Roll D20…To the Death! (Part 4)

Part 3 is here.

On Monday, the first day back at school after game night, Toddy and Scottie were both absent.

Len informed me that Scottie had gotten a bad flu and his mother wouldn’t even let anyone into the house to see him. At that point, I had no idea how bad his sickness actually was, but still decided to ride my bike out to Toddy’s and try to get him to resurrect Scottie’s character. I figured I could play the angle that he’d really appreciate it, being sick and all.

I got to Toddy’s and found the front door locked, which was very unusual because Steelhead Rob’s truck was parked in the drive. I knocked on the door and Toddy’s mom answered. She looked angry. “Toddy doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“What?” The combination of her attitude and her declaration hit me like a gust of cold wind.

She slowly shook her head, as though the disappointment she felt was so profoundly heavy that it was a struggle just to move. “You were supposed to be his best friend.”

“I am his best friend.” I felt confused, almost panicked. It was like being ambushed.

If she saw how bad it hurt me, she didn’t care. She slammed the door in my face.

I pedaled home in a daze. I took Dark Regions Road because I didn’t want anyone to see me. Truth was that I thought I might actually started crying, and hardly anybody ever used the old dirt road. Halfway down I pulled my bike off the road and walked the path down…