Chapter 5 The letter

Juliet's heart crushed in her chest when she heard the doleful wail Sofia, Octavio's mother let out after recovering from the shock of her son's death. Sofia fell onto the floor and continued wailing and sobbing while tears ran down her cheeks. Juliet who was also shedding tears joined her on the carpet. Sofia clung to Juliet as her wailing reduced to sobs. Juliet had never seen someone so broken.

"They killed my son, Juliet." Sofia cried. "They hated him so much. Why did they take away the person I loved most in the world? He was my life, the only reason for me to live. I can't live without Octavio. What will I do now?"

Juliet didn't know what to say to her so remained silent. She hugged Sofia tightly, the poor woman had been through a lot. First, she'd lost the love of her life, then her only son who had been the only source of comfort since her husband died. Juliet would never be able to move on if it were her.

"He was all I had," Sofia continued, wiping her eyes with the back of her right hand. She looked at Juliet's face. "And they took him away, Juliet. Now, I have nothing but myself. I was supposed to protect him but I failed. I failed to be a good mother, I let my son go. What kind of mother am I? Juliet-"

"None of this is your fault, Mrs Ruiz. Don't say things like that, they won't make you feel any better."

"Whose fault is it then? I told him no one in this town would accept him as a stepchild and he said he'd move away. I didn't know this is what he had in mind. He wanted me to move on, without him. How is that possible..."

Sofia broke out in fresh sobs. Juliet thought of the fact that she could have prevented everything from happening by talking to Kylie and her father as soon as she heard of the affair. They could've stopped going out together and maybe Octavio wouldn't have been so angry with them.

The police officer rose up. "I would like to look at his room."

"Second door on the left," Juliet told him. Sofia had stopped sobbing. She was lost in thought, but the tears had not stopped streaming down her cheeks. They remained silent until the officer came back holding an envelope and a stack of papers.

"I found this, " he said, handing the envelope to Juliet. "I'll take these papers with me to the station."

The officer walked out of the house and Juliet continued to stare at her name on the envelope.

"Open it," Sofia noticed her confused expression.

Dear Juliet

By the time you read this, I'll be gone. First, I'd like to thank you for being very nice to me, it helped a lot. You gave me hope that maybe other people would learn from you and accept me. It could've worked but it didn't. Without you, I could've gone sooner. You're a nice person and I hope you continue like that. Reach out to sad people because sometimes all they need is someone who will accept, listen to and tell them all will be okay.

Please take care of my mother, Juliet. Don't let anything bad happen to her. Help her move on. I know you can do it because you're strong, stronger than me. Please Juliet, do this for me. I broke my mother, please fix her. I know God will bless you, Juliet. This messed up world needs people like you.

I never told you about my love for Kylie. I love her with all my heart. She's the only girl I ever wanted so much, but she isn't like you. She hates me and I can't stand anyone having her. I know it sounds weird but yeah I fell in love. Nobody ever realized because they didn't care.

Juliet my heart is in its final breaking stages. Loneliness is killing me and I can't take it anymore. I die every other day and it's terrible. That's why I need to end it all today. Maybe I'll have the peace I'll never have here. I hope God will forgive me. I have no choice, Juliet.

I'm tired of being in pain, being sad and depressed. I have accepted my fate, I'll never be happy. I was never supposed to be.

My hands are shaking as I write this so I'll stop here. I wish you the best, Juliet. Always try to be happy. Don't let the world break you like it broke me.

Don't forget to take care of my dearest mom. Tell her I'm sorry for all the pain I brought into her life.

Bye, my dearest Juliet. You are the only person I can call friend.

Bye

Yours,

Octavio Ruiz.

Juliet's tears had stained the whole page by the time she finished reading. She sobbed as she folded the paper and put it aside. Sofia had been reading too and they cried together. Neighbors had started pouring in to comfort Sofia. Sofia was not happy with that. They'd hated her little boy so what did they want? To laugh at her? To rejoice now that he was gone and they wouldn't see his miserable face ever again?

But Juliet stood up, put the letter in her jeans pocket and welcomed them in. She was crying the whole time, thinking of how depressed Octavio must have been. It was sad how no one had taken action and made sure Octavio received treatment. The whole town was a mess and Octavio had been a victim.

Juliet made a promise to herself, that she would take care of his mother like her own. It was going to be extremely hard but she was going to try her best to make sure Mrs Ruiz didn't end up like her son. Somehow the two of them would find happiness in spite of everything in their lives.