"So this is it"
"This is it"
Me and my sister just stare out of the window from the other side of the street of course because why would I be stupid enough to park right in front of the house. If Xavier even knew what I was doing right now he'd kill me, well not literally but he'll definitely be mad.
"Second thoughts?", My sister asks me
"A little"
Trinity starts to unbuckle her seatbelt, "I can do it-
I scoff at the fact that she even thinks I'd let her, "Don't you dare, I'm going"
I just have to be as quiet as possible, and besides I doubt that Treyvon's even home right now. "Why would he live here of all places when it's local"
"No one suspects you when you're local. He's hiding in plain sight"
"I'm confused, is he wanted?"
"Well thats what I'm trying to find out, I just need his last name" I say as I undo my seatbelt
Trinity frowns, "Wait so thats why you're checking his mailbox? Mari what if he's home and then hurts you, or even worse finds out your Xavier's girlfriend... he could have a gun"
"Welp, you've got daddy on speed dial so we're good"
Now she looks uneasy, "I don't like this idea anymore"
"I'll be fine", I say whilst getting out
"The things you do for love are insane"
"Two minutes, tops"
I leave her with my car keys before huffing and walking across the street, I don't know what I'm doing and you know what my mom sometimes tells me that I don't think before acting. Now I realise that she's not wrong.
I couldn't see any lights on as I drew closer to Treyvon's house, but I also noticed that this property was not cared for at all. It was very unkept and the steps on the porch were broken, one of the windows was also shattered and I was kind of getting creeped out. A feeling of nausea rushes through me as I keep walking, fuck what if this is like his trap house.
"I'm gonna be sick", I mutter as I look around
The mailbox was on its last life which wasn't even surprising to me, I saw bits and pieces of junk mail so I had to sort through a lot of mail, between pizza ads and cab business cards it was a lot. But then when I finally spotted an envelope beneath it all I felt relieved, I tuck a hair behind my ear as I read the name.
Marquis Washington
I frown with confusion, "What the hell"
I search for another envelope but it's also addressed to the same person, now I'm really confused.
Whose house is this
I saw a light flick on from within the house so in other words it's my time to go, and whether this is Treyvon's house or not it seems this person has a connection to him. And it's not like they care about their mail anyway so I just took the one unopened envelope and went right back to the car.
"Why'd you take so long", Trinity says as I start the car
"Lot of junk mail. Also turns out that this isn't Treyvons house" I drive us round the block just to be safe because I don't know what happened after the light in the house turned on. I still can't believe I just did that
"Wait what?"
I sigh as I tear open the envelope
"Yeah it belongs to someone called Marquis Washington"
"Is that a man or a woman", She says confused
I shrug as I scan my eyes over the letter, I'm starting to feel like this was a waste of time but I know what I saw. Treyvon walked out of that house...
"This is nothing but an eviction notice", I then say after reading the letter
"Yeesh, maybe it's like his girlfriend's house or something.... so what are you gonna do now?"
I think for a moment, "I'm not sure"
My phone then rings, it's connected to my car so the name Zay appeared on the screen. I answer, "Hey"
"What are you doing right now"
"I'm at Target"
"Is that so", His tone tells me he doesn't believe me
"Yes"
"Mari"
"What", I reply to my sister
She points at my window and I jump a little as I look with her, "Shit"
"Shit indeed", My boyfriend says as I put the window down
I play it off, "Hey babe"
Xavier raises an unimpressed eyebrow at me like he already knows what I've been up to but I continue to look at him innocently, sliding the envelope beside my seat. "Amariah"
"Yes?"
"What are you doing"
"Talking to you"
"Stop playing with me, you know what I mean"
"Were you following me?"
"No, I'm always driving on this street and I saw you. Why were you just at Treyvon's moms house"
My sister and I look at each other with realisation, "Ohhhh"
His mom.... makes sense
I don't say anything to Xavier and he reaches into the car beside my seat, I reach for the envelope quickly but it's too late. "Why do you have her mail? Ree are you insane, what the fuck are you doing-
"Ok don't be mad, it's fine she didn't even see me"
"Do you think this is a joke?"
"Mmm nope, not laughing"
Trinity facepalms
"And you brought Trinity too, are you trying to become a target?", Xavier says annoyed
"Ok why are you so pissy? I'm sorry alright, jeez-
"No you think this is a joke. I told you to stay hidden away from him and you go to his moms house"
"Xavier-
"Go home-
"Hold on a minute, your knuckles" I notice
They're bruised
"Yes, I got into a fight" He replies
"What have you been doing tonight?"
"Ignoring Treyvon, like I told you. He sent one of his guys to jump me because of it but Marco's a pussy and I beat his ass"
My sister frowns with a little worry, "Why can't you tell uncle Darnel"
"Not an option", He says to her softly
I scoff, "You told me to trust you Xavier but this situation isn't getting any better"
"It won't if you pull that shit again"
Oh he's mad mad
Zay then looks towards Trinity as I fold my arms, "Next time let me know if your sisters gonna do something crazy like that"
She makes a yikes face, "Alright"
"Go home guys-
I press the button and the window slowly goes back up, this entire situation is just ridiculous. And on top of that now we've gotta go to Target before mom gets suspicious.
"He's mad because he loves you", Trinity says softly
I ignore her comment as I start the car
*
I was mad for the rest of the night, I didn't take it out on anyone though because then I'd receive questions about why I'm mad. I just am.
Xavier didn't text me and I didn't text him, I wasn't going to. He did text me the following morning though and I just didn't feel like replying, yes I'm petty. But we both know that.
"I'm gonna go with Aidan to see how Cole's doing. You coming?" Mom asks as she feeds my brother
"It'll have to be later. I've gotta go to the station real quick-
"I'll come", I suddenly say
Dad frowns, "To the station?"
I nod and Trinity looks at me confused
"You got school", Mom reminds me
"Yeah but it'll be quick right"
"Since when did you ever like going to the station?", He says amused
"I always do", I defend
"Uh no, you used to get bored whenever I took you-
I pick up his car keys, "We gonna keep talking or get moving?"
He takes his keys back from me, "Nobody drives the Bentley but me"
"Yeah yeah"
Trinity picks up her bag as we head for the door, "What are you up to" She asks suspiciously
"Nothing"
"Shotgun" Neveah announces
"In your dreams" I reply
Xavier may have taken that silly piece of mail from me but I've got photographic memory, and you know what for someone who's a drug lord I'm surprised Treyvon doesn't pay his mother's bills. How she's being evicted is beyond me. Anyway we left the house a little early so that dad could drive down to the station, he goes there occasionally when he needs to talk to the officers, I think there's one there that he may even consider a friend but you never know when it comes to lawyers. Dad did question why I was eager to go in with him so I just said to eavesdrop on his conversation which is pretty believable because my whole family knows that I'm nosy.
"I'd say I'm surprised to see you, but then again I'm not" Officer Barnes says amused
Dad chuckles, "I wish these visits weren't so frequent but I gotta talk to you about Alicia"
"The big one?"
"No the other one"
Barnes then looks at me surprised "Little miss sass. Now I am surprised to see you actually"
I sassed him this one time when I was like ten years old and hes given me that nickname ever since, I used to hate it but obviously it's not going anywhere so I just don't care anymore.
I stop looking around, plastering on a smile "Don't mind me. Just here to eavesdrop"
"You wish"
"I find out everything Jonathan"
"We're not on a first name basis-
"Oh yes we are. Where's my cookies"
"Well I didn't know you'd be coming with your dad today so you get none"
"Pfft"
He's thirty five but we bicker constantly, it's all jokes though
"We're gonna go to his office, you good to wait here?" Dad asks me
"Mhm"
They head towards the opposite corridor and I look around for a moment, my phone buzzes so I check it quickly. Neveah texted on our gc.
Triple threat
Veah: why aren't you waiting in the car with us??
Me: making sure that dad hurries his ass up
Trinity: hmm
Trinity: we don't believe u
Me: that's fineð
They were right not to because I'm going straight to the clerk's office, so once again I'm acting without thinking. But so what I like to take risks, who doesn't? Now I'm not stupid, I know that the office is locked because it's got some confidential info and Mr Lyle doesn't work on Fridays. But that's exactly why I took Barnes' master key whilst we were talking and why I am currently unlocking the door.
It's dark in here and I'm scared that if I turn on the light it'll attract attention, well actually I'm starting to wonder if I'm actually scared of anything because what I'm doing is breaking the law. I quietly shut the door behind me before turning my phone flash on and shining it across the room. There are hundreds of draws full of files, I don't know what I'm thinking but I'm already here. So essentially, I'm looking for whatever I can find on Treyvon. He may not have gone to prison but I refuse to believe that his criminal record is crystal clean, if I can at least see what hes been suspected for then I can try to find a way to prove their suspicions.
I was looking through files with the letter W for quite awhile until I came across Washington, there were quite a few people with that last name but the only one that stuck out to me was Marquis. "Eviction notice and criminal record?", I mutter with surprise
I shine my flash on the file before opening it and reading through her case, her mugshot is not pretty at all. This is an extreme invasion of privacy and she probably doesn't deserve what I'm doing at all, I just wanna find what I'm looking for. She probably did her best to raise Treyvon.
Or not
Ok so Marquis has been on their radar for a while, she recently came out of jail on a drug charge and trafficking. This is kind of a painful read, I frown as I drag my phone flash light over each section of the page. There's no mention of any children...or a husband. What if shes never been married, Treyvon might have a different surname. I probably have about a minute left so I'm just gonna have a quick look through all the letters and if I find nothing then I'm just gonna mentally promise myself to leave this to Xavier. For once in my life I'm hoping that dad's conversation with Barnes is a really long one, I haven't even thought about how I'm gonna get this key back to him.
A,B,C,D
hold on a minute...C?
There were just these two separate files in the C draw and as I picked them up I was in for a shock, both were last named Campbell.
"Oh my God", I whisper with a sickening feeling
Malik and Xavier Campbell is what each of them said, why does the clerk have a file on these two?
I looked at Xaviers first, it had his full name, height, age, weight.... everything. There was no picture on the file but you could tell it was about him, the file contained descriptions of what he's a suspect for. It was all to do with drug dealing and descriptions of how he was seen making an exchange, doing a pickup, seen fighting and possibly involved in a knife fight. Any knife fight is only because he was getting attacked, not the other way around. But this was all incriminating information, it was just missing evidence. Malik's was similar but it had way worse, he's a suspect for drug trafficking and murder, his also had a mugshot.
"Amariah?"
I freeze as the light flicks on
I had completely forgotten where I was, I was too engrossed with everything that was in front of me. I close Xavier and Malik's files quickly, but then when I recognise the voice from behind me I frown and turn around. "West?"
"What are you doing", He says confused
I wipe my eye quickly before clearing my throat, "Nothing" I quickly slip the two files into my handbag as he walks over with narrowed eyes
"Going through peoples files....you know thats a crime right"
"Oh really? Didn't know", I play it off
"How did you get in here?"
"None of your business"
"Yeah you're right, I should just call Barnes down here-
"His master key", I answer quickly
West frowns at me, "Who were you looking into?"
"Doesn't matter-
I'm quickly pushed back against the wall as he shuts the light quickly, there's voices coming from outside the door. I frown as we stand there in the dark and he looks through the window before turning back to me. "Why the fuck would you risk your life like that", He whisper shouts
I shrug and he takes the file in my hand from me, I scoff "Hey-
"Again, it's either me or the cops. If you want me to keep your silly secret then tell me what you're up to-
"Ok well you're in here too"
"And I can simply get out of this by mentioning I was doing work for my dad, who's a cop"
"Your dads a cop?"
He doesn't reply as he reads from the file, "Who's Marquis Washington?"
"Doesn't matter, it's a dead end anyway" I mutter
"What was the point"
"I can't tell you"
"Oh come on is it ever that serious-
"Yes, it is"
"It's not like I'm gonna tell anybody"
"Well how do I know that"
"Try me"
I sigh, "Look I wish I could....but I can't"
I haven't even told Indiah so I can't tell him, furthermore it's not his business
"I can tell you're not going to these extreme lengths for yourself"
"Yeah well they don't even want the help so I should've just left it"
My eyes then narrow for a second, "West. Your face"
"What?", He looks up from the file
I gesture to underneath his eyebrow but he brushes it off, "Oh it's nothing"
"You say that a lot..."
"Cause it is"
"I-
I'm cut off by the sound of my phone ringing, I quickly rummage through my pocket before fishing it out and answering. "Hello?"
"Where are you?", Dad asks confused
"Bathroom, I'll be out in a sec"
I then turn to West as the call ends, "Um I've gotta go.... please don't tell anyone"
He nods silently before handing me back the file but I wave it off, "It's fine I don't need that one"
"Alright"
I notice he's not in uniform, "Are you coming to school?"
"Haven't decided"
"You should come"
I then look at the camera cautiously, clearly I didn't think that one through very well. West notices me looking, "I'll sort it out"
"How?"
"Just trust me, for once"
"Ok...", I then head towards the door
"Amariah"
"Yes?"
"The key", He reminds me
"Oh shit, yeah. Thanks" I hand it to him and he nods a you're welcome
"Um so I guess I'll see you later"
"Bye"
That was weird
Dad was waiting for me by the doors,"Ready?"
I lift my bag over my shoulder, "Yup"
What did I just do....