something”

“What?” Cazza turned around to look at the officer.

“His final journal entry, written 30minutes before you and your friends returned home” O’Neil looked at a confused Cazza. She sat down and looked as O’Neil opened the last journal entry entitled: She means everything to me…

“She means everything to me, she is as beautiful as the pinkest sun set and the birds chirping in the early morning. I love the way she’d wake me up by tickling my feet or whispering into my ear. She is the most beautiful girl and she is the mother of my son. I love her and my baby Angelo forever; I’m sorry baby. Sorry I couldn’t be what they wanted”

“It appears they let him or made him write a journal entry. Do you understand what he meant by “sorry I couldn’t be what they wanted” means?”

“He was bi, like bisexual and they paid him and my best friends out about it.. I can’t believe this..”

“Look, you need rest. I will call you as soon as I possible can..” the officer said sympathetically.

“Okay” she wiped away tears.

“Go rest..” he sighed as she stood up. When she got outside she sat on the sidewalk and broke down. She let the tears run down her face as Angelo cried with her. He loved her, more than anyone ever knew, even herself…

Chapter four-secret notes and planned meetings

Cazza was asleep in bed when her phone rang but she was too exhausted to hear it. Thomas quietly walked in and picked it up before leaving.

“Hello?” he asked.

“We need Cassandra down at the station now. We need her to clear some things up for us” officer O’Neil spoke.

“Sure, I’ll get her down there” he replied before hanging up. Cazza was still asleep when he walked in and shook her.

“Hey…” she managed as she sat up a little.

“The officer wants you down at the station” he smiled. Cazza looked at him before realizing how long she had slept.

“Okay, um I’ll just chuck something on” she said before she stood up. Her hair fell across her back as she stood in front of Thomas. “Opps, shit I didn’t realize I was half naked..” she laughed before running into her bathroom.

“It’s alright..” Thomas yelled. He laughed to himself as she appeared in front of him fully dressed. She smiled and followed him into the lounge room where Angelo was in his bouncer having his bottle.

“Come on Angelo, the police want to speak to us again bout daddy” she smiled as Angelo smiled at her. Thomas helped them both out the door before he locked up. When he got in the car Cazza was looking in the rear view mirror.

“What you looking at?” Thomas asked as she pulled out the driveway.

“Angelo’s eyes” she replied. “I can see Scott when I look in them” she said as she continued driving. They remained silent as they drove to the police station. When they arrived Thomas waited outside whilst Cazza took Angelo in to see what was so important. O’Neil had her stand in a room adjacent to where James Eaton was being questioned about Scott.

“So, why were you marked absent the other afternoon?” Connors spoke. James looked at him and smiled.

“I went home sick, come on officer, you have me and my mate but you aint getting who out of us. Sure, we helped but we didn’t plan it”

“Right now your going down for murder. You will be sentenced to life in prison, no bail. Wouldn’t you prefer to change that to maybe 30 years imprisonment?”

“Sure. But I don’t know if I want to rat out my mates” he said with a stern look on his face. “What can you give me that will make me tell you..”

“A good word with the judge. Otherwise you’ll be in court being charged with murder”

“Fine. I’ll give you the name..” he agreed. Cazza felt relief wash over her as she waited patiently.

“Who was the one who planned it?” Connors asked James. He looked the officer in the eye.

“They wrote little notes in class, really secretive because they thought if the teachers found it, they’d be in trouble. They were always well off aye, never let anyone see them. They planned it perfectly, right down to making it look like suicide. Ah I look up to them…

“Give us the names!!!!” Connors yelled.

“Rebecca hawthorn and Kristen Channas” he smiled. Cazza hit the wall in front of her before breaking down in tears.

“We need those two girls arrested immediately” O’Neil yelled as Cazza lent against the wall.

“I want to stay and hear them say how they killed him. I want to know..” Cazza said as one of the officers bought Thomas into the room.

“Well stay right here then” O’Neil smiled.

Chapter five-confessions and detailed recounts

Rebecca and Kristen were sitting eating dinner at the local shops with friends when the police found them. They swarmed in and ordered them onto the floor where they crowded the pair and arrested them.

-♥-

When they arrived at the police station Cazza watched as they kicked and screamed as they were thrown into each room. Rebecca was in the room Cazza could see and firstly, she wouldn’t co-operate.

“Fuck off, why would I murder him? He was pathetic” she smiled.

“Because he wouldn’t give into your advances. He was smarter then to cheat on his girlfriend with you. He told you how he thought of you didn’t he?”

“Yes..” Rebecca began to break down. “He did a few night’s before we did it. Kristen and I decided to teach him a lesson but we lacked the ability to get him into the car so we got jimmy and Liam to help, when he was on spares we grabbed him, threw him in the car and drove him to his house”

“Then what?” Connors asked. Cazza was standing right at the wall watching Rebecca tell the tale, the images played in her head..

“We threw him on the lounge room floor.. His head hit with a thud and we just laughed. He was trying to get out of the ropes we tied around his wrists and ankles. That’s when we decided to torture him, the slashes across his chest, up his arms. Then we thought, wait, why don’t we make it look like suicide, they’ll dismiss it and we’ll never be caught. So we go and slash deeper, then Liam is like, why don’t we write the names of his best mates, it’ll be more like suicide.. Then he was practically begging us to stop, begging us because he has a little boy and we just laughed..”

“You mole! You’re a fucking selfish bitch” Cazza screamed as she fell to the ground.

“Jimmy carved the name of his son into his stomach and then Scott lost it, he was yelling and trying to fight so we hit him.. We hit him so he weakened. Then when he could barely move we put him in the bathroom and cleaned up outside. We didn’t mean to murder him..”

“You’re a fucking liar you dumb bitch!!” Cazza continued to yell.

“He just looked us in the eye and told us..”

“Cazza, you seriously need to leave” Thomas spoke to her as she was lying on the floor. He helped her up and walked out the door as Rebecca continued.

“He told us he loved Cazza, that he always did and that his son and Cazza were his life..”

Chapter six-goodbyes and unforgivable tears

Cazza stood in front of the crowded room of people who had turned up for Scott’s funeral. She looked at Angelo, her friends, the students, teachers and staff who turned out and his family then back to her lovers bed, where he lay beneath a sheet of black roses, one for every year of his life. She took in a breath and looked at the piece of paper in front of her.

“Everyone, we all wish to farewell my beloved Scott in our own ways. Friends will be wishing that they could just have on more conversation; family will be wishing they had one more hug, one more moment with him. But there’s one person, one person who will never get the pleasure of seeing his son grow up, never hear his first word, never see his first steps. Scott is missing every little thing in his son’s life. Angelo will never know how great a dad his daddy was and that’s what we should all think of. Angelo will never know…”

Cazza began to cry as “if everyone cared” began to play.

“I’ll never know what kind’s of things we would have done, the fights we would have had, the nights of love, the sunny days with Angelo playing in the backyard. I’ll never know.. And those 4 people in jail, Rebecca, Kristen, Liam and jimmy will never know the light of day again”

Cazza looked across everyone as “if everyone cared” began to play louder. She walked outside with everyone else and held a pink balloon with a little note attached. When the song was over, a mass of balloons flew into the sky. 99 black balloons and one pink.

“For you were the only one,

The only one for me.

Out of a hundred different people,

Without you I’m no longer free.

For you are my only one,

My only one baby,

One last goodbye,

And baby.. Now you’re free.

Look over me my angel,

Over me and little Angelo,

Baby watch us when were happy,

And hold us when were low.

Cause baby, I love you,

I’ve always loved you.

Baby, I’ll always miss you,

Cause baby I’ll always be true…