The Cold (An Easy English Story): Part 5
My phone buzzes, and I wake up. It is 2:45 a.m. I don’t know the phone number, but I answer the call.
“Hello?”
“I need your help.” It is a man’s voice. He is whispering.
“Who is this?” I ask.
“I can’t tell you. April gave me your number. She doesn’t want to talk to any reporters. But I do.” He sounds scared.
I quickly get out of bed and turn on my desk lamp. I open my notebook and say, “Go ahead, I’m listening.”
“I saw an ice body.” He pauses. “And I saw where it came from.”
I begin writing down his story.
“Do you remember the news about the ice body behind the shopping mall?” he asks. I remember. It was a 30-year-old man. Trash collectors found him in the dumpster behind the mall. As usual, he was naked, and parts of his body were frozen. His hands and feet were purple, and his ears were black with frostbite. “I walk my dog on the street by the mall every morning. Four people came out of the back of the mall. They were carrying a large metal box. It looked heavy. They dumped the box into the dumpster and carried it back inside.” The man on the phone begins speaking quickly. “I didn’t know it was an ice body! I thought that the metal box was strange, but…”
“Did you see the faces of the four people?” I ask.
“No, I was too far away, and they were wearing face masks.” He pauses. “But when they went back into the mall, one of them opened the door. The back door of the mall is locked with a password. Those people know the password.”
“Did you see them leave the mall? Did they have a car?”
“No. They only went to the dumpster outside the mall, and then they went back inside.”
I have one more question. “Why doesn’t April want to talk to reporters about the ice bodies?”
“She thinks that news stations are killing people… so that the news stations can make more money.”
I roll my eyes. “What do you think about that idea?”
“Well,” he says. “It’s not crazy. The CEOs of WRN and NewsAmerica are both $50 million richer now.”
“Then why are you talking to me? The Observer is a local news station, but we’re still journalists.” I expect him to get angry. When people believe all news is fake, they believe that all journalists are liars.
“I think the CEOs are bad, but I don’t believe you’re bad. You saw an ice body, right? Maybe my story can help save people.”
I need to get to the mall.
There is still a lockdown. The mall is not closed, but the news says that people shouldn’t go out. I can’t drive, and Mom and Dad will definitely not take me to the mall.
I remember Ms. Sato’s words: “We are a news station. We report real news. We can’t write an article that says, ‘Maybe the ice bodies are real, but maybe they aren’t.'” She will not be happy with my online research. And the man’s story about the mall body isn’t enough for a full news story. I need to give Ms. Sato a good news story. Or a great one.
I text Priya and Carlos. Can one of you take me to the mall?
Carlos replies quickly. WTF? There’s a lockdown. Why do you want to go shopping?
I reply: It’s for a news story. I’ll explain later.
Priya replies a few minutes later: let’s go!!!!!
And then she sends another message: …but my dad probably won’t let me go…
And then another: but who cares! we’ll find a way.
Priya lives with her father. It’s different from my situation. I live at home because I don’t have enough money to move out. She lives at home because her father was paralyzed last year. He can’t move his legs, so Priya helps with housework.
We both want to move out.
Carlos sends another message. I don’t want to go inside the mall, but I can drive you, Ari. Unlike me and Priya, Carlos has a car and an apartment.
Thank you!!!!!! Is tonight okay? I still don’t know if my parents will let me go, but I make plans anyway.
Carlos will pick me up at 7 p.m., so I go downstairs to tell my parents, thinking of a reason to go. They are watching TV in the living room.
“So I need to go to the mall tonight for work,” I say strongly.
“Your boss wants you to go to the mall?” Dad asks.
“Yes,” I lie. Ms. Sato didn’t ask me to go, but I’m going for work. Close enough. “I know you’re worried. So I asked Carlos to go with me.” Mom likes Carlos. He likes to bake and brings a pie or pastries every time he visits.
“Well, if Carlos is going…” Mom says.
Dad frowns. He stands up and walks upstairs. “Do whatever you want.”
I didn’t get a “yes” from Mom or Dad, but I didn’t get a “no” either. I’m not going to argue.
Fun for Fluency! 