Five

These people had their ways.

They had their ways of making you accept that you have committed the crime.

They instill fear and terror in you.

This was what she thought. This was what she had always thought.

" What do you know about the janitor's death?" he repeated, hostility tearing down the warmth his eyes were supposed to have.

" I know nothing."

The man snarled, his weird bulkiness taking it all out.

" Do you think I don't know? You teenagers have this tendency of commiting crimes all the time."

Rosaleen stared blankly, something boiling inside of her.

Teenagers?

Only teenagers?

What about adults?

Did they not also have the tendency?

Rosaleen sat still, wishing and wishing.

Why did he have to take out his fury on her?

She wasn't the only student brought for the questioning.

The drawings on the wall attracted her attention. Those drawings gave her somewhat.....

" I wasn't in the school when it all happened. I left for home before few students."

Her conclusion came out soft, the very opposite of the way she wanted.

What was more to being a teenager no one trusted?

" That's all I know," her quick addition came after his short hiss.

The man warned Rosaleen to comply and not be heady like other teenagers he handled.

" It'd be for your own good, girl."

He made her place her fingers on a device and dismissed her afterwards.

*******

" You need to remain calm, Mrs Annie."

The second voice mellowed amidst the hysterical rise of the first.

Feet stomping followed after what seemed like a smash on a wall. The crashing sound of glass rose from within principal Powers office.

" Why the delay, principal Powers?" Annie repeated while strapping her young son from the carrier.

Her throat tightened as she shot the principal a hard glare — cold, icy.

No one knew. They would never know.

After the entire family found out about her husband — the janitor's death, several strange, scary men had begun harassing her, convinced that she must have known how her husband died.

Things only turned worse.

Having full knowledge that her in-laws disliked her, her conviction claimed true because she knew they had always had a motive to throw her out of the house.

She had nothing in her name. It could be worse if she's thrown out with her son without a property in her name.

She needed to do something about it. She needed to act fast and secure the future of her child and herself.

" Do you know what I have to pass through?"

Principal Powers rubbed the nape of her neck and exhaled heavily.

" I assure you, Mrs Annie. We're all working endlessly on this matter. Your husband is a good man and we'll bring them all to book for the sake of his goodness."

She watched the woman sob uncontrollably.

" I only need you to be patient with us. We need more time to point out the culprits, please."

Mrs Annie felt a stab of pain in her chest.

Letting out a shriek won't do.

It'd never be enough for her or her husband or her unfortunate child or what the world had done to her.

She slammed her fist on the table and gazed intently at the terrified woman whose eyes darted around maniacally.

Annie's mouth pinched shut as if holding back what she really wanted to say.

Who could blame her?

She had been driven by all the overwhelming happenings around her.

" Don't tell me about patience, Mrs Powers!" she yelled, losing it completely, inching forward, her movement threatening.

" Make sure to find the evidence before I visit next to check on the progress of the investigation."

Mrs Annie flopped onto the couch losing it all and letting the tears flow.

She trotted out of the office with her child afterwards, tears making her vision blurry.

********

" This isn't what I expect from you, Ronnie Sean.

" This is not the expectations the world has from the Sean family and you know it too well," Donald Sean, Ronnie's father, lamented as he flipped the document in his hand.

The result came in sooner than expected, and his father collected it before Ronnie could return for it.

A momentary look of discomfort crossed his wife's face as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

Her shifty gaze met with her husband's and she could tell disappointment lived in his eyes.

They were rooted deep and they refused to leave.

" What is your excuse this time?" he questioned, his icy stare boring into his son.

No one knew what had gotten into Ronnie, but for the first time, Ronnie looked his father in the eyes.

His stare had many questions in them.

They had hidden questions that were itching to escape.

Those questions were itching to get out but dread engulfed him.

" There's no excuse, father," Ronnie's reply came out soft, the opposite of the emotion in his eyes.

" Donald, I don't think we should start this all over again," his mother pleaded as she adjusted slowly on the couch.

" I'm sure Ronnie gave it his best," she added, turning down the volume of the television set.

" Well, his best just isn't enough, Rose!" he pointed out, stomping his feet in fury.

Veins in his neck stood out in livid ridges and his mouth thinned with displeasure.

His hard glare rested on Ronnie who turned his gaze downward suddenly.

Donald Sean doubted for the third time if Ronnie was truly his son because he didn't understand what was happening.

He didn't understand where the mediocrity was coming from.

He had no time on his side.

He needed Ronnie to make it big and take over the Sean corporations.

There was no way his expectations would come true if Ronnie continuously ranked lower than his expectation.

His mother turned her gaze away. Expressionless emotions filled her eyes.

She pitied her son. She could feel his pains too.

She could also feel her husband's pains.

He expected so much from their son like every other father should, but she didn't know how to tell him that his expectations suffocated their son.

She didn't know how to tell him that his large expectations were a burden on their son's little shoulders.

" I think it's high time I cleared my doubts, Rose," Donald spat aggressively, interrupting her thoughts in the process.

" What doubts?"

" Is Ronnie truly my son? Is he truly the Sean heir?"

A dead silence stirred the thoughts of Rose's heart.