Super Dark Times Page #4

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I'll go get my keys.

[rattling]

[music plays over headphones]

[low rumbling]

[teacher] All right. Stephanie

is here. Larry is here.

Scott definitely here.

Greg has a new haircut. Good.

Richard, back there.

- Emily is here.

- [Emily] Here.

[teacher] Zach attack is here,

but Josh Templeton is

not. Okay. That's absent.

Good stuff.

[rock music blares]

[rock music plays over headphones]

[school bell ringing]

Charlie!

Hey, Charlie. Taking the short bus today?

Yeah, man. Short bus is

for retards like Adam.

Yo, man. That's super insensitive.

- Hey, we gotta talk.

- No, we don't.

Yeah, we do.

Excuse me.

I'll be right back.

Who's that d*ckhead?

[boy] I don't know. Some f***in' dick.

[Zach] Chill for a second,

all right? Calm down.

No, just shut the f*** up

for a second, all right?

What?

Look, Josh is not coming to school.

Okay. So go talk to him.

Well, I am. I'm going to.

I'm just saying that we should

probably get our story straight...

There is no story, Zach.

Yeah, well, if somebody asks.

I don't remember.

I don't remember what I did last Tuesday.

So why would I remember

what I did this Tuesday?

Probably I went home after school,

stayed there alone until

my parents got home.

It's what I do most weekdays.

Okay, that's good.

Okay, so why did you come running

over here to the middle school

to talk to an eighth

grader you barely know?

Zach.

If anyone asks,

we're not friends.

- [knocking continues]

- [scratching floorboard]

[Zach] Josh?

Josh?

Yo, Josh!

[knock on door]

[Karen] Zach?

Can I come in?

Uh, yeah.

Of course.

- Hey.

- Hey.

- How's your...

- Oh, it's good. It's better.

Do you remember Daryl Harper?

You two used to play together.

Yeah. But, I mean, that

was like a long time ago.

Why?

I had a call from his mom earlier.

Guess he never came home last night.

He hasn't been home yet at all.

Did you see him at school today?

I mean, I didn't see him.

But I wasn't looking for him, so...

I have no idea.

Do you remember the last

time you did see him?

Nope.

No.

His mother said something about

him going at Josh's yesterday.

Uh, no.

He didn't?

- At Josh's house?

- Yeah.

No.

No, he wasn't there.

- He wasn't?

- No, I was at Josh's all day.

He wasn't there. It was just us.

Okay.

I'll tell her.

You came home a little bit late last night.

Yeah, I guess.

Don't do that anymore.

I'm sure Daryl will turn up,

but if something happened

or some... I don't know.

Just stay close to the house

for the next few days, okay?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Tell me how... What time did you...

Every one of us must fight the

struggle within our own spirit.

We have to decide whether

we will define our lives

primarily based on who

we are or who we are not,

based on what we are for

or what we are against.

[knocking on door]

All right. I'm awake.

- [knocking continues]

- All right, Mom.

What time is it?

Mom, what time is it?

Mom, what time is it?

Mom, what time is it?

Mom?

Mom?

[eerie music]

Daryl?

What are you doing here?

How did you get here, man?

Daryl.

[screaming]

[gasping]

Oh, God!

Mom!

Mom!

- What is it? What's wrong? You okay?

- My stomach...

- Your stomach?

- It hurts. Yeah.

Okay, don't move. I'll be right back.

That's it. Breathe.

Count to eight.

There you go.

Better?

A little better.

You haven't eaten anything, Zach.

That's probably what's wrong.

I took some NyQuil.

NyQuil?

Could have been that.

Why were you taking

NyQuil? You have a cold?

I just can't get to sleep.

Okay. Well, no more of that, all right?

You can't just be taking

that stuff willy-nilly,

especially on an empty stomach.

[heartbeat thumping]

[girl 1 whispers] Oh, my God.

Did you hear about that missing boy?

- [boy 1] Who?

- [boy 2] Daryl f***ing Harper.

[girl 2] Oh, my gosh.

- [boy 3] Did you hear about that missing kid?

- [girl 3] No sh*t.

[boy 4] Was that the guy in science class?

- [girl 4] Oh, my God.

- [girl 5] Are you kidding me?

- [boy 5] Oh, f***. Daryl Harper.

- [girl 6] Daryl...

[boy 5] That guy was a piece of sh*t.

[girl 6] Daryl Harper had a filthy mouth.

[whispers overlapping]

- Probably ran away from home.

- Good riddance.

They haven't found him.

No way.

Oh, my gosh.

He's missing, man.

- Who cares?

- Are the cops involved?

Everyone hated that dude anyway.

He's gone. He disappeared.

- The scrotum, which is a soft external sac...

- [kids laughing]

Class, settle down.

Next, we have the vas deferens.

The narrow tubes that carry sperm

from the testis to the seminal...

[p.a. scratching]

[principal over p.a.]

Attention, all students.

This is your principal,

Dave Faith, speaking.

I'm sure some of you are

aware of rumors regarding

a missing student, Daryl Harper.

I want to emphasize at this point

that they are only that, rumors.

We as a school will be

cooperating with the police.

Anyone who has any information

regarding Daryl and his whereabouts,

or even remember seeing Daryl,

on the day of the 14th is

encouraged to report to my office.

[moaning]

We're not looking to

get anyone in trouble,

only to find Daryl and return

him safely to his family.

I know we have the

holidays coming up,

but I want everyone

to be safe and careful

for the next few days

while we figure this out

and put this all behind us.

[continues moaning]

This is Principal Dave

Faith signing off.

Have a good rest of the day.

- Hi, there, Zach.

- Hey, Ms. Templeton.

- Is Josh home?

- He is.

I've just been worried about him

since he hasn't been in school.

He hasn't been feeling well.

Uh, could I come in maybe and see him?

I'll ask and see if he's up for it.

That'd be great. Thank you.

Shoes off.

Honey.

Josh.

Zach stopped by.

Give him a minute.

Thank you.

[knocking]

Josh?

It's Zach.

[Josh] I know.

Can I come in?

- Josh, can I come in?

- Yeah. I said okay.

[game playing on TV]

Hey, man.

I haven't seen you.

Yeah, Mom let me stay home.

I said I didn't feel well.

[Zach] Okay, well, I...

I don't think we should be

like acting weird or anything

though, right?

- Okay, Zach.

- Well, I'm just saying...

I don't think it's a good

time to be drawing attention...

I said okay.

Yeah, I'm sorry.

How are you?

Yeah.

Me too.

I'm not getting any sleep.

You know, my heart,

it'll just start beating

sometimes real quick.

Speed up.

All of a sudden, just...

I feel like we should go back.

- Why?

- I don't know, but I...

To check on him, you know, to see.

I keep having these dreams

and I'm thinking that...

I don't know. I just don't think it's right

to leave Daryl out there

all alone, you know.

We got to do something with the body.

Or at least let somebody

know that he's there.

Be cure...

I don't know. I just

keep thinking of his mom.

You know, what's she thinking.

She's probably waiting

for him to come home.

Don't go back there. Scene of the crime.

Yeah.

Do you still have his stuff?

What?

The bag? Do you still have the bag...

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