Jacky was at school after hours when Melissa dropped the case into his lap, though neither of them knew it at the time. The leaves on the oak trees painted the scene in reds and oranges that fell in droves to the ground. Jacky and his chubby, ginger friend Ron were sitting on a bench in the courtyard. Jacky was hunched over the bench with his bony elbows on the table, hands in a ball in front of his face. He looked intense, like he usually did without even trying, because his feathery blonde hair fell over his vibrant, blue eyes. He listened intently to everything Ron had to say, unable to turn off the constant analyzing with which his brain tormented those around him.
Ron finished his story with a flourish, “And that’s why I say you should go through this life with ten toes, and one extra toenail.”
One of Jacky’s eyebrows shot up, and he held it there for a long time before replying. “Even if I possessed the eccentricity to carry an extra toenail with me, and acquire one from god knows where in the first place, a lot of things would have to go wrong for me to be shoeless and riding on the bolts on the back of another person’s bike.”
Ron scratched the back of his neck coyly. “Yeah, well. I don’t really know how I always end up in these situations anyway.”
Jacky replied flatly. “At least you always learn something from them. Why it always has to be epitomized in a nonsensical aphorism, I’ll never know, though.”
“Hey! Jacky!”
The voice came from behind him, but Jacky would recognize it even if it were only a whisper siphoned through a fuzzy space-age walkie-talkie communication. Melissa was coming over to talk to him.
Jacky took his hands from his face and twisted around to see her. Everything about her was perfect; her long black hair, her bright, green eyes accentuated by all the eye shadow, the way the tight Flyleaf shirt hugged her every curve. Jacky didn’t even have time to react. The intense, analytical Jacky Hazardous took a back seat, and the dorky, stumbling, love struck Jacky reared his ugly head again. Before he knew it, Jacky had a big, dumb, creeper grin on his face.
Melissa was with her friend, Joanie; Ron’s older sister. Like Ron, she had muted red hair. It was frizzy, and seemed to spout from her head in all directions as if from a fountain. The two walked up and stood next to the poor juniors.
Melissa was smiling brightly. “Jacky, me and Joan are gonna go to John Demeo’s birthday party, I thought it would be cool if you came. You in?”
Jacky giggled like a little idiot. “Isn’t that a senior party?”
“Yeah, but you can come. Everybody already knows who you are, and I’ll vouch for you so no one’s gonna give you any crap. Ron can come, too.”
“Mistake.” Joanie chimed in.
“Hey!” Ron whined.
Melissa ignored them and kept her eyes on Jacky. “You’ll come, right?”
“S-sure. Where is it?”
“It’s at his house.” Melissa cocked her head over toward the school parking lot. “Hop in my car. I’ll drive you guys there.”
“In your car?” Jacky asked.
“Yeah, no sweat.” Melissa said. “Come on.”
At that Melissa an0d Joanie turned and walked away, chased by Jacky’s eyes. He drifted off of his seat after them. Ron followed grudgingly.

During the ride in Melissa’s black Honda, Jacky and Ron sat in the back. Jacky couldn’t take his eyes off the rearview mirror, for in it shone Melissa’s big, green eyes. At one point, they came off the road and caught him staring. Jacky couldn’t see her mouth, but the shape that her eyes became suggested a smile.
They pulled up to a small, art-deco home near the edge of Cyalume. Several other cars were already outside. No noise registered from inside the house. Jacky had expected loud music.
As they walked up to the front door, he asked about it. “Why isn’t there any music, or, like, party lights?”
Melissa looked over her shoulder at him. “Yeah, John’s kind of weird.”
Joanie was upset by this. “Mel!”
“He is!” Melissa retorted, and then turned back to Jacky. “He grew up in a kind of strange environment. His parents were rich, so they subjected him to, you know, like a Victorian upbringing. So this is going to be more of a dinner party than a drunk-and-falling-down party. I normally wouldn’t even hang out with this guy, but Joanie likes him, so here we are.”
“Mel!”
Melissa rolled her eyes and shook her head. They had arrived at the door. Even as Melissa reached for the bell, the door opened.
A teenage boy in a blue military dress uniform answered the door. His face was freckled and his short hair was cropped up in a high top fade. His uniform was awash in awards. Jacky didn’t have a clue what they could be for, but at least the name plate he wore made it easy to discern him as John Demeo.
“Hey girls.” The boy said.
“Hey, John.” Joanie smiled.
Melissa was unimpressed. “What’s with the get-up?”
John answered quickly and surely. “I just got back from being promoted at my ROTC unit.” He exuded confidence.
Joanie was still behaving like, well, a school girl. “I think it looks great on you. You look tough, and dignified at the same time.”
“Thanks.” John stepped from the doorway and invited them in. “Well, come on in and have a seat. Everyone’s just chatting right now. Later my mother will be serving tea and cakes.”
John walked away into the kitchen, and the kids were left to themselves. Melissa sighed in exasperation.
“His mother is here? What did you get me into?”
Joanie looked at her. “Come on. It won’t be that bad. I just need a minute alone with John, and then we can go.”
Melissa held her hand up with the pinky stuck out and adopted a satirical accent of refinement. “Splendid, let’s go have tea and crumpets with General Patton.”
Her remark caused Jacky to spit out a laugh. It made him sound mentally handicapped. No one else but him seemed to notice, though.
They walked in and Ron shut the front door after them. As the kids walked toward the crowd, the wheels in Jacky’s brain churned. He needed to say something before some senior in here stole her away; just to start the conversation. His brain had already made a couple of observations, he could start there.
“Is John’s mother his birth mother?”
Melissa stopped and turned around, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows. “No. How did you know that?”
Joanie and Ron drifted off to other parts of the house.
“You said his parents were rich.” Jacky answered. “Also that he had a Victorian upbringing, but now he lives in this small house.”
Melissa nodded. She seemed impressed. “Yeah. They died. His mother died when he was young and his father died about two years ago. His dad left all of the assets to him, but he’s not allowed to touch it until he’s 21. His step-mother must be a real saint, taking care of him and his little brother the way she does.”
Jacky nodded in agreement. “Interesting.”
The two continued into the epicenter of the little party. Jacky stuck close to Melissa and tried to occupy her attention as much as possible. After a few minutes, John came back into the room.
With an air of officiality, he quickly got everyone’s attention. “Excuse me, everyone! The tea and cakes are about to be served, if you could take your seats, please!”
All of the teenagers dropped their conversations and complied, grabbing chairs around a long table that had been set up in the den. There were only maybe ten guests total. John sat at the head of the table. He looked very out of place with the other teens in his uniform, but seemed not to mind at all.
John’s eyes immediately fell on the two unfamiliar faces sitting at the table. “I recognize you. You’re name’s Jacky, right?”
“It’s Jack,” Jacky corrected. “Jack Hazardous.”
John’s left eyebrow elevated. “You know your last name’s an adjective?”
Jacky snickered and shook his head. “You know, I never hear that.”
A smirk grew on John’s face. He understood and appreciated the sarcasm. “Well, I’m glad to have you here. It’s not every day you meet a celebrity.”
“Yeah, you’re the kid that busted up that thing with the teachers, aren’t you?” One of the other seniors, Arthur, had chimed in.
Jacky recognized Arthur. He was a football player with a large, football player’s body and short, black hair. Jacky never understood the paragon that Arthur was. He played sports, but wasn’t very popular. He was good in science. He’d look like a total nerd with those thick back rims he wears if it wasn’t for the physique.
As Jacky considered this, an Asian woman came into the room holding two large trays of cups and cakes. She appeared to be in her early-to-mid-thirties, but even to a teenager like Jacky, she was beautiful. This was John’s step mother. Of course, a wealthy man looking to remarry could pick from any young woman he wanted.
With an undeniable skill, John’s step-mother laid the giant trays down on the table without spilling a drop.
“Eat up.” She said; bowing, and then shuffling out of the room with dainty little steps.
All of the kids at the table grabbed a cup of tea and a slice of cake, except John, who only grabbed a cup of tea.
“You’re not going to have any cake, John?” Joanie asked.
John shook his head as he took a drink of his tea. After he took the drink he said, “I’m not a fan of sweets.”
Joanie took a bite of her cake, and her face lit up. “Oh my god! They’re great! You’ should try it!” Indeed, everyone at the table seemed to be thoroughly enjoying John’s mother’s baking.
Joanie extended her cake toward him, but John only shook his head with a smirk on his face, as if she were adorable for even trying. It communicated that confidence he constantly exuded.
Joanie rescinded the cake.
Suddenly The front door opened and a child in a blue soccer uniform came running into the house. “John!” the boy shouted.
John’s face lit up with delight and he jumped from his chair. “Hey! There he is!”
John scooped the boy up in his arms and hugged him tightly. “Ohh! Ricky, how you doing?”
“Good! We won!” Ricky answered.
“You did? Awesome!” John turned to his guests. “Everyone, this is my little brother, Ricky.”
Jacky mused at Ricky’s appearance. John was mostly Italian, but his brother seemed to possess more Asian qualities. He might have been the product of John’s step-mother rather than a full-blood relative.
John lowered Ricky to the ground. “Hey, you wanna stay and hang out?”
“Sure!” Ricky smiled.
Melissa’s face became increasingly exasperated.
Suddenly Mrs. Demeo came back into the room. “Richard, honey. I think Jonathon’s friends would rather you go play in your room. You’re not supposed to have a lot of sugar, anyway.”
John sat down with Ricky on his lap. “Oh, they’ll be fine, mom. How often do I get to see my brother?”
Mrs. Demeo seemed sullen. “Oh, alright. He can stay. I’ll go get him some fruit juice.” She shuffled back out of the room.
Without much hesitation, Ricky grabbed up what was left of John’s tea and fired it down before John could stop him. The child immediately wretched and dropped the cup back on the table. “YYYUUUCCCKKK! How can you drink that?!”
A few people at the table thought it was pretty funny.
“Richard!”
Everyone turned to see their mother standing in the kitchen doorway with a child’s cup in her hand. She hurried over to Ricky, set the cup on the table, and proceeded to baby him.
“Oh, Richard. You shouldn’t be drinking any tea! Here, have some cake to get the taste out.” She began to shove a cake into his mouth.
While watching the whole scene, Jacky’s eyebrow arched in confusion.
Still chewing the cake, Ricky's mother began to rush him out of the room.
“Tea is not for children!”
John spoke after them. “Looks like you better go, bro. We’re in trouble this time.” The smug look still plastered his countenance.
After that whole scene, John simply tilted his cup over to look into it and said. “Only now I’m out of tea.”
Arthur chimed in once more. “It actually looks like a lot of people are out of tea. Me and Joanie can go in the kitchen and make some more.”
“Me?” Joanie asked.
John looked at her. “Yeah. Sounds like a good idea. My mother probably won’t be around to do it. Go with him, Joan.”
Joanie looked dismayed, but she got up and followed Arthur into the kitchen.
After a few minutes the two returned, each holding a tray of tea. Joanie looked irritated. They set their trays down on the table and everyone grabbed some more tea.
When Joanie sat down again she leaned over and whispered into Melissa’s ear. Jacky could hear it.
“He brought me in there so he could ask me out on a date. I said no.”
Melissa replied in a normal voice. “Hey, wow. That’s interesting. Can I talk to you outside for a second?”
She got up, opened the sliding glass door that led out to the backyard, and led the way outside. Joanie looked confused, but she got up and followed. After Melissa closed the door behind them, Jacky watched as the two girls walked off of the porch and stopped on the grass; still within sight.
He watched as Melissa pointed both fingers at the ground. She wanted Joanie to stay right where she was. Jacky took a drink of his tea and considered that. She wants Joanie and John to talk so she can leave. In another moment she’ll probably come inside for John.
After taking another drink, Jacky took the cup away from his face and looked at it. It was okay tea, but it definitely wasn’t as good as Mrs. Demeo’s. It didn’t have that almond aftertaste.
Suddenly a voice reached Jacky from the side. “You like Melissa, don’t you?”
Jacky turned to see John Demeo looking at him intently. Jacky didn’t answer, though.
After a moment, John sniffled and shrugged. After taking a swig of tea he said, “Well, too bad. You’re gonna have to go through me first, and I’m a senior. Do you really think Melissa would go out with a Junior? You’re like her funny little buddy right now, but once that teacher thing blows over, you’re not gonna be considered the boy hero anymore. You’ll have no appeal.”
Jacky raised an eyebrow. He had no clue why this guy was even telling him this.
Melissa opened the sliding door back up and took a step inside. Joanie was still outside.
“Joanie wants to talk to you.” Melissa said.
John sighed and threw his napkin on the table. “I suppose I should take care of this right now.”
He got up and walked outside. Melissa closed the door behind him and continued to watch. Jacky stood up and moved next to her to watch as well. The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was turning a velvet pink. It actually looked kind of beautiful with them standing in front of it.
“I don’t think this is going to be a conversation Joanie is going to want to hear.” Jacky said.
“Me neither.” Melissa agreed with a sigh.
Jacky watched as the conversation grew more and more heated. Joanie’s expressions became painful and John looked angry. In the middle of Joanie saying something, John looked over at the house. Next John grabbed her brusquely by the arm and led her around the house, out of sight. He must not have appreciated being watched in a situation like that, so he led her away in some pride driven effort to save face.
“He always treats her like crap.”
When Jacky and Melissa turned around to see who had joined them, they found that Arthur’s girth had somehow snuck up.
“It’s fine.” Arthur continued. “He’ll get what’s coming to him, soon.”
Jacky and Melissa exchanged creeped-out glances. Never being very subtle, Melissa tried to aid in their escape by saying, “Well, show’s over. Come on, Jacky. Let’s go make out in a closet or something.”
Jacky immediately looked shocked, and even a little afraid.
Melissa giggled at him. “Just kidding. I don’t think we’re there yet.”
Jacky couldn’t tell if she was kidding with the “yet” part, either.
Without warning, a scream rent the air from outside. Jacky was shocked, but Arthur was moving in an instant. He pushed Melissa and Jacky out of the way, tore the door open, and sprinted outside. Jack and Melissa followed in the next second.
When the group rounded the corner, they found Joanie knelt over John’s body, sobbing. John was motionless, and his eyes and mouth were still wide with pain and fear.
Arthur knelt down and tried to move Joanie away from him. “Joanie move! Joanie MOVE!”
Joanie finally stood up and stepped away, right into Melissa, where she nuzzled her face into Melissa’s neck. She was crying uncontrollably.
Arthur started pumping John’s chest, administering CPR.
The rest of the guests caught up and Melissa turned to them. “Call 9-1-1!”

A police detective arrived and examined the body. Due to the lack of physical wounds, and the smell still lingering in John’s gaping mouth, he determined cause of death to be poisoning. Potassium Cyanide; nasty stuff. Jacky had been hunched over the body for a while and already made that determination before the officer arrived. He told Ron his findings, and then said to keep him abreast of any new developments; after which he ran back into the house and hadn’t been seen since.
After making his determination, the detective asked all of the guests to gather around. John’s mother and brother were off to the side, crying all over each other.
Because everyone was required to attend, Ron fetched Jacky. When Ron found him, he was in the kitchen. He was holding a tea cup at his side in his left hand and smelling another cup in his right.
After getting a good whiff he dropped the cup into the sink and pulled out another cup. He smelled this one as well. When he was satisfied he dropped the cup back into the sink.
“That tears it.” Jacky muttered; then he turned to Ron. “Did the detective examine the body?”
“Yes.” Ron answered.
“And?”
“He said it looked like poisoning.”
“Alright. Let’s go.” Jacky continued holding the cup in his left hand as the two walked out of the house.
They rejoined the group that was huddled around the detective.
“Is this everybody?” the detective asked. “Alright. I’m Detective Stern with the Cyalume Police Department. Did anyone see anything?”
Jacky was about to raise his hand but Joanie immediately stepped out in front of the group and pointed a finger at Arthur. “He poisoned John’s tea!”
Arthur was outraged. “What?!”
“I saw him do something to the drink when we were making the second batch!” Joanie screamed.
Arthur looked dismayed. “Well, yeah. I spit in it. But I didn’t poison him!”
Melissa chimed in softly. “I did hear Arthur say John would get what’s coming to him.”
Detective Stern tried to get them to stop. “Stop. Wait. I asked if anyone saw anything. I don’t want to know what you saw yet!”
Joanie grabbed on to what Melissa said and ignored him. “Aha! You wanted me for yourself, but you knew I loved John, so you killed him!”
Arthur was bewildered. “What? No! I mean, yeah. I said he would get what’s coming to him, but all I meant was that I was going to beat his ass one of these days! I never meant I was going to kill him! What about you? You had as much access to the tea as I did! Maybe you killed him! You knew that he was never going to like you because he had the hots for Melissa, so you killed him. Is that the kind of person you are?”
“What?” Melissa asked. “Eww.”
Joanie couldn’t even speak after that revelation. All she could do was stand with her mouth hanging open. This halted the argument.
One of the officers at the scene stepped over to Stern and talked into his ear. "What do you think we should do?”
Stern made a quick decision. “We need isolation. We’ll take all three of these kids and anyone else who thinks they have something to say down to the station for further questioning.”
Jacky finally had his chance. He slipped to the front of the crowd and piped up. “I don’t think that will be necessary, officer.”
Stern raised an eyebrow? “Who are you, kid?”
Melissa chimed in once more. “His name is Jacky Hazardous. He’s the one who solved the case of the missing tax money a few weeks ago. If you’re lucky he’ll solve this case for you, too; if you listen.”
Jacky smiled sheepishly. “Thanks Melissa.”
“Did you do it?” Arthur asked. “I heard John tell you that you would have to go through him to get to Melissa. Did you get rid of him?”
Jacky went beet red with embarrassment and turned his head to look a Melissa. She was wearing a poker face that revealed none of her thoughts.
After a moment Jacky regained his composure and fired back. “Um, dude. You don’t need to lash out at everyone. You never know; I might just clear you. I didn’t kill John, but I know who did.”


With Arthur and everyone else quiet, Jacky began his explanation. “The person who killed Jonathon Demeo was not Joanie and it was not Arthur. Um, and it wasn’t me, either. I believe the person who killed John Demeo was…Mrs. Demeo!”
Everyone immediately turned to see the little Asian woman’s horrified face. Her mouth was gaping with shock.
“Me?” she asked.
Detective Stern interjected. “You shouldn’t be throwing accusations like that around without some evidence, kid.”
“I have my evidence right here.” Jacky responded, holding up the tea cup in his left hand. “It’s the cup John Demeo was drinking out of right before he died. I watched him drink out of it.”
“That’s evidence--”
Detective Stern was cut off by Melissa. “He knows it’s evidence in your investigation. It’s evidence in his, too. Let him talk! He’s handing you the case.”
Jacky continued without hesitation. “It was prepared by Arthur and Joanie and it doesn’t smell of Potassium Cyanide. The cup that John was drinking out of first, that his mother prepared, reeks of it.”
“But how would his mother know which one he would pick?” Melissa asked.
Joanie had a question as well. “Yeah, and we put all of those cups in the sink. How do you know which one was his?”
Both good questions; Jacky had an equally good answer. “I didn’t need to, just like Mrs. Demeo didn’t need to. All of the cups she served were poisoned. We were all poisoned, but Mrs. Demeo forced the odds by putting the antidote in the cakes. John doesn’t like sweets, and she knew he wouldn’t eat it no matter how delicious she made it, or perhaps because of how delicious she made it. We all know it wasn’t light on the sugar. John could have been peer pressured into eating it, but he was way too proud and set in his ways for that. Without the antidote John succumbed to the poison within a half-hour.”
To Arthur this was ridiculous. “How could you possibly know that?”
Jacky explained. “John’s little brother, his half-brother, is diabetic. That’s the only reason I could guess why Mrs. Demeo said he wasn’t allowed sweets; especially that sweet-ass cake. Despite this, when he drank some of John’s tea, she was shoving it down his throat as fast as she could. This is because she cares for her son.”
“But why?” Melissa was only trying to help with her questions.
Jacky looked at her. Being on a roll as he was he could do it and still speak with his legendary intensity. “The same old “why.” Money. Mr. Demeo left everything to John in his will, but after John, his next of kin is his widow, Mrs. Demeo. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d killed the old man too, only to find out that she wasn’t his favorite thing in the whole-wide world.”
Mrs. Demeo’s face had become ghostly. “I…I didn’t kill my s-son.”
Detective Stern put an end to Jacky’s theorizing. “Alright. That’s enough. Take everyone down to the station, including Mrs. Demeo. We’ll get the truth there.”


During interrogation, Mrs. Demeo finally confessed to poisoning John Demeo. Later her lawyer would say that the police coerced her into saying it under duress. With this defense, the circuit judge allowed her to post bail. She did not attend her son’s funeral. Because of this the police inquired into her whereabouts, but she was not to be found. She had already fled the country and gone into hiding.

John Demeo’s funeral was held shortly after bail for his step-mother was posted. Because of the heinous nature of the crime, the Army afforded him a full military burial. It was complete with the twenty-one gun salute and roll call, in which all of his classmates were called to attention. Upon the announcement of their respective names, all students responded with “Present, sir!” When John Demeo’s name was called, there was only silence. The General conducting the ceremony repeated his name three times before moving on to Cadet Rigel Durham. Jacky thought it was very sad. Melissa, usually cynical, was brought to tears. During the playing of “Taps,” the military funeral song, Jacky noticed poor Richard Demeo. He was flanked on either side by a nun from the orphanage in which he officially lived. Jacky felt sorry for him more than anything. His brother had been killed, his mother had been accused of murder and fled the country, but he was the real loser in all of this. He is all alone now. Sometimes even justice has a victim.

…Case Closed.

Impressum

Texte: Jacob Long
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 02.07.2012

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To My Nephew