Faded 4

Faded 4

Some Days the Rain May Fall by Kim Churchill

The jig was up.

Rachel did it.

I was so relieved but heavy in the same breath.

The why was still unknown to us all but we were all curious to find out why it happened.

Mr Cornell looked at me with a smile on his face as we walked out of the room.

I still had this puzzled look on my face as I walked into the hallway.

Mr Ballazar looked at me and said,

“Mr Moka, we are truly sorry for the sustained inconvenience that this investigation has caused you.

I truly want to thank you for being cooperative with us.

You have my word that we will get to the bottom of this”

He concluded as he stretched out his hand. The handshake was limp.

I was still trying to gather myself.

Mr Cornell said,

“You wanna grab your stuff from the room that wasn’t gathered up or you want to wait with everyone else while they interview Rachel”

I didn’t reply. I just sat down in the hallway.

How could Rachel take Nora away from us?

My eyes were wide like they were being held in place.

I looked at Mr Cornell and said,

“When does my dad get in?”

He swung out his left arm and looked at the watch on his wrist and said,

“within the next couple of hours”

I replied,

“I’ll wait for him”

Mr Cornell said,

“Okay. I will speak to the department about your belongings we can take and find a way to get it to you before you leave.”

I nodded.

He walked away and a few seconds later, I got up.

I walked to the room where everyone was waiting. As I opened the door, I noticed Ballazar and another officer escorting Rachel out of the room.

She looked at me and I looked back at her.

She seemed surprised but how I was I to care what she thought.

I walked to my seat and sat down.

The vibe was different.

The looks were different.

They seemed to gather that if I was back, it meant that I wasn’t the one that did it.

I spoke to no one.

I still wanted to punch Bart in the throat but I just wanted my father to arrive and Rachel to be confirmed as the killer.

The wait was long, I was becoming impatient.

I got up and was about to exit the room when one of the officers in the room said,

“Sir, where are you going?”

I looked at him with disgust and replied,

“Detective Ballazar told me that I was allowed to wait in the hallway. So that’s where I’m going.”

The confidence and arrogance in my voice caused him to take a step back.

I opened the door and walked out of the room.

The seat I had made my own in the hallway was still open, I walked over and sat down.

I just wanted this rollercoaster to be over.

There were no answers yet.

No concrete answers.

There were still a lot of “whys” that needed answering.

There were two officers at the end of the hallway. Presumably there to prevent us from running away.

This investigation was unique.

We were on vacation far away from home and the officers could not risk anyone skipping town.

So almost every base was covered.

The door of the waiting room opened and Sai came out.

She said,

“Hey Sage”

“Hey”

I replied in my most solemn voice.

“How are you holding up?”

she asked,

“I’m not really sure. It’s been a mixture of emotions.

First I thought it was a murder, then I was accused and now they found out that Rachel did it”

Sai was shocked as she blurted out almost in a squeal,

“Rachel did it???”

she quickly covered her mouth as I looked to see if the officers in hallway had heard anything.

She whispered to me,

“Rachel did it?”

her eyes wide with surprise and in anticipation of my reply.

I responded and said,

“Well, there is footage showing her entering Nora’s room with a can of bleach. I think that says it all.

They are talking to her right now in there.”

Sai could not believe it.

“How? Why?”

She continued to ask.

I shrugged letting her know I didn’t have the answers to the same questions I needed answers to.

She turned to head to the bathroom when I said,

“Sai, I know you spoke to Nora before we all came here. Did she tell you what her big news was?”

Sai faced me as she dropped her head and then lifted it up as she said,

“She was in the process of being a surrogate for couple that couldn’t have kids.”

“What The Heck Man!”

It hurt just a little bit more.

……..

One of the officers in the waiting room with the rest of the gang came out.

He was holding a handbag and he walked into the room that was being used for the interrogations.

I wanted to find out what was going on.

There was a bit of noise coming from the room.

Rachel’s voice was raised,

I got up and walked to the door. I leaned on the wall as I listened through the walls,

“Yes we had a relationship but I would never kill her because of that.”

Detective Matthews said,

“We have footage that shows you heading into her room with a bottle of bleach. A ton of it was found in her system.

How do you explain that but that you drugged her?”

I heard someone I assumed was Ballazar say,

“Where is her purse?”

Rachel then said,

“Look through my phone. I got a text message asking me to come to her room with a bottle of bleach from Nora. That was why I took it there.

Because she asked me.

I loved Nora like everyone else.

I would never hurt her. I don’t know who wanted to hurt her but it certainly wasn’t me”

There was a pause in the room and I assumed it was because someone was browsing through her phone.

Shortly after there was some movement and steps. I stepped away from the wall quickly thinking that someone was coming of the room.

A few seconds passed by and no one came out.

I leaned back on the wall and heard Ballazar speaking to Max.

“I need you to verify that this message actually came from Nora’s phone. Was the phone ever recovered?”

he said.

I didn’t hear Max’s reply. I heard Ballazar continue.

“And why do we only have half the video footage?

How can I pin this thing on one of them if the video cuts out?”

Max replied audible enough for me to hear,

“The hotel manager said that on weekends, tape switches sides and reboots at about 2am.

If someone else went into her room that night, it’s not on tape and we may never know”

“Shit”

Ballazar cursed.

“We’re going to have to let them go. We can only keep them for 24 hours and it’s been way beyond that.

See if you can get me anything.

Anything.

Otherwise, they all have lives and our job gets a million times harder.”

I was about to peel off the wall and return to my seat when I heard my father say,

“Sage”

I turned and there he was with Mr Cornell standing next to him.

The door to the interview room opened and Max stepped out.

He seemed surprised that we were just standing there. He nodded respectfully and headed down the hallway and out of sight.

I smiled and said,

“Hello Father”

He barely responded. I just figured he was tired.

He looked over to Mr Cornell and said,

“So how soon can they be out of here?”

Mr Cornell was about to respond when the door to the interview room opened and Ballazar, Matthews, Rachel and one other officer walked out into the hallway.

Mr Cornell said,

“Well here is the man we all want to see…

Detective Ballazar, my client is ready to leave.

If you have an arrest to make, please do but we are ready to leave. My client has been very cooperative and they have our lives to return to”

Ballazar conceded defeat as he walked across to the waiting room and opened the door. Standing in the doorway, he said,

“Thank you all for your cooperation.

Our people will keep in touch with any developments.

We hope to find who did this and you all remain parties of interest until notified otherwise.”

Everyone in the room got up, ready to leave.

We all looked drained. It had been a long couple of days.

Hugs and goodbyes were due.

But it wasn’t fluid as it normally was over the years.

We were missing a key part of us. And not all of us had come to terms with that.

It was a solemn goodbye.

To our trip and to our friend.

There was an air of the unknown as we began to put our luggage in our various cars. I shoved my suitcase into the trunk of my father’s rental. I didn’t even properly pack, I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

We were about to get into the car when Max and Detective Ballazar ran out and stopped us.

Ballazar said out loud as some of the others put their things in the airport shuttle

“Ladies and Gentlemen, sorry to keep you again but I am requesting that you turn in your key cards to your hotel rooms.

It is true that there was a loop in the video but we realized that if someone actually went into Nora’s room to poison her, they would have needed a key and we can try to identify what keys were used.”

Everyone looked puzzled and then Bart said,

“That makes no sense.
Only the key to Nora’s room would have worked to enter her room and it could have been Nora entering and exiting her own room after the video was off. Couldn’t it?”

Ballazar smiled and said,

“You are definitely right but we are trying to account for everyone being in their own rooms.

If anyone stepped out of their rooms during the window we are speaking of, those people would be our focus. They would have needed to use their own keys to return into their own rooms”

That made sense.

That really made sense. Slowly people began to reach for their own keys.

I couldn’t find one of my keys but so did a few people. Who would have thought to keep their hotel keys in light of what was ruled as a murder?

Up until Rachel was spotted with the bottle of bleach, it was never concretely confirmed as a murder but I had thought too, why was it never considered to have been a suicide?

Couldn’t Nora have taken her own life after all?

What if everything was overwhelming for her and she decided to end it all?

Yes, the whole idea of her being a surrogate suggested that she was full of life but people have taken their lives with less at stake.

None of that would matter though as Bart turned the entire investigation on its head as he said

“I can’t find my keys and this is stupid. I’m leaving”

We all turned and looked at him.

No one expected that and his tone sounded like that of someone with something to hide.

What The Heck Man was in order but we were all now suspecting him, where were the answers going to come from?!

…….

I was sure it was the last roll of the dice for Ballazar and his people.

But it didn’t work. There weren’t enough keys retrieved and Ballazar had to finally let us go.

And this time for real.

Goodbyes again and by now, we were really exhausted.

I climbed into the passenger’s side of the car and my father started the car.

I let out a deep sigh.

I just wanted to be home and back in my apartment.

In my own bed.

In my space.

Alone.

We climbed the turn pike and headed onto the highway. My father had said nothing so far, so I spoke,

“Dad, you know you didn’t have to come down right?

We had it all figured out”

My father said nothing and continued to drive.

This took me back to days as a child where I would get in trouble at school and my father would say nothing the entire ride home.

He would then chastise me and then dish out my punishment at home but these were two grown men here.

I didn’t even need to be in the same car with him.

“Dad, you’re not going to say anything?”

I said.

He went a few more yards and then he pulled over to the right shoulder of the highway.

He reached for the ignition and turned the car off.

Pressing the hazard lights, he turned to his right and said,

“Sage, I only have one question.

Did you do it?”

I looked him square in his eyes.

What?

What did I just hear?

How could he ask me that?

That rage began to build inside me again. What kind of a stupid question was that?

he continued and said,

“Before you get all angry, I would just like an honest answer.
So my conscience can be clear.

We both know what happened the last time we were in a situation like this and how long it took our entire family to get over it all.”

“You want to fucking bring that up!

You could have said something but you didn’t. You did not!”

My voice was raised as I pointed my finger in his face as cars fizzed past us.

“Me?!

What was I supposed to do?

Give you up?!

Give my own son up?!

You were everything I had left”

He replied.

“No, you idiot.

You should have confronted her and left her when I first told you that she was cheating,

instead of acting like a ball-less bitch that you are and said nothing!

….. I was the one coming home to her everyday with another woman in our house.

She acted like I was stupid or like I wouldn’t figure that she was in love with another woman because that stuff is not common?

You could have stopped all of that by confronting her and leaving her ass but your bitch ass didn’t say anything like you won’t say anything this time around.

Yes, I drugged her fucking bitch ass….

She came to have sex with me and in the same fucking bed, she was writing in her stupid journal on her phone that she was sleeping with other parties in the group.

That is disrespect and I am a man. I will never be disrespected.

She had to go.

She had disrespected me for years. Enough was enough!”

My dad just stared.

I think he was partly in shock because of how loud I was screaming but also what I had just said.

He finally gathered the words to say,

“So you killed another innocent person?

Because you felt they disrespected you?”

Even though I was panting and trying to catch my breath, my response was calmer,

“Mom disrespected our family with her stupid acts. This girl felt like she could ridicule me in front of people for years.
So I handled it.

You didn’t.

I drugged her and the rest was history.”

His eyes filled with shame. His head dropped.

I continued and said,

“That day, I walked in and the stupid woman, I forget her name tried to play off the fact that she didn’t just finish fucking my mother.

They were fucking when I got home from school that day like many days before.

I had it. So I snuck into her room and used the syringe I had gotten from a friend while exploiting some drugs. All I needed was a deadly mixture of Hydroxycitronellal (a tropical base found in perfumes) and a bug killer solution. Both things that the police would have easily believed she would have come in contact with in her day to day.
I stabbed the bitch and mom tried to fight me when she came out of her room. I punched her head and knocked her out then I injected her between her toes. She never woke up.

Done.

They had to go.

Nora always thought she was better than me. Better than us.

Well, she can’t think that anymore now can she?

You weren’t going to divorce mom because you thought she would take half of your stuff. Well, I did you a fucking favor!

You are welcome.

Now can we fucking go?!”

My father was overwhelmed with regret. I could feel it but at that point I was so angry I didn’t care.

He said,

“I was in the process of divorcing her.

They served her papers the day you killed them.

You are evil Sage”

I could see he was close to tears.

I replied,

“Evil?

You are just as bad because that day when I called you before I called the police, I told you all that had happened and you never said anything. Just like you are not going to say anything about this.

So shut your sorry ass mouth and let us go”

“Sage, what have I ever done to you for you to be this horrible to me?”

He said as a single tear streaked out his right eye behind his glasses

I smiled and said

“You never had a backbone. Mom had one stronger than yours, that’s why she thought it was okay to cheat on you.

Pathetic.

Men are not supposed to be weak and you sir are weak”

He turned and sat straight up in his seat. It was like a moving truck had run into him.

He looked devastated.

He slowly turned the key to start up the car. One more glance to his right, I could feel all respect he had for me disappear.

It felt like he had come out there hoping that he would be wrong about me being responsible for Nora.

His face looked like it did when I was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder as a teen.

Powerless.

The cabin of the car was warm, so I wound the window and reclined my seat.

He merged back onto the highway and I closed my eyes.

I woke up about 30 minutes later to voices of people and we were at the airport. My father and I did not say goodbye to each other.

I just grabbed my bags and headed to my gate for my flight.

I went through security pretty easily and arrived at my gate.

Another short wait and we were boarding.

I felt myself finally relaxed as I sat in my seat.

No one had expected it but I was through.

My plan was to land in California and relax. My father was not the type to snitch on his child, so I felt pretty good.

I buckled my seat belt and waited for takeoff as the crew did their final cabin check.

My head was leaned back and my eyes were closed as I waited to hear the pilot announce that were about to takeoff.

The voice never came over the public system.

And suddenly I heard a familiar voice say,

“Mr Moka”

I opened my eyes and looked up, it was Detective Ballazar.

The jig was really up.

……

Some of you started supporting me when I only had 25views a week and now here we are. Thank you for all your support and as you have always supported me, I urge you to do the same for my friend A. http://www.Winnifredugorji.wordpress.com 
She is talented, funny, real and very relatable. Show her some love guys!!!
CHECK OUT HERE BLOG AND LET HER KNOW #WTHM crew says hello!

…….

“How did they know it was you?”

Charles my new cellmate asked me.

“My father”

He looked surprised.

“I thought you said he was not the type to snitch?”

I smiled as I got up from my bed on the lower bunk. I stood up and said,

“I thought so too but apparently he called them right after we got to the airport that evening.”

Charles asked,

“Did he get jail time too for keeping your secret all those years?”

I shook my head and said,

“Nope.

He was their key witness. He claimed he was afraid for his life.

His testimony put me in here”

“Wow. Thats rough”

Charles said.

It was rough but it was life.

The bell rung and the guards walked the hallways saying,

“Stand by”

It was time for our single hour of the day in the yard. And then dinner.

Charles climbed down from the top bed he was sitting on and stood next to me in front of the door.

I looked over and said,

“What is someone as young as you doing in here anyways?

What you in for?”

He didn’t smile as he said,

“Murder, attempted murder and grand theft…”

I shrugged and said,

“True”

We waited and then Charles asked again,

“What happened to the rest of your friends from that weekend?”

I smiled and said,

“Many different stories and outcomes in life. Too much to tell.

How many years you got again?”

“23 before I can apply for parole”

he replied.

I responded as the doors automatically opened.

“Oh we got enough time then…”

Charles said,

“How much time you got left?”

I stepped into the hallway as it got crowded with other inmates and said,

“Three whole life sentences”

His face totally said it all. You know how it goes…. #WTHM

The End

Are you shocked? Upset? Caught off guard? Did you think it was someone else?
I have often found that in most situations, our biases, perceptions and reservations contribute to the opinions we form about certain things. Some of you might have thought Sage was the killer from the jump but the reality is that most of you didn’t.
Because of you views on love, “nice guys” and such but sometimes the answer is right in front of you and other times, you have to dig for answers. (NOT GOING THROUGH HIS PHONE!!!)
There are Sage’s out there, pretending to be people they are not and such. There are other people like Rachel, Bart, Nora but there are also people like Sage’s father who see things and keep quiet.
Suffering in silence if you will.
There are abusive manipulators and liars out there. Avoid them when you can but if you ever get caught in the web of one and make it out, help someone else.

Nora would probably be alive if Sage’s father had spoken up.
Silence can be it’s own death.
Speak up when necessary, you never know who life or who’s heart it might save.
Thank you for reading once again. The Faded series was a step out of my comfort zone and I believe it was received well, so thank you all that commented and those that will comment and share.
Please TWEET about Faded 4. Share the ART. Grow the #WhatTheHeckMan family.
You. Are. Amazing.

Thank you for everything.

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