FICTION Chapter Five: No One Gets Out of Here Alive

Sorry, it took me so long to post this chapter- for anyone who is really and truly following Matthew's story.  I was in the North Georgia mountains and I only had minimal internet service. It was just like the late 1990s. 

      This chapter is pretty short so I'll post chapter six in a few days.. 
Chapter Five

Ed Burley

Lesson plans, faculty meetings, prom committee. I’m exhausted and it’s not even Christmas break. Five more years until retirement, if I can make it.

     Teaching high school isn’t for sissies, and all I want is a small Scotch before I fall into bed. I unlock the front door, throw the bag filled with student papers that still need to be marked on the couch, let the cat out, and go into the small kitchen to heat up a Lean Cuisine meatloaf in the microwave. I eat the tasteless entrée while standing at the sink,, then I heat up another Lean Cuisine. I’m pretty sure this gastronomic adventure doesn’t count as “lean” anymore.

     The phone rings. It’s Elaine Henderson, one of the English teachers from work. At first I can’t understand what she’s saying, then the words register: Matthew Royal has killed himself.

     I hang up the phone without saying goodbye, turn the ringer off, pour a double scotch, sit in the darkened living room, and throw back the Johnny Walker in one fast stinging gulp.

     It’s 3 a.m and I’m still sitting here, my mind wiped completely clean of any discernible thoughts except the screaming voice pounding around in my head that says Matthew is dead.