DEAD MAN'S ISLAND, John Escott
'Yes,' he
said. 'I put some of my things in the car. A guitar, and some clothes. Then I
pushed my car over a cliff and burned it. The police found the burned car and
thought I was dead. Everybody thought I was killed in the car crash.'' But you
faked the crash,' I said.
'Yes. ''What
did you do then?'' My family hid me away for months. I tried to change into a
different person - shorter hair, a moustache, quiet suits. All my money went to
Greta and she changed her name to Ross. I told her to buy this island. Now I
invest her money, the money that was mine. And now I'm "James Ross". ''What
about "Jake Rosso"? I asked. 'Jake Rosso took drugs,' he said. 'Jake
Rosso got drunk and crashed cars. He killed a young girl, so he had to
"die". I can never forget the girl. I think about her every day.''And
that's why you always look so sad,' I thought. I looked around the room. 'Why
do you keep a room like this? Why do you keep the guitars, the posters and
photographs?' James Ross did not speak for a minute. Then he said, 'I need to
remember my old life, and what Jake Rosso was like. I'm never going to sing
again and I'm never going to take drugs. But I need this room, to remember.' I
looked at the posters and the photographs. And I looked at his sad face. 'I'm
not going to say anything. I won't tell my mother, I won't tell anybody.' James
Ross looked at me. 'I think you understand,' he said. 'I do,' I said. 'I've
done bad things. I want to forget them, too. I needed to get away, to hide,
too. That's why we came to England, to begin a new life. Yes, I understand.' He
took my hand, and we walked out of the room and closed the door. I never went
into the room again, and I didn't tell anybody. My mother and I left the island
at the end of the summer. Soon after, I went to college. My life is better now.
I work on a farm in England and my mother works in an office. My mother doesn't
worry about me, because I'm happier now. I haven't been 'back to the island.
But I know there's a 'dead man' living there.
---:THE END:---