Chapter 12: The Man Nobody Remembered
Nobody spoke.
Not because they didn’t have questions.
Because there were too many.
Eli looked at Darius.
“My dad?””
His voice was small.
“You knew my dad?””
Darius looked at him.
“Yes.””
The boy took a step back.
“Who was he?””
Darius didn’t answer immediately.
Cole noticed.
That hesitation mattered.
“You knew him.””
Darius looked at Cole.
“Everyone did.””
Bear frowned.
“No.””
Darius turned.
“You did.””
Bear’s expression changed.
A memory.
Something buried.
Something he had forgotten.
Darius continued.
“Your club knew him before you knew Eli existed.””
Cole looked at Bear.
“What is he talking about?””
Bear said nothing.
That silence was the answer.
Cole’s face hardened.
“Bear.””
Bear looked away.
“Not here.””
Cole stepped closer.
“Now.””
The room became heavy.
Bear sighed.
“His name was Aaron.””
Eli whispered:
“My dad’s name was Aaron?””
Bear nodded slowly.
“He rode with us.””
Cole stared.
“No.””
“Yes.””
“I would remember.””
Bear looked at him.
“You remember what people wanted you to remember.””
The words hurt.
Because they sounded like something Nia would have said.
Cole turned to Darius.
“What happened to him?””
Darius looked at Eli.
“He found something.””
“Like Nia?””
“Yes.””
“What?””
Darius looked at the phone.
“The same thing she found.””
Cole’s frustration exploded.
“Stop speaking in riddles.””
Darius remained calm.
“Your club had money problems years ago.””
Bear looked at him.
Darius continued.
“Aaron discovered someone was stealing from the group.””
Cole looked at Bear.
“And?””
Bear’s jaw tightened.
“He confronted them.””
“Who?””
Nobody answered.
Cole stared at both men.
“Who?””
Darius finally spoke.
“Someone close.””
The same words.
Again.
Someone close.
Cole felt anger rising.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
Darius nodded.
“Because it’s true.””
Eli looked confused.
“My dad died?””
Nobody answered.
The boy looked at Cole.
“Did you know him?””
Cole didn’t know what to say.
He looked at Bear.
Then Darius.
Then the necklace around Eli’s neck.
“I don’t know.””
Eli’s face fell.
And that hurt more than anything else.
A child deserved an answer.
Not another mystery.
Cole crouched down.
“I’m sorry.””
Eli looked away.
“Everyone says sorry.””
The words were quiet.
But they hit harder than anger.
Cole stood again.
Darius watched him.
“You understand now.””
“No.””
Cole shook his head.
“I understand that everyone lied to me.””
Darius nodded.
“That’s fair.””
“Where is Nia?””
Darius looked toward the window.
“She went back.””
“Back where?””
Darius didn’t answer.
Cole stepped closer.
“Where?””
Darius finally looked at him.
“Where it all started.””
Bear’s face changed.
“No.””
Cole noticed.
“What?””
Bear looked at Darius.
“You wouldn’t.””
Darius said nothing.
Cole’s voice lowered.
“Where?””
Bear closed his eyes.
Then whispered:
“The old clubhouse.””
Cole stared.
The place where everything began.
The place abandoned after Aaron disappeared.
The place nobody had entered in years.
Darius reached for his helmet.
“She’s waiting there.””
Cole stopped.
“Waiting?””
Darius nodded.
“She knew eventually you would come.””
Cole felt a strange mixture of anger and relief.
“She could have called me.””
Darius looked at him.
“She did.””
A pause.
“Every year.””
Cole froze.
“What?””
Darius looked at the old phone.
“The calls you thought were silent.””
Nobody moved.
Cole felt his stomach drop.
Because he remembered.
Every year on the same date.
His phone would ring.
Unknown number.
No one there.
He always assumed it was a mistake.
A glitch.
A dead line.
Darius whispered:
“She was listening.””
Cole stared.
“And you knew?””
Darius looked away.
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Darius’s answer was quiet.
“Because every time she called…”
A pause.
“She asked me the same question.””
Cole waited.
Darius looked directly at him.
“She asked if you were ready to know the truth.””
The room fell silent.
Then the old phone on the table rang again.
Everyone looked.
This time, nobody wanted to answer.
Because they all knew one thing.
Whoever was calling…
Was no longer hiding.
And the name flashing on the screen was not unknown.
May you like
It was:
COLE.
