Bitter lies

"You have reached Steve and Caroline James, please leave a message after the beep."

God dammit mum I curse into the phone, why can't I get hold of you?

I try calling my dad next and get the same message, it's been over three hours since they were supposed to be home.

It's their anniversary, so they went out for pizza, the same pizza place they met.

But it's been three hours, and I've not heard a thing, they always call me if they are running late, always!

Knock, knock, knock

Who the hell is here at 11pm on a Saturday night?

I walk to the front door quietly; look through the peephole to see who it is.

My heart stops beating when I see two police officers standing on the doorstep.

"Miss James" one of them call gently through the door. " it's the police, could you open up please."

Oh god oh god, what if something's happened?

I gently open the door and peak through the gap, my belly hurts and I think I might throw up.

"Miss James, Marla James" He asks with a sad smile.

I nod and open the door wider letting the cool evening air blow across my skin.

"May we come in and speak with you, it's about your parents, Steve and Caroline James" he adds quietly.

I open the door and let them in, I see a few neighbors looking through their open curtains trying to see why there is a cop car outside our house on our quiet little street.

We walk into the lounge, and I take a seat, I can see the look of sadness on their faces, and I already know what they intend to say.

"Honey, do you have anyone you can call to be here with you" the younger female officer asks me.

I nod and point next door, Mrs. Collins is our neighbor and looks out for house when we go away on holiday, she also looked after me when I was younger if my parents went out on dates.

I send her a quick message to ask if she could pop over, she replies straight away so I'm assuming she's seen the cop car too.

Within 5 minutes Mrs. Collins walks in the door and takes stock of the police and the looks on mine and their faces.

"Honey what's going on" she asks in her gravelly voice.

"I'm afraid we come with some rather sad news" the older officer with a kind face says.

Mrs. Collins sits next to me with one hand to her mouth and the other on my hand that rests on my lap.

"At approximately 9.47pm this evening we had a call from a member of the public that a car had collided with the center barrier on the dual carriage way not far from the city center, the car had rolled a few times coming to a stop in a field" he stops and takes a breath.

Dear god please don't say it!! Please don't say what I think your gonna say!!

"On arriving at the crash site it was confirmed the two occupants of the vehicle registration SC78 MAR were in a pretty bad way, a male and female who we believe to be Steve and Caroline James were both removed from the car but unfortunately both had suffered extreme injuries, and both have sadly passed away on route to the hospital, I'm very sorry we had to deliver this news to you" he chokes at the end.

I can't control my sob, and neither can Mrs. Collins, we sit for what feels like forever letting their words sink in.

My parents are dead.