WRONGFUL CONVICTION

There wasn't much to be done in a situation like this. What could you do?

Sage was almost sure she'd have to plead for her job back after having two detectives come in to take her to the station and interrogate her, leaving them with one less staff member for the day. They were already short and had called her in on her day off. She could always use the extra money so she agreed to work.

She knew they would come asking for her eventually but she didn't expect for it to be this soon and it showed in her demeanor. She couldn't stop moving around and fidgeting with her fingers as she sat all alone in the dull colored room. The room was cool but she still felt hot as she waited for them to come back in. Sage was also beginning to taste blood from the excessive amount of gnawing she was doing to the insides of her cheeks.

Her eyes couldn't do anything but dart around the room as she sat there. They had nothing else to focus on. She looked like a train wreck but was trying her best to seem as cool as a cucumber.

The detectives abruptly entered the room with stone cold glares on their faces. They weren't exactly looking at Sage though, and it made her a little nervous because she couldn't keep her eyes off of them.

Agents Morris and Steele sat down almost simultaneously, Morris releasing a slow sigh as Steele sat the case file on the table and opened it up. She sat a few pictures of the twins' dead disfigured bodies out in front of the platinum haired woman and Sage instantly winced. Her eyes quickly averted back up to the detectives. She could have kept the close up of the girls out of her imagination forever but now it was permanently etched there.

Still, no one said anything. She didn't know what they wanted her to say to those photos.

Sandra was getting tired of looking at this spec of dirt who she already felt most likely did the crime. She was just ready to put this woman behind bars so the case would be over with. At that point, there were no other leading suspects. "Do you know these two young ladies?" Her voice came out firm and slightly echoed throughout the plain room.

The only color on the walls was a dull gray that contrasted with the darkness of the double-sided windows the detectives were using to watch Sage before they entered themselves. The table and chairs they were sitting on were also metal and cold to the touch. The interrogation room was cool in general and wasn't quite designed to make people feel comfortable.

"No, I don't." Sage answered without so much as a second glance towards the disturbing pictures that were still laid out in front of her.

"That's Kaniya Holt," Sandra spoke as she pointed at one of the disfigured bodies, "and this right here is Malaysia Holt. Mayor Holt's twin daughters and only children. Well they were at least." She added, her eyes narrowing as she glared at Sage with her lips cut into a scowl.

Ronald felt like it was then his turn to speak up. He knew how worked up his partner could get and if this was a good cop bad cop scenario, she would most definitely be the bad cop. "And your phone?" He pulled the evidence bag containing her phone seemingly out of nowhere and placed it on the table. "Was found at the scene of the crime."

"And I saw you running away from the crime scene the next day when we were gathering evidence. Perhaps coming back for a certain cellphone you dropped while you were running away after you finished murdering those two girls." Agent Steele added, her voice stern like a mother scolding her child.

"What—no! I can explain that."

Sage barely even got to plea before Sandra cut in again. "Well you're gonna have to because surveillance cameras showed you running away from the crime scene around the estimated time of death. And after doing a little research... you have a motive better than anyone to hurt Malaysia and Kaniya."

The platinum haired woman's eyebrows instantly furrowed together. "What are you talking about motive? I just said that I don't know them." Her tone came out a bit more harsh now as she got defensive. She hated having to reiterate herself, it didn't matter who it was to.

Sandra only smirked and flipped through a few pages that rested in the manila folder sitting in front of her before laying out an article about Shamar's car accident from a couple of years ago. The headline read: Man Left in Critical Condition After Brutal Collision on Intersection.

Sage's face turned up in disgust and she pushed the article away, no longer wanting to read it. The way the title alone sounded as if there was no empathy involved when coming up with it was enough to turn her off completely. "What does this have to do with them?"

"Kaniya Holt was behind the wheel of the vehicle that hit your father and her sister was in the passenger seat. They both came out seemingly unscathed." Steele responded as if the woman was slow for even asking her the question. She knew exactly what the detective was talking about, Sandra was sure of it.

Sage stared at her for a while, unable to form any words to reply with as her eyes unwillingly swelled up with fresh salty tears. They were the reason that her father could never hug his family again? Why wouldn't anyone have told her that? "N-no, you're lying. I would have heard about it, the news would have reported about it."

"C'mon now. They're the mayors daughters and Kaniya didn't even have her driver's permit so the drivers of the other vehicle were kept under wraps and you're angry about that... aren't you?" Agent Morris' Italian accent was in full effect as questioned her, studying her behavior.

"Of course I am. My dad almost died! That girl should have been in jail, not protected. And y'all knew about this and just did nothing about it? You say your duty is to protect and serve but only when it's convenient, huh?" In all honesty with the news she had just received, Sage had completely forgotten what she was being interrogated about and was just livid as hell now. They did nothing to help her family when it was their job to do so. It made her realize how corrupt the world really was and how close to home it could hit.

"You're angry we didn't do something about it so you took it upon yourself to get justice for your dad. It's only human to feel that way and all but you have to own up to what you did now and sign a confession. These girl's families deserved justice too." Ronald continued, trying his best to sound as soothing as possible so he wouldn't upset her anymore than he knew she already was.

Sage immediately sucked her teeth. "For the last time, I don't know those fucking girls and fuck their families!" She stood up from her seat as the detectives just sat back and watched her point a harsh finger at them. "Neither them or you gave a fuck about my family when it came down to it. But that doesn't mean that I killed those girls."

"So who did then?"

The light caramel toned woman's words got caught in her throat as she tried to think of a response. She gulped hard as she sat down and began trying to explain everything that had happened that night. The date, why she was walking through that area in the first place, and what she saw and heard coming from that abandoned house that night. She hated reliving that moment but knew she had to for the sake of her freedom.

Sandra and Ronald looked at each other before looking back over at their suspect. "So you mean to tell me a 'black figure' beat them to death?" Agent Steele looked Sage dead in the eyes as if she was completely bored by the story she had just told her. It was unconvincing to say the least. She had the strongest motive and was literally in the area at the time of death. Sandra knew for certain that they had their man, they just needed to get this damn confession out of her and she was making it hard.

"I don't know how else to describe it. The person was dressed in black from head to toe, I couldn't see any skin."

"How convenient." Sandra gave her a sarcastic toothless grin, not moved by her story in the slightest.

Suddenly the door busted open and in walked Sage's mother followed by her attorney. "Sage, you don't have to say anything else."

It was sort of already too late. She had already said everything that she needed to say, she just didn't know where to go from there. The detectives didn't seem like they believed her at all.

Steele immediately rolled her eyes and closed up the case file, already knowing exactly where this was going and it annoyed her. She wasn't finished with the suspect, she knew she could break her down if she just had a bit more time with her. Everything lined up and pointed to her as the murderer but it was all circumstantial evidence. Neither her prints nor DNA were found in the actual house or on the persons of the deceased so they needed that confession from her to be able to make the arrest. Sandra was itching to slap some cuffs on her and finally close the case.

"If it's ok with you all, I'd like to take my daughter home now. You interrupted her life enough today." Sanai spoke in the voice she used when she was trying to sound as professional as possible.

Sandra scowled at the both of them but said nothing as she and Ronald watched them walk out of the door.

*******

Ronald sat in his office, typing away on his keyboard. His partner assumed he was doing the work to find more evidence on their case like she was, but instead he was chatting with a woman he had met on a dating app a few days ago.

She was average looking to him but she was of actual Italian descent and had a body that most women her age didn't have anymore so he felt like they could make something work. Thus far, she had been cool and funny. She had jet black hair that she had cut in a blunt bob that reached her shoulders, pale skin that had a few beauty marks scattered here and there, and thick fluffy eyebrows that arched perfectly over her dark brown eyes. She was a seven at the very least and since she exercised frequently, her body was nice and fit.

Ronald could only imagine how much stamina she'd have in bed. She seemed like she was down to find out too. They had planned to meet up that weekend at a bar for the first time and have a few drinks. He was ready to put that entire Chantell situation behind him now.

She had been texting him nonstop since the night before and apologizing about making him feel like she was playing with him but he could honestly care less. He said what he had to say already and wasn't going to spend anymore energy on it. He was too old to be playing games or going back and forth with anyone so he wasn't going to.

He already had his next few options lined up and while Chantell was one of the best looking ones, she wasn't the only one and that was something he felt he needed to make clear to her.

A light knock sounded off on his door which instantly caused his eyebrows to come together in confusion. Usually, Sandra would just barge right in without so much as a warning first so he was sure that it had to be someone else. "Come in." He called out, his eyes trained on the wooden office door.

As if he had thought her up himself, Chantell sashayed through the door and closed it shut behind her. Her bronzed skin was radiating and the lip gloss that coated her lips made them look extra kissable. An all black strapless sundress hugged her curves perfectly and she wore a pair of black furry Ugg slides on her feet to match, showcasing her freshly polished toes. Her hair was slicked back into a low curly puff with two stray curls hanging at her sideburns and framing her gorgeous face that was dressed in light makeup. Her natural beauty never failed to amaze Ronald. She looked good without even trying.

Still, he couldn't let her off the hook that quick. He wasn't about to allow her to hypnotize him. "What are you doin' in my office? I'm at work and my partner works right next door so if you think you're about to come bring drama into my workplace 'cause I ain't been answering you then you got another thing comin'." He seemed to say all in one breath while Chantell just inched closer to him.

She inwardly rolled her eyes about his nagging before he even knew what she was actually there for. She rounded the corner of his desk and approached him seductively causing him to roll back in his chair a bit, unsure of what her next move would be since the last thing he did was smack her food out of her hands and left her standing on her front porch.

Chantell reached out and lightly caressed his face, slowly making her way down to her knees. Within seconds, the detective's belt buckle was undone and his pants were unzipped. Ronald kept his arms at his sides but kept his eyes on her as she kept eye contact with him with each new movement she made.

Her soft plump lips wrapped themselves around the tip of his member, immediately causing it to begin to harden in her small hands. The middle aged man's eyes rolled to the back of his head as her tongue traced circles along the skin of his dick which had now grown stiff. She kept her eyes trained on him, knowing how it made men crazy when they looked in her eyes while her mouth was full of their manhood.

She was glad he wasn't an unattractive older guy because it would have made everything ten times harder. She knew she needed to get back into his good graces, especially after speaking about the surveillance video he was going to show her the night before. He couldn't leave her hanging like that.

One of Ronald's hands rested on the back of her head as she began bobbing it up and down, an audible grunt escaping his mouth which made her smirk to herself. She wasn't even giving her best effort and she still had him right where she wanted him.

Her spit slowly oozed down his shaft while she picked up her pace, deep throating the entirety of his length with no hands as loud gargling sounds filled his office. She continued to orally pleasure him, allowing herself to get sloppy and nasty with it until he released in her mouth, a long barely audible groan coming from his own since he was sure Sandra was still closed up in her office beside his.

Chantell gathered all of his nut and the tip of her tongue and traced small circles on his tip with it before sucking it back off and swallowing it whole, a smirk forming on her face as Ronald widened his eyes at her. She stuck her tongue out to show him that she hadn't missed a single drop of it.

He had never had a woman swallow his kids like that with no problem before. He couldn't do anything but watch her astonished. His ex-wife, Marjory, could and would never. She always said his semen was too salty to keep in her mouth and would spit it back onto him. He should have known she'd think that though because she barely seasoned her food.

"I'm sorry for what I said." She mumbled as she planted a light kiss on his skin of his shaft, batting her long mink eyelashes as she looked up at him. "Forgive me?"

Ronald couldn't even form any words so he just nodded his head instead which instantly made Chantell smile at him before standing to her feet. "Call me when you get off. Don't wanna get you into any issues with your partner." She added, along with a seductive wink before making her way back out of his office with a grin, twisting her ass with each step she took.

She had him right back where she wanted him.

*******

Loud and hurried knocks sounded off on Sergio's front door as if it were the police ready to break it down at any second. He smacked his lips and instinctively pulled his strap out from underneath his mattress before heading over to find out who the hell was banging on his door like that.

He looked through the peephole and immediately furrowed his eyebrows when he saw his sister's face staring back at him. They hadn't had any type of contact with each other since the day he went over there and Sanai slapped him. Sage hadn't texted him either so he wasn't sure what she was here for but he unlocked the door and swung it open anyway.

Sage instantly barged in, pushing Sergio with all her strength and causing him to stumble back a few feet, twisting his face up as he glared at her like she had lost her mind. He wasn't sure what she was mad about now but he didn't have the time or patience for her shenanigans at the moment. "Fuck is wrong with you?"

"What the fuck is wrong with me? What the fuck is wrong with you!" She pushed him again and this time he forcefully grabbed her wrists, snatching them away from him. "You're the one that told me to watch the news so you knew who those girls were!"

Once he realized what she was rambling on about, his faced straightened out into a more bored expression. He was just telling her to let her know, he didn't think it would be a problem. "And?"

"And when you and daddy got into that accident, they were the ones driving the car that hit you. You didn't think that was something I should know?" Her face was a reddish tint and her blood was boiling at this point. Her family kept so many big things from her all the time when all she did was help them and she was beginning to get really tired of it.

Sergio slightly rolled his eyes at her dramatics. She was always overreacting to things that weren't that big of a deal and then blew up the same way she was doing now. "Why would you need to know that? You wasn't in the car. You wasn't even in the state. You wasn't around when it happened so it's irrelevant." He shrugged.

Sage only glared at him for a split second before she swung but her little brother's reflexes were a bit quicker than hers and he swiftly dodged out of the way in time before grabbing both of her arms and spinning her so that her back was to him as he pinned her hands by her sides. "Aye, stop fuckin' hitting me!"

"They think I killed them because dad got hurt and they didn't get in trouble for the accident. You should have fucking told me that when you found out it was them!" Tears were coming to her eyes because she was so pissed she couldn't take her anger out on him. He was stronger than her and had an advantage.

"I don't like talking about that shit Sage, you know that." Sergio retorted right before his sister abruptly stomped on his foot causing him to involuntarily let go of her as he howled in pain. He was barefoot and only wearing slides so he felt all of the creases from the bottom of her shoe sink into his toes.

Sage quickly tried to gain an advantage over him with the time she had bought herself but was again pinned down ten seconds later. Now they were both angry and their tempers were no match for each other. "You wouldn't understand Sage."

"No, I don't understand because you don't tell me shit and I barely see you because you moved out and never come around except when you feel like it. Mom was right, you're selfish!"

Sergio smacked his teeth. "Man, fuck you and fuck mom. Both of y'all bitches can go choke on a dick. Y'all not the ones that gotta walk around everyday feeling like it's your fault your family's fucked up now. We used to be close and now we always fighting and I'm the one that gotta carry that burden, not y'all."

"Gio, what the fuck are you even talking about? How could it be your fault when dad was protecting you from those girl's reckless driving? And they said they found you only with a few cuts and a broken arm in the passenger seat which was a miracle considering they hit that side."

Sage couldn't even see her brother's face because her back was turned to him but if she could, she'd know that he was silently shedding a few tears. He hated to be reminded of that night but it seemed like no matter what he did, even years later it would never stop. "They weren't the ones in the wrong that night, Sage. Kaniya just didn't have her permit but her light was green."

"So their light was green. That still doesn't make everything your fault, you weren't even driving—"

"I was driving, Sage!" He snapped causing the entire house to fall into an eerie silence. Sage began to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, realizing why her brother barely liked to come around or why he rarely saw his father in the hospital unless Shamar was asleep.

He felt guilty for being the reason their dad was the way he was and he beat himself up everyday for ruining his family with just one dumb mistake he wished he could take back. Everything was starting to make sense to her. The drugs, the isolation, the constant state of anger Sergio always seemed to be in. She couldn't even say it wasn't his fault because it was. He had only just turned fifteen when it happened so she was sure he didn't have his license and he still ran a red light.

"So why'd they say they found you in the passenger seat?"

Sergio released her arms and walked away from her, running his hands over his face as he began pacing the ground. He had lived with his secret for two years and hadn't told a soul. He wanted to keep it that way because he didn't want her to look at him any differently but something in him had to let her know. "They did find me there... I knew I would never be able to get my license if I was the one responsible for the accident so I switched me and dad around before the cops could show up and when they did, I acted like I had passed out from the impact so they wouldn't suspect anything. And dad never told them nothing either."

"So you moved daddy to the driver's seat? What if he was..." She trailed off, not even wanting to think of the possibility of her father passing away. Him getting hurt was enough heartbreak for her. "You really would have just let him take the fall like that?"

Sergio didn't look at her nor did he answer verbally but that told her everything she needed to know. She shook her head as she looked at her brother, barely being able to recognize the chirpy teenager she had left in charge of helping out their parents when she first went off to college.

Chantell giggled innocently as she propped her phone up between her face and her shoulder to continue repainting her toenails. De'Angelo was still in his bedroom, knocked out from the night before and she figured she'd use it as her time to fix her pedicure since a couple of her nails had started to chip.

"You did not think that about me when you first saw me." She added playfully, a slight blush creeping up on her face. She loved being told that she was pretty, it didn't matter who it came from. It made her feel good.

"What I gotta lie to you for, eh? I know you saw me staring at you the whole time." Agent Morris' baritone voice replied from the other end of the phone call.

Chantell gave it a couple days so she wouldn't seem too excited but she ultimately took him up on his offer and put his number to use. Since she couldn't talk about Sage's case with De'Angelo and knew he most likely wouldn't tell her anyway, she decided to find out what she wanted to know the only other way she could. She was nosey and wanted to know all of the details about what was going on, starting with why they were looking for Sage in the first place.

"I actually wouldn't mind the chance to stare at you some more." Ronald added flirtatiously, his strong Italian accent causing a smile to form on her face. She didn't know anyone else in the area with his accent and liked that it was different from the rest. "Maybe you could send me a picture?"

Chantell looked down at her attire with a twisted face as he voiced his suggestion. Her hair was in a purple satin bonnet and she had on one of De'Angelo's t-shirts from inside his dresser. Pants were nearly pointless around her boyfriend so instead, she was sporting her black lace Victoria's Secret thong out in the open. "I don't know about that one. I'm looking kind of hit right now." She responded back, putting the finishing touches on her toenails. She closed the nail polish bottle as she blew on the freshly coated pedicure.

Ronald's deep chuckle came through the speakers. She couldn't look ugly even if she poked her arms through a trash bag and actually tried, but he would respect her decision anyway. "Well maybe not now but, eh, how 'bout later?" He responded. She was about to tell him of course she wouldn't mind sending him one once she looked more presentable but as soon as she opened her mouth to speak, his voice sounded through the speakers again. "Matter of fact, how 'bout I just take you out. I'd rather see you in person if that's alright wit' you."

Chantell thought it over for a few seconds although she already knew what her answer was going to be. "I'd love to. I'm actually free tonight."

Tonight was the perfect time to sneak a date in and get some information from Agent Morris because De'Angelo had to be at work by 6:30P.M and would be there for most of the night before closing. Tomorrow he had the day off so she wouldn't be able to do it then and she didn't want to wait until later on in the week because she was so antsy about what was going on already. The detectives didn't give her much to go off of.

"Tonight, eh? Dinner at eight then? Wear something nice for me." Ronald answered in his most sultry tone. There weren't a lot of times where a woman as young and beautiful as she was gave him the time of day so he was going to soak up as much of this as he could. He was sure he wouldn't get to for long since he remembered her mentioning a boyfriend before when he and his partner questioned her.

"You as well. I tend to outshine so you're gonna have to prove you can match my drip." She retorted playfully, attempting to make him a bit more relaxed and comfortable with her by joking around with him.

Ronald chuckled and licked over his lips, already imagining how they would feel on hers. "Sounds like a challenge ma, I'll pick you up later tonight. I remember which house it was."

"Ok, see you tonight." Chantell pulled the phone away from her ear and ended the call. Her focus then turned back to eyeing how well she did on her pedicure and trying not to move too much so she wouldn't mess them up.

"Who was that?"

Chantell nearly jumped out of her skin once she heard the deep voice call out from the base of the stairs. Her head reeled around to look behind her to see De'Angelo standing shirtless in his boxers and rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes. He didn't seemed upset or phased at all so she was sure he hadn't heard too much of the conversation. His eyes and lips were still a bit puffy so she knew he had most likely just woken up.

"Baby! You scared the shit out of me. What I tell you about sneaking up on me like that?" She threw her hand over her chest as she released a small sigh and stood up from her seat on the couch. "That was my cousin, Alayja though. You remember her?" He nodded. "Well she invited me out to one of her best friend's birthday dinners. You know all three of them are mad close. I told her since you were going to work tonight that I'd be free so I could come through."

Chantell made her way up to her boyfriend and planted a light kiss on his lips as his arms immediately found themselves snaked around her waist. They shared a few pecks as she smiled up at him. He was so handsome even after he had literally just rolled out of bed.

De'Angelo chuckled and palmed her bare ass since her panties didn't do much to cover any skin whatsoever. "What y'all about to go eat?"

"I didn't even ask. I was gonna meet her at her house and just ride with her there. Did you want something?" She asked as she stood in his arms, her fingers roaming all through his hair.

He honestly hated when she did it because it messed up his waves but he knew she liked to play in his hair and she was the only one allowed to do it so, he didn't mind it too much. "Nah, I'll just find something to eat near my job. I don't want yo clumsy ass walking in heels with my food in your hands."

De'Angelo quickly pulled away without haste, blocking the hit that his girlfriend already had coming his way as they both laughed because they knew it was true. Sometimes she could be clumsy at the worst times.

"Nah, but for real. Just enjoy yourself baby and tell your cousin I said what's up. I'm gonna eat something then start getting ready for work."

*******

Sandra forcefully pushed down the fast forward button on the VCR that held the tape of the surveillance footage from a surrounding business in the area the night of the double homicide. She had been watching for about half an hour around the estimated time of death and she was already beginning to grow impatient. This was usually something she would have had Morris do but of course, he was running a bit late.

As if on cue, Ronald came rushing through the door. His sleek jet black hair was damp as if he had been sweating and his pale skin had turned a slight tint of red. His tie was nearly thrown over his shoulder and his shirt had wrinkles in it from moving around too much.

"So nice of you to join me, Morris. You can pick up where I left off." She uttered out sternly without even sparing a glance his way. He knew she was mad at him because she always called him by his last name when she couldn't stand the sound of his first one on her tongue.

He didn't even bother responding back because he honestly could care less about whatever attitude she had today. In several hours, he was going to be away from her uptight ass and around more appealing company. She couldn't mess up his mood if she wanted to.

Ronald began watching the footage, the streetlight in the middle of the video being the only source of illumination that night. Things were pretty still for the most part aside from the occasional line of cars passing by the street where the crime took place.

After a little while, his attention span began to veer off towards other things. He wanted to pull out his phone and text Chantell badly but he knew after already being late, Sandra wouldn't be having that. It wasn't even his fault that he was late either. Some weird druggie decided to walk to the middle of a bridge and get himself stuck on one of the exit signs, holding the entire freeway up once emergency responders came to help him get down.

Ronald wondered what could have possibly been going through the guy's mind when he was climbing onto the sign in the first place.

"Wait! Wait, go back." Sandra exclaimed from over his shoulder as she got a bit closer to the screen.

Agent Morris started to rewind the tape and that's when he saw the figure running backwards towards the opposite end of the screen. Once it was out of frame again, he pressed play. Sandra and Ronald both watched with attentive eyes as someone ran across the street in the opposite direction of the abandoned house where the gruesome murders took place. It was obvious the person was running away from something close by but because of how dark it was, all they could see was that the person was wearing what seemed to be a dress.

They replayed that part of the footage over and over again, trying to get a clear view of the figure that had only been on the screen for about a second and a half due to how fast they were running.

Sandra squinted her eyes at the platinum blonde hair that caught her attention as it flashed across the screen again. "Blonde hair." She stepped away from the television as Ronald looked back at her with a confused expression on his face. "I saw a woman with blonde hair running away from the crime scene when we were bagging up evidence the day after the murders. That has to be Sage Medina; she must have been coming back for her phone." Sandra added as she lifted up the proclaimed bright yellow phone they had found on the premises.

"So surveillance footage shows her running away but it doesn't show from what." Her partner spoke more to himself but Sandra smacked her lips anyway.

"What else, Ronald?" She raised her arms then they fell back down to her sides. "It was three in the morning, around the estimated time of death and she showed up at the crime scene the day after."

He sighed and turned around to watch her run across the screen once more. He hadn't personally seen the girl but he knew Sandra was probably right. "Yea, that's condemning and all but that's all circumstantial. We're gonna have to have a good reason to pull her in and question her since there's nothing else really leading the crime to her."

"Her cell phone was at the fucking crime scene for crying out loud." She exclaimed, only resorting to cussing when she was really agitated but she was met with her partner's silence in response. "Ugh, fine!" She retorted back in annoyance and with that, she immediately went to work on researching every possible record she could find on Sage Medina.

Agent Steele read over the information she found for hours ranging from her school records to her various job positions to her attendance in college. It stated that she dropped out after two years a while ago and hadn't continued or enrolled for anywhere else since then and it made Sandra wonder why.

She kept at the digging and at this point, it had been five hours since she first started her research and Ronald was now in his office doing a bit of his own, them both trying to make sure they got every detail of this woman's life covered. Of course, he also used the privacy as his time to shoot back a few responses to text messages he had gotten and to also confirm the reservation to his favorite Italian restaurant that he would be taking Chantell to that evening.

Sandra decided to just search up her last name instead of full name and the first thing to pop up was a car accident involving one Shamar Medina the same exact year Sage had dropped out of school. That's when it clicked for the detective; the man had obviously been the suspect's father or other immediate family member and she left college after his accident.

Agent Steele kept reading over the details in the article about the accident, some things seeming awfully familiar to her as she meticulously scanned over some of the reports from local news stations. Her eyes instantly lit up as a light bulb abruptly flicked on in her head, her hands frantically reaching out to grab all of her things off her desk. "Morris!"

"Yea?" She heard her partner call back out to her from his office that sat right beside hers.

"I think it's high time we bring Sage Medina in for questioning."

*******

It was like if he blinked, he'd miss a crucial moment of the beauty in front of him and he didn't want to miss a thing. She was dressed down in a wine red satin dress that had a deep plunge v-neck and stopped at her knees, hugging her figure beautifully. A matching color lipstick coated her luscious lips and a pair of clear strapped heels wrapped her feet. She accessorized the outfit with a silver clutch and silver choker with matching dangling earrings.

Ronald had cleaned up well with his smooth jet black hair slicked to the back and a navy dress shirt that complimented his skin tone well. He had on black slacks with a black tie and leather dress shoes. They both looked sharp and could stand out within the entire restaurant.

"The food is actually really good though, it's like they put all the right spices in the pasta." Chantell complimented as she forked in another bite of her rigatoni with sausage.

Her date smiled back at her, glad that she also enjoyed one of his favorite food spots as they both ate together and exchanged pleasant conversation.

After a while though, Chantell just couldn't help herself. She was on a mission and had really only came on this date for one reason only. "So... when we met you guys were asking questions about my boyfriend's best friend. Can I ask why?" She questioned causing him to shift a bit in his seat before she quickly rested her hand on his. "I only want what's best for him. I just wanna know if this is something I should be worried about."

He knew that the case was one of the most important ones he had ever worked on and that he shouldn't give any information to anyone that wasn't on his team, but they did question her without giving her a clear reason as to why and she was allowing him to occupy her time. "Well, my partner and I—we're working the Holt double homicide case." He stated without directly saying the reason aloud.

Chantell sat there silently for a few seconds as her brain racked with a million questions. "So, Sage? You think she did that?" She had to keep herself from smirking. She knew that she needed to keep up this concerned girlfriend facade to continue getting information out of him.

"We're not a hundred percent sure on what happened right now, we're just tryin' to put the pieces together." He answered, still finding ways to deflect while telling her enough to be satisfied with. He didn't want to get into too much trouble.

"But there must be a reason you're looking for her right? You guys must have found something." When Chantell realized she sounded a bit too excited, she cleared her throat and sat back in her seat.

Ronald squinted at her, his dark brown eyes deep and calculating. He was confused about her sudden interest in the case since she hadn't asked about it the entire time they had been texting or talking on the phone. "Why you wanna know?"

Chantell's heart sped up as she internally panicked but she couldn't show her anxiousness on the outside. She resorted to the only thing she knew would be sure to distract him a bit from his suspicion. Her foot traveled up his leg, gently curving with the natural bend of his knee as she rested it on his crotch area, a sultry look in her eye.

Ronald widened his eyes in a bit of shock but quickly caught himself, softly embedding his bottom lip between his teeth. Her foot rubbed gentle circles on his member with her being sure not to apply too much pressure since she had shoes on. "I don't think you understand Ron, I'd do anything for my man." Her voice sounded as smooth as the material she was wrapped in that evening.

Her date began to grow in his pants from the sudden stimulation and look in her eyes. He could throw her over the table and eat her up right now if they wouldn't have consequences for it. "T-today we were watching surveillance footage and saw her running away from the crime scene that night."

Chantell's eyebrows suddenly furrowed. Her house wasn't too far from the house where the murders happened and she had no idea Sage had been that close to her home. She could practically see the street Sage would have had to come down from her bedroom window. De'Angelo probably knew his best friend would be close by that night and kept Chantell distracted with sex to keep his girlfriend from beating her ass.

"I can show it to you if you want?" Now Ronald was just speaking with the head of his dick, he just didn't want the feeling of her playing with him under the table of a public restaurant to ever end.

To his dismay, she suddenly sat up and rested her head in both of her hands as she batted her long mink eyelashes. "Mm, promise?"

Ronald nodded and the rest of their dinner date was filled with more casual conversation, a few laughs, and flirtatious banter. He actually enjoyed spending time with her, she was laid back and didn't take things too seriously. Being around a person like Sandra all day, he needed someone to unwind and let loose with. She also got his twisted sense of humor. Most other people would have had him crucified for some of the insensitive things he said but she was laughing right along with him. It had been a while since he clicked with someone so well and he wished she didn't have a boyfriend because he didn't want that to end.

Since he insisted on picking her up for their date, Ronald drove her back home with his hand rested on her bare thigh due to her dress riding up a bit while she sat down. Her skin was smooth and he occasionally tightened his grip to feel the contrast of softness against his calloused fingers.

The ride there didn't take long and he walked her to her front door once they pulled in front of her house. She still had some leftover food in a plastic container that she held as she dug through her clutch for her keys. Once she found them, she unlocked her front door and turned back to Ronald with a smile. She couldn't invite him inside because she had no clue whether or not De'Angelo was coming by after work and didn't want to take the risk.

"Thank you for the food Ron, I had a really good time with you. Hopefully we can do it again some time..." She famously batted her eyelashes and it made his member throb in his slacks as he remembered their encounter at the restaurant.

"Most definitely. I'd love to see you again."

Chantell's smile grew wider at his words; she knew she had him in the bag. It was only when he leaned in closer to her with his lips puckered did the grin get wiped clean off her face as her head reeled back quickly.

"What are you doing?" She asked as more of a rhetorical question, her energy completely changed causing Ronald to feel put off by it as well.

The tall Italian man smacked his lips as he stood back up straight, also taking a couple steps away from her. "What do you mean what am I doing? We were having a good time and—"

"And you know I have a boyfriend who I just said I'd do anything for. Do you remember that? That includes not kissing other guys just because we went out to eat." Chantell knew she was probably saying more than she should have but she couldn't help it. When she got angry, she didn't care what she said or how she said it. She felt tried.

"You were doing all that shit in the restaurant, rubbing on my dick and now you feel like you're too good to kiss me after I paid for that fucking meal in your hands?" Ronald pointed to her leftovers before angrily slapping the container of food out of her hand causing it and its contents to go flying into a window near her front door. Chantell jumped at the force alone, staring at him with her mouth agape.

He wasn't for the games at all and she wasn't about to play with him like they hadn't been flirting all night. He knew he wasn't crazy, she was just being a damn tease and that was one thing the man couldn't stand.

Sergio hesitated a bit as he lifted his fist to knock on the maroon colored door in front of him. His nerves rarely ever got this bad and he was trying his best to steady his breathing to a more normal pace; his usual nonchalant attitude completely out of the window.

He wasn’t trying to but he looked handsome. His hair was braided back into two cornrows that reached the middle of his back and a black Nike tracksuit was clad on his body, along with a matching bag that was slung around his shoulder. He wore a plain white t-shirt underneath and a pair of cocaine white Air Force 1s. It was simple and Sergio looked good in simple.

The weeds surrounding the house were overgrown as if there was no one that could tend to them and it made Sergio feel even worse than he already had been. He’d have to find the time to come back down and mow the lawn for them, front and back. For now, though, he was just trying to see his family for the first time in several months.

There were days where he could move on about his life as if it was nothing, and then there were days like these where all he could think about was how distant his family had become. Every few months he did these random pop-ups and considering how everything was going at that moment, he thought it’d be nice to at least see them. He wasn’t sure how long he’d stay because things had a way of turning left very quickly with them, but it would at least hold him off until he started to feel this way again.

After a few seconds of him standing there waiting, the front door swung open and Sergio was immediately met with his mother’s concerned face. By now, she was used to her son’s random visits and knew that it meant some things had been weighing on his mind heavily.

Neither of them reached out to hug each other though. Sanai instead stepped aside to let him in before closing and locking the door behind him.

Sanai had her hair up in a neat top knot bun, one of her signature styles people would always catch her in. She wore one of her old t-shirts from high school that she could still fit into and a pair of black leggings on her lower half. A messy white apron was tied around her waist that looked as if she had been doing science experiments in it and she had her house slippers on.

Sergio allowed his eyes to wander around the interior of the house, noticing that not much had been changed since the last time he was over. Pictures still hung in the same frames and all of the furniture resided in the places they did before.

He immediately made his way into the living room and sat down on the couch as his mother followed behind him. “So, where’s pop?” He spoke, his eyes darting everywhere but at Sanai.

His mother just stood there staring at the teenager with her arms crossed. She had an unreadable expression on her face, but it wasn’t exactly as happy as it should be considering this was the first time she had saw her son in several months. It was more so her trying to study him.

“He’s upstairs taking a nap. Your sister just fed him and helped me bathe him so he fell asleep pretty quickly.” Sanai responded without taking her eyes off of her child. She wasn’t sure if he was still sleeping for certain or not because she spent most of her time downstairs. She just went off what Sage had told her about an hour or two ago.

Although she would never leave him, Sanai hated seeing her husband in the condition he was in because she knew that he despised it as well. It didn’t sit right with her that the man who once helped to build their home from the ground up could no longer even lift his arm to hold her hand during times when she needed it. The couple couldn’t randomly start slow dancing in the middle of their room to absolutely no music anymore. They couldn’t get into the mini food fights they used to when they cooked together. Shamar could no longer be the man that she fell in love with.

And sometimes that love was the only thing that kept her there because to say she was unhappy would be an understatement.

“Oh ok, well, how y'all been?” Sergio continued with the usual questions he asked when he visited. Just trying to catch up on everything he missed whenever he was away.

Sage heard voices coming from the living room and instantly raced to her bedroom window to see her brother’s car was outside. She smiled to herself and began to make her way towards the stairs but halted in her tracks once she realized she hadn’t really spoke to him since they got into that argument at his house. She wasn’t sure if he was still mad at her, but her brother was definitely the type to hold grudges. So, instead, she just stood at the top of the stairs, her ears listening out for their conversation.

Sanai immediately allowed a low huff to escape her lips, her arms remaining in their crossed position over her chest as she stood near the couch. Sergio’s eyes finally met his mother’s with a confused expression plastered on his face.

“You would know how we’ve been if you actually came to visit us.” Sanai retorted, a slight attitude laced in her tone.

She had refrained from saying anything about it at first but she had been quiet for way too long now. Sergio wasn’t the only person in the family that was going through things because of what happened so he needed to stop acting like it. Ever since the accident, he pushed everyone that loved him away. He barely even came to visit his dad in the hospital when it happened and when he did, he’d only see Shamar while he was sleeping.

Sergio rolled his eyes, already expecting that this was coming and he honestly didn’t feel like hearing her nag. He was just trying to come see them and then leave. “What you talkin’ about? I do come to visit y'all, what you think I’m doing right now?”

“Oh, please. We only see you when you feel like seeing us. I’ve had more periods this year than I’ve seen my own son. And what about your dad? He asks about you every day and you can’t even do so much as to pick up the phone and call him to check on him every once in a while. If he turned up dead one day, would you even care?” Sanai responded with her eyes squinted into slits. She was purposely trying to hit him where it hurt because she felt that was the only way she could get him to understand.

Now she was taking it too far. Sergio knew she was right, he didn’t see them as much as he should have but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t care if his dad passed away. He loved them, he just couldn’t see his dad so helpless. She wouldn’t understand.

Sergio immediately stood to his feet in response, ready to leave instead of sitting there and arguing with her. He was the type to blow up and say things that he didn’t mean when he was angry and he wasn’t trying to get his family caught up in the crossfire of that. “Aight, I’m just gonna go.”

“It hasn’t even been five minutes!” Sanai exclaimed. “You haven’t even tried to see your father—”

“You told me he was fucking sleep! What you want me to do?!” The teenager yelled back, his face red with rage. Sage slightly jumped in her spot at the top of the stairs from the base in his voice alone. She wanted to come down and diffuse the situation but she also hated getting into her family’s drama. She had enough of her own to worry about.

“If you don’t fucking want me here then say that but every time I come here, you got something slick to say. You ever think maybe that’s why I don’t like visiting? All I did was ask how y'all were doing and you actin’ like I condemned y'all to hell or some shit.” Sergio continued to spat off curse words as his mother just stood there fuming.

She didn’t care that she brought him into this world herself, she wanted him out of her house. “Well, if you really feel that way then don’t come back here. It’s not like you give a fuck about any of us anyway. All that matters to you in your little world is Sergio.”

The seventeen year old swung his head around towards Sanai, his face contorted with anger. “Yea, ‘cause that’s all I fucking got!”

Sage suddenly heard a loud smack sound off from upstairs, immediately pulling her out of her frozen shock and causing her to quickly race down the stairs to stop the situation from becoming any more physically violent.

Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw her mother standing there with tears in her eyes as her brother’s chest heaved up and down, one of his hands holding his cheek. They all stood there silently, each in their own heads and thinking completely different thoughts.

“Don’t worry. You ain’t gotta worry about me coming over here no more.” Sergio suddenly broke the silence before turning to head out of the door.

Sage immediately came rushing after him, grabbing onto his arm as her mother scolded her to let him go since he was grown. Sanai waved him off, walking away to go check on Shamar since she didn’t want to be in her son’s presence anymore.

“Wait! Gio, don’t listen to her. We still wanna see you and when she’s not mad anymore, I know mom’s gonna wanna see you too.” His sister pleaded.

Sergio smacked his lips, ripping his arm away from her as he continued his trek to his car. He didn’t care about none of the bullshit she was talking about. If Sanai wanted him to leave that bad, he would. “Man, fuck her. I hate her ass anyway, I don’t come over here to see her. I come to see y'all.” He motioned towards Sage and their parents’ bedroom window where their father spent most of his time.

“Don’t say that, Gio. You don’t hate her—”

“Yo, I’m sick of people telling me how I do and don’t feel. What I should and shouldn’t be doing. I hate that bitch, Sage. So don’t tell me I don’t.” He hopped in his car and slammed the door shut, still clearly livid because he hated when people closed his car doors so hard like they were trying to make it fall off the hinges.

Sage’s heart sunk to the pit of her stomach as she watched her brother speed away from the house. Sergio wasn’t a person that went back on his word or made empty threats so she knew he meant what he said; she wouldn’t see him over there again.

*******

De'Angelo placed the finishing touches on some thoughtful decorations he had hung up around the living room and dining room area. There were scented candles littered throughout both rooms and white flower petals scattered around on the ground.

He had cooked homemade spaghetti and meatballs using his mother’s famous recipe and bought a couple bottles of Stella Rosa red wine in the black bottle for the occasion. Slow 90’s R&B played lowly through the speakers in his home. Everything looked perfect.

Since he didn’t plan on leaving the house, he was dressed in something simple. A graphic navy blue t-shirt and a pair of all white joggers which he probably shouldn’t have worn because they were about to eat food with red sauce and drink a red beverage, but he didn’t really care.

The doorbell rang abruptly causing him to almost yank one of the decorations he was fixing off of the wall before quickly trying to put it back in the right place and going to open the door.

Chantell’s arms were already crossed over her chest by the time he swung his door open. He couldn’t help but to allow his eyes to take in her small but shapely frame. She was clad in a strapless black cotton dress that came down to her knees and hugged her curves perfectly. Her hair was pressed out with slight curls at the ends and she had on light makeup with a cherry red lipstick.

De'Angelo reached out to hug her but she just looked him up and down, squeezing passed him to slip inside the house. She was still mad about him leaving her to go and cater to another bitch while they were spending the day together. He was the type of nigga that put other people before his girlfriend and that was a big turn off for her.

He sighed and closed the door after her, following behind her as she headed to the living room. His eyes subconsciously trailed down to her plump ass, watching it jiggle each time she took another step. He couldn’t lie and say he didn’t want to just back her up against one of these walls and take her right there but he knew she wasn’t having none of that.

It had already been a week of him trying to convince her to forgive him and get her to talk to him. After playing hard to get for so long, she finally gave in and agreed to meet with him.

As she looked around at how beautiful everything was, she was kind of in shock. She wasn’t expecting him to do all this for her but she wasn’t complaining, nor would she let him know how impressed she was just yet.

De'Angelo pulled out a seat for her at the dining room table and once she sat down, he began to dish out their food and pour their glasses of wine. Taking his seat soon after that, he started off by apologizing to her once again but she only rolled her eyes.

“D, don’t think just because you decorated your house like something straight out of a pinterest page that everything is gonna be all good. I don’t care how many times you say sorry, it doesn’t change the fact that you just left me there by myself. I was so done with your ass.” Chantell replied, annoyance clear on her face.

She didn’t want to break up with De'Angelo but she had been seriously considering it after what happened so she just decided to fall back for a bit and get her thoughts together. Apparently, that made it seem like she was ignoring him so he wasted no time blowing up her phone to get a response.

De'Angelo tried to refrain from rubbing his temple out of stress. He didn’t know how many times he had to explain it to her. Sage was his friend and he needed to be there for her. He was glad he went too because she really needed him. “You don’t understand, baby. She was going through something really bad and needed someone who was gonna understand and comfort her.”

Mm, I wonder if that had anything to do with why the cops came asking me all them damn questions, Chantell thought to herself. He didn’t know she had been interrogated a bit and that was how the detectives got his information and she planned on keeping it that way.

He was weirdly protective over Sage and she didn’t feel like arguing over a female she already didn’t like again. “Well, what that gotta do with you just up and leaving? You coulda told her to give you a couple hours but no. If she’s more important to you than me De'Angelo then I don’t know if we can continue this.” She shrugged as they both began digging into their food, the savory flavors coating their tongues instantly.

The caramel toned man scrunched up his face but quickly fixed it once he saw her facial expression. “That don’t even make sense. Y'all are on two completely different levels. You’re my girlfriend and she’s my best friend. I love both of y'all and both of y'all are important to me. If you called me telling me you needed to talk to me but didn’t wanna do it over the phone, I would’ve done the exact same thing 'cause you needed me and I care about you.”

Chantell internally rolled her eyes. That was cool and all but Sage was a constant speed bump in their relationship. It felt like every time they took a step forward, they took a few steps back and it was all because of her and his relationship with her.

“I’m still not comfortable with it, D. That girl needs to learn some boundaries. Now every time she knows she can just call you and you’ll come running no matter who you’re with. That gives bitches a sense of power over me and you.” She picked up her glass and took a sip from it, smiling softly at the fact that he remembered this was her favorite bottle of wine. He really was a good boyfriend. She just couldn’t get over this obsession he had with his best friend.

De'Angelo shook his head. “Sage ain’t a bitch and she’s not like that.” He responded causing Chantell to immediately roll her eyes. “Just listen. Next time, we’ll just come to a compromise together but understand that if my friend needs me, I’m gonna be there. I need to know you won’t get mad and cut me off every time we have a disagreement on something like this. If it was vice versa, I would understand.”

Chantell narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend. “So, you’re telling me if a NIGGA called me and asked me to come over because he wanted to talk to me about something and I just up and left you, you would be all cool with it? Please. That sounds like some bullshit De'Angelo.”

“Nah, especially if that nigga was someone you’ve been friends with since childhood. I trust you enough to be ok with you helping out a friend, even if they weren’t the same sex.” He answered truthfully.

It warmed his girlfriend’s heart to be told how much he really cared about her and even though she wanted to stay mad at him and make him suffer a little more, she couldn’t. She sighed. “I love you De, but I don’t want this to be a continuous problem with us. You have a girlfriend now and I know she might not be used to sharing your attention but it’s either that or she can’t have any of your attention at all. So talk to her before I do.”

De'Angelo nodded in response, wanting to leave it at that. Anything else he wanted to say might have set her off and she sounded like she forgave him so he wasn’t trying to get into it again. The remainder of their homemade date was a bit lighter, consisting of them talking about the most random topics, jokes, laughter, and heavy flirting between the couple.

De'Angelo only had one glass of wine since he knew he shouldn’t drink to the point where he actually felt it because that would only make him want more. Chantell, on the other hand, was wine drunk and felt amazing as she stared over at her handsome boyfriend with low eyes.

His eyes were a tantalizing dark brown and his lips looked so soft, she wanted her pussy to use them as a pillow for the remainder of the night. It seemed as if he read her mind too as his hand slipped down to gently caress her inner thigh, his touch alone causing heat to pool at her center.

Their lips latched onto each other and their tongues immediately began to wrestle one another, De'Angelo caring less about the bright red lipstick he was sure had started to rub off on him. They made out for what seemed like hours, their hands roaming all over every inch of each other’s bodies as their heavy breathing echoed lowly throughout the room.

Chantell pushed him away playfully, a smirk forming on her face as she got up and made her way over to the kitchen, being sure to twist her ass for him to see. Hopping up on one of the bigger counters, she laid back and her legs instantly opened up allowing her man to glance at her already dripping core.

De'Angelo bit his lip as he enjoyed watching her start to play with herself in front of him, the fact that she had on no panties the entire time making him even more crazy. She knew what she was doing.

He decided to go over and help her out with that. As he leaned over her glistening center, he gathered some spit in his mouth and aimed it straight at her clit before using his middle and index finger to rub it in with her own juices. Chantell’s back arched up off of the counter as she let out a breathy moan, the feeling of his fingers working against her bud sending her into complete bliss. “Ooh, baby…” She slurred out, the effects of the alcohol and his touch now clearly evident in her speech.

De'Angelo bit his lip as he inserted his two fingers inside of her. He closed his eyes as he felt her wetness coat his digits and it made him groan. He missed that feeling so much when she was mad at him.

His eyes popped back open as he leaned over to lightly suck on the sensitive skin of her neck, his fingers never stopping their slow strokes as he used his unoccupied hand to free himself from his boxers and joggers in one swipe. Chantell continued to moan and whisper out curse words as he stimulated her in multiple ways.

“Who else gon’ get you this wet, huh?” He grumbled huskily in her ear just as he slowly slid his member inside of her, allowing her walls to comfortably adjust to his size.

Chantell whimpered a bit louder as he slowly dug his way through her, hitting a new spot she hadn’t even felt herself before. “Nobody baby.” She managed to croak out through her constant moaning.

“Huh?” De'Angelo repeated as if he couldn’t hear her, clasping his hand around her neck and abruptly picking up speed earning a pleasurable shriek at the sudden change of pace.

“Just you baby!” She screamed, the only other sound that could be heard was their skin coming together over and over again. He was showing her just how sorry he really was.

He smirked as he eyed her love faces, palming her outer thigh hard as he continuously rammed into her with no remorse of how her pussy would feel in the morning. “What the fuck I thought.” He grunted out, slightly angling his body so that he was now hitting a new spot.

Chantell squealed in ecstasy, her hands tightly gripping the edge of the counter to hold her steady as the room soon filled with the sloshing sounds coming from her center each time he pushed back into her. At this point, her mouth was agape but no sounds or words could even come out of it.

“Fuck!” De'Angelo grunted loudly as he looked down to watch his member disappear then reappear inside of her, her walls contracting as the juices that coated his shaft were now literally spilling out of her core in abundance. She couldn’t say anything but he knew she was cumming hard. It was dripping all the way down to his pants that were now around his knees and he was loving every second of it.

Agents Morris and Steele were under a lot of pressure being that the two women they had just found brutally murdered in an abandoned home were the immediate family members of the mayor. One of the most important men in the city. The case was highly publicized for that reason and the media had constantly made up more crazy theories about what had happened every other day. They couldn’t even walk out of the precinct without being flooded by reporters that wanted to know if they had found any suspects yet.

It had been almost a week since the double homicide and the two detectives could tell that the press wasn’t going to die down any time soon. Especially not with the mayor still speaking out about it.

The phone they had found as evidence was fingerprinted that same day, but they couldn’t find a match out of the millions of people in their database. So now, they were just trying to get the phone to turn on. It had gotten pretty damaged when it crashed down onto the concrete and was left there overnight. But it was the only major key that they had.

They knew that whoever owned that phone would most likely be vital in figuring out the killer and closing the case for good. Everything they needed was right in the palms of their hands but they just couldn’t quite get ahold of it.

“Have you tried putting it in rice?” Ronald questioned with a loud snort causing Sandra to cut her eyes at him menacingly.

This was constantly her issue with him; he was never serious when he needed to be and it drove her crazy. “This isn’t a joke, Ronald. The entire city is depending on us to find out who killed these girls and this phone is literally the only thing we have that can get us there. Now, are you gonna keep fucking around or are you actually gonna do your damn job?”

Morris took the seat beside her with an annoyed huff but decided against saying anything at that moment. He was beginning to learn Sandra and one thing he figured out was that he had to choose his battles with her. He didn’t mind taking one small loss if it meant an even greater victory in the future, so he was going to keep his mouth shut for now.

“What do you want me to do, eh? Use my special mind powers to make it work or somethin’?” He shot back sarcastically, his strong Italian accent shining through with each word he spoke.

“Yes, Ronald. It’s called a brain.” Steele retorted sternly with the roll of her eyes as her head shook from side to side in disapproval. She swore she was one more formal complaint away from being banned from filing any more.

She had been trying to get the phone to charge and turn on for the past several days but to no avail. The phone had clearly endured a lot of damage due to the hard fall it took against the asphalt. She let out a frustrated sigh as Agent Morris sat quietly beside her since she had deemed all of his ideas to get the phone working were ‘idiotic’ or 'unintelligible.’ It was why he barely put any effort into helping her and would just try it out on his own time.

Sandra had a way of demeaning the men she came in contact with. She loved emasculating them and crushing their unnecessarily oversized egos. She felt that she could do anything that a man could do, if not better so there was no need to submit to them or make their lives easier. They didn’t need to be catered to.

She hadn’t had a boyfriend since she was in college and she was fine with that. She didn’t need a man to feel happy or better about herself. She was a strong willed woman and it showed.

But at that moment, she had just about given up on trying to get the cell phone to work. It seemed hopeless.

Sandra sighed and threw the phone back down onto the table as she frustratedly ran her hand through her slick black hair. “This crap is useless.”

“You tried taking out the SIM card?” Ronald spoke absentmindedly as he picked at the slight amount of dirt in his nails. He was big on keeping his hands and nails clean just in case he needed to use them later on in the after hours.

“Yes, but this damn phone just won’t open up.” She retorted, attempting to pry the back of the phone off from the rest of the device once again.

Agent Morris looked over at the cracked iPhone sitting on the table with a raised brow. All of a sudden, a crippling laughter overtook his body as he struggled to breathe, slapping his knees multiple times. He had forgot she was a damn Android user. As far as he knew, her phone still had a battery sitting inside of it.

Sandra gave him a stern glare, feeling as if he was making fun of her and she didn’t like it. It seemed as if she was the only one that was actually trying to solve this case. If she brought the suspect down, it would be the highlight of her career and she’d be damned if she allowed Ronald to mess that up for her.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Morris taunted her in a condescending tone. “iPhone’s don’t open up. You need something small and sharp to get the SIM card out.”

Amusement was laced in his voice and it was obviously making his partner’s blood boil. He was enjoying every moment of it after hearing her attempts to tear him down all day.

Instead of waiting for her though, he took it upon himself to grab the phone from off of the charger it was on and reach over to Sandra’s ear to remove one of her small stud earrings. She looked as if she was a lioness ready to attack her prey with every movement he made, but he just ignored her and continued to remove the SIM card from the broken phone. It would have all of the information they needed.

To make things easier, Agent Morris decided to use his own phone for further investigation since his was already unlocked from any specific phone company and removed his own SIM card before inserting the other one. Once that was done, he allowed everything from the card to settle into the phone in time before they began to copy down the person who owned the phone’s information.

They were able to grab the suspect’s phone number, carrier the phone was paid under, and billing information, which in turn held the phone owner’s name.

“Sage Medina… let’s see if the name comes up in our database.” Sandra spoke from over Ronald’s shoulder as he continued to scroll through his phone with a chance of anything else they might find.

Agent Steele moved over and sat in front of one of the hefty computers, typing in the name she had just repeated mere seconds ago. Her heart hammered in her chest as she impatiently waited to see the results, a small frown growing on her face once their database came up empty meaning that whoever’s phone it was didn’t have a criminal record themselves. This was making their jobs much harder than it had to be.

They now would have to go to the surrounding areas asking people if they recognized the name, especially since both of the detectives had no clue what this Sage person looked like. But it was a step closer in the direction they needed to be in if they were going to solve this case and neither one of them could rest until they did.

They wasted no time in gathering their things and making their rounds in a cop car that Sandra decided to drive. She was very cautious about who she hopped in a car with and she didn’t trust Ronald to get her anywhere safely in the slightest.

The two detectives visited restaurants, convenience stores, retail shops, and houses in the surrounding areas of the crime scene asking pedestrians if they knew of this Sage person. No one seemed to know who the individual was. It was almost as if having her name was a dead end in itself.

As they knocked on the last door on the block, Ronald gave Sandra a slightly discouraged look feeling as if this lead would have gotten them so far but also nowhere. She stared back at him expressionless, but she wasn’t feeling too good about how things were looking either.

They both turned their attentions back to the door once they heard it unlock, swinging open only moments later as a petite, caramel toned woman came into the frame. “Can I help you?”

“Hi, my name is Agent Steele and this is my partner here, Agent Morris.” Ronald gave a slight wave to the woman as he took in her figure and Sandra continued to speak, explaining the situation to her.

Her toes were painted a clean cocaine white and her smooth cocoa butter covered legs could be seen glistening even to the dullest of eyes due to the skin tight white shorts she was wearing. An oversized blue jersey was clad on her body and her natural hair was up into a curly puff. She wasn’t even trying in the slightest, but she was beautiful.

Ronald had already tuned his partner out by now as the woman invited them inside. They sat in her living room, her home smelling strongly of incense.

“You said you’re looking for Sage Medina, huh?” The gorgeous woman questioned as they all took a seat, one of her legs gracefully crossing over the other. “Yea, I know that bitch.”

The two detectives glanced at each other in shock, not expecting the harshness of her words to flow out so quickly. This woman obviously didn’t like the girl, which could have meant either a good thing or a bad thing for them. Only time would tell.

“She’s my boyfriend’s best friend and let me just say, shorty got a nasty attitude.” Chantell continued to rant off as Sandra turned to raise a brow at Ronald.

It could have meant something but it wasn’t like everyone with a bad attitude committed murder. Though, Steele knew it was something she should keep in mind, especially when it came time to profile this person of interest.

“Do you know where Sage lives?” Sandra interrogated further as she pointedly wrote a few quick notes down on her notepad.

Chantell shook her head. “Nope. You would have to ask De'Angelo about that. If I did know where she lived, I would have been pulled up on her.”

The two detectives shared another look, realizing how rowdy this girl was becoming. She was getting hype as if Sage was right in front of her. Though, they didn’t allow that to hinder their investigation as they asked a few more questions about the woman’s appearance before getting the boyfriend’s information so they’d be able to question him. Sandra recognized the description of Sage to be awfully familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on who it could have been.

Agents Morris and Steele began to gather their things as they thanked Chantell for her time, both of them sharing a handshake with her. Sandra started towards the door with purpose, but Ronald hung back a bit as he slid one of his contact cards out of his front shirt pocket.

“If you ever find out any new information on her or her whereabouts or need anything else in general, don’t be afraid to let us know.” His tone was professional but low as he handed her the small rectangular paper.

Chantell had noticed the detective eyeing her from the time she opened the door and she couldn’t say she didn’t appreciate the attention. It might have been a good idea to have him in her corner. After all, he was law enforcement.

She slightly tilted her head with the bat of her long mink eyelashes, her bottom lip loosely embedded between her teeth as their fingers brushed up against each other lightly. “I’ll make sure I call if anything comes up.” Her voice was smooth and enticing, like a siren singing to trap her man.

Ronald could nearly feel the blood beginning to rush to his lower half and at that moment, he knew he needed to get out of there before he did something else that gave Sandra a reason to report him. The thoughts that were now running through his mind were enough to make her write up a full page on him. He cleared his throat and Chantell smiled, knowing good and well that she was already making him weak. “You have a nice rest of your day, ma'am.”

“You too, Agent Morris.”

*******

Sage grabbed the brand new phone she had bought for herself a few days ago off her dresser due to her receiving an incoming call. A small smile graced her face once she saw her best friend’s name flash across the screen.

She had been pulling double shifts for the past few days to make up for the money she had to spend to buy herself a new phone, so they had barely seen each other and she honestly missed getting on his nerves. The good thing about working so much was that it kept her mind off of her troubling situation.

“Nigga who you is calling my girl phone?” Sage answered the call in the deepest voice she could muster up.

She could hear De'Angelo suck his teeth on the other end of the line. “Sage, I ain’t 'bout to play with your ass.” He shot back causing them both to burst out into a fit of laughter.

“How’d you know it was me?” She asked in between her laughs. “I wasn’t aggressive enough, huh? I should have called you a bitch.”

That only caused her best friend to chuckle even more. She knew that was one word he hated with a passion because he heard his father call his mother that so many times while he was growing up. It was then that he vowed to never call a woman out of her name; hearing it always took him back to when he was a helpless little boy. “Now, you know damn well you wouldn’t sound like a nigga even if you did call me that.”

Sage huffed lowly at her failed attempt, playfully rolling her eyes as if he could see her. She actually thought she did pretty well. Her voice was giving her very much manly vibes.

“Aye, but look. The feds just left my house and they were asking all kinds of questions about you.” De'Angelo just ripped the bandaid off as well as he could. He didn’t want to beat around the bush because he knew how her anxiety could get and this was bad enough news as it is.

Her heart immediately sunk to the pit of her stomach as she processed his words, the thoughts she was trying to push to the back of her head now rushing forward all at once. She gulped hard, but it did nothing for the desert-like dryness she could feel in the back of her throat. “How—What did they say?” She struggled to form her words correctly, her mind racing wildly as her heart pumped so hard that it shook her entire body.

“They were talking about the murder of those two girls… but I told them that you’ve been my friend since elementary and that there was no way you could do something like that. But I know they’re still gonna wanna talk to you about it so I just wanted to give you a heads up first.”

Sage buried her head in her hands for a second before she quickly removed them to hold her phone up closer to her mouth so he could hear her clearly. “How’d they find you? Why didn’t they just come to me to begin with?”

“That, I honestly don’t know Sage.” De'Angelo paused to think back for a minute or two. “Don’t they have your phone? Maybe that’s how.”

She sighed and stood up, beginning to nervously pace the floor as she subconsciously gnawed on the sides of her cheeks. The taste of blood filled her mouth instantly. “But that still doesn’t make sense on why they came to you. You have enough going on and I’m not trying to get you involved in this.”

“There’s nothing that could ever be going on with me to where I wouldn’t be there for you and you know that. If I could, I’d make this all go away for you but I can’t. So, all I can do is the best I can to comfort you when you’re down and help you out when you need it.”

Salty tears began to cascade down Sage’s cheeks as she remained silent. She didn’t want him to know that she was crying because it was a mix of appreciation that he was there for her and also being scared shitless. So, she wasn’t sure whether she could say they were happy tears or sad tears.

“Sage…” De'Angelo called out to her to make sure that she was still on the line. “You ok?”

She quickly wiped the clear liquid from her face and cleared her throat to rid her of that bubble forming in the back of it. “Yea, I’m good. I didn’t do anything so I’ll be fine.” She wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince him of that or herself. She wasn’t sure about anything.

“You need me to come over?” He questioned, honestly hoping she would say yes. Chantell still wasn’t responding to him and he knew that he and Sage both needed to relax and relieve a bit of stress. When they were with each other, they forgot all about their other problems and they needed that in that moment.

“No, I’m just gonna head to sleep.” She responded, her eyes continuously leaking fluids.

Her main goal right now was not bringing anybody else down with her if it came down to it and that meant their spirits too. She felt she had already cried to him about the situation too much and didn’t want to seem annoying or overly emotional, so she just decided to handle this one herself. The fact that she was even still crying had angered her alone.

“Oh, well alright.” De'Angelo’s voice was evidently laced with disappointment but he would respect her choice anyway. “Sweet dreams then and if you need anything, call me.”

De'Angelo gathered his things from around the room as Chantell stood right in front of her room door with her arms folded across her chest. She was fuming. Sage had managed to get ahold of a phone and call him to tell him that something very bad had happened but she didn't want to talk about it over the phone. So, there he was. Dropping everything he was doing to go and rush to her again. Chantell was hoping things would be different after the wonderful day they had spent together but of course, she was there coming second to his best friend. Someone she didn't even like in the slightest. "So you're really gonna just get up and go like that? You don't think that she could—I don't know—wait?!" Chantell finally broke the silence but only deepened the tension in the room. She didn't understand. De'Angelo knew it had to be an emergency just based off of how frantic she sounded alone. Then she didn't even want to talk about it until they were face to face. He wouldn't be just up and leaving unless it was absolutely important and it was. "No, baby, look. I know it has to be something real important. Plus, it's weird that she called me off her mom's phone, I gotta go see what's going on." He spoke just as he picked up the last of his things and slid his feet into his Nike slides. Chantell scoffed in amusement as her long mink lashes emphasized her excessive blinking. "So, you telling me you leaving me to tend to a bitch that lives with her parents? You've gotta be kidding me." Her hands fell down to her sides and smacked her thighs dramatically. "Aye." The bass in De'Angelo's voice nearly shook the entire room as he glared at his girlfriend. "Watch out with that bitch word. You don't even know what the fuck is going on." "Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch!" Chantell taunted, rolling her neck with each and every word that she spat out of her mouth. De'Angelo seemed to appear in front of her in the blink of an eye causing her to stumble back a bit but once she caught her balance, she maintained her hard expression. If looks could kill, they'd both be needing caskets at that very moment. "What is there to know? Shorty called you off her mom's phone. What grown woman you know calling people off her mom's phone?" Chantell added with the same amount of teasing amusement as before. The smirk on her face was making the man that was towering over her want to smack it off, but he wouldn't dare put his hands on a female. De'Angelo responded to her taunting by brushing passed her and heading towards the front door. He didn't have time for her childish antics. She was trying to get a rise out of him and he knew it. He also knew it would fuck her up if he didn't allow her to though. "D!? I know you not really gonna just leave like that! You can't—" Her talking was cut off by the front door slamming shut as De'Angelo began making his way to his car. He could still faintly hear her screaming from inside the house, but he just continued on like he couldn't. There were many times where he just needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to and Sage was always there regardless of what she had going on. She never really asked for much from him in return so, he'd repay her a thousand times over if he could. De'Angelo made the quick fifteen minute drive to Sage's house, bobbing his head to music and smoking the rest of a blunt he had rolled earlier. His mind couldn't stop racing with all of the possibilities that his best friend could have to tell him. Whatever it was, it sounded bad and he wasn't sure if he was ready to hear it or not. Once he arrived at the home, he got out of the car and went to knock on the door since he assumed Sage didn't have her phone at the moment to be able to call her. After a few seconds the door swung open as Mrs. Medina's bright and wide smile graced her face. De'Angelo immediately pulled her into a tight embrace. "Hey ma, Sage called me not too long ago and asked me to come over. Is she okay?" "Oh, she's fine." Sanai playfully waved him off before stepping back a couple feet to allow him inside. "Come on in honey! Sage is upstairs in her room."

De'Angelo thanked her as he closed the door and began to make his way up the narrow flight of stairs that resided a few yards from the front door. As he moved through the house, he tried to listen for any sound that Sage might have had coming from her room since she was usually playing music or watching YouTube videos, but instead he was met with an eerie silence. There was no light coming from beneath her door, signaling that she had probably had her curtains closed and was in the dark.

He allowed a light sigh to escape his lips before he reached for the doorknob and swung the door open. Just as he suspected, it was pitch black in her room so he flipped the light switch on which instantly caused Sage to roll over and cover her eyes as she laid on her bed.

Her brown orbs were already red and puffy so they were a bit sensitive to the harshness of the light. Not to mention it went from pitch black to bright so abruptly.

Sage groaned at him, her voice muffled from being buried in the covers causing him to let out a low chuckle and flip the light switch back off.

De'Angelo closed the door and made his way over to the bed once his eyes began to adjust to the darkness that overtook the small bedroom. Kicking off his slides, he climbed underneath the covers since she had been out of them so there would be a slight barrier between them as he laid behind her and threw his arm over her shaken body in attempts to comfort her. "Hey... you ok?"

He was answered by a light sniffle as her body vibrated a bit more from her silent crying. He quietly began to rub her arm as he gave her a moment to contain herself enough to speak. "I'm... I—" Her painful sobs started up again before she turned around in his hold and buried her head in his chest, her arms tucked into her own chest as he hugged her a bit tighter now, knowing she needed the comfort.

De'Angelo rubbed gentle circles onto her back and the warmth from his hand relaxed her. After a few minutes of peaceful silence, she sniffled and pulled her head away from his body enough for her to be understandable when she spoke. "Last night, I started walking home from the restaurant."

"So you saying that lame ass nigga ain't give you a ride home?" Her best friend quickly interrupted her, his eyebrows furrowing in distaste.

Sage only rolled her eyes, though it was dark so he couldn't see her. "Man, that lame ass nigga ain't even pay for my food. But that's not the point! The point is... while I was walking home, I heard a scream. And then another scream for help so, I walked over to go check it out and saw the most terrifying thing." She halted her words as the violent images resurfaced in her mind. "There was someone just hitting two women to death."

"Are you serious?" De'Angelo asked as he looked down at her silhouette. She began to sniffle again as she nodded causing her friend to pull her into his chest and embrace her once more. "I'm so sorry, baby girl." His low voice lightly rumbled both of their bodies.

He couldn't imagine being in her shoes and seeing something like that. He had walked in on his mom's lifeless body and that was the worst thing he thought he could ever possibly see, but if he would have actually witnessed her death took place... He wasn't sure if he would have been able to live with himself after that memory was etched into his brain. Hell, it was hard fighting himself to stay alive now.

Sage continued to pour her emotions out to her best friend as he comforted her in any way that he could. She hadn't even got this worked up when she had first told Sergio about the incident. "And now, what's worse is that I dropped my phone before I ran away and the police have it."

"Wait, what? You don't think they'll think you have something to do with it, right? Did you call it in when it happened?" De'Angelo fired off rapidly, a million thoughts now racing through his mind.

"I didn't have my phone!" Sage shot back in a hushed tone so her parents wouldn't hear the conversation between the two. "And when I got to Sergio's house, I didn't even think to use his. I was just so caught up in what happened—"

She paused abruptly which prompted her friend to look down at her in the darkness, his eyebrows perched up in confusion as if she could see him. A knock sounded off on her bedroom door causing them both to furrow their brows since Sanai rarely ever came to Sage's room for anything.

"Come in." Sage called out which prompted the door to be swung open only seconds afterward.

Her mother's silhouette came into view as the only things illuminating her frame were the lights from the hallway. "Your brother said to turn on the news." Sanai shrugged before closing the door, not bothering to wait around and find out what for.

Sage's relationship with her mother was strained and often they said very few words to each other unless it involved Shamar. Sage felt like she had sacrificed a lot, dropping out of school to come home and help take care of her father and pitch in on the bills on such short notice and her mother didn't give her enough credit for that.

Sage entered her dorm room, sweat beads dripping from her forehead and her chest heaving exhaustingly from her morning run. She had ran for about an hour and a half every other day before she showered and got ready for class. She was more of a morning person; when the sun was up, she was up.

She immediately began gathering her daily hygiene things to start up her shower. Grabbing her phone to turn on some music while she did so, her eyebrows knit together in confusion once she noticed the multiple calls from her mother. They hadn't spoke since she started the semester because both of them had their own responsibilities to tend to and understood that. So, it was weird to see so many missed calls from her.

Just when she was about to call her mother back, her screen flashed with that very name printed across the top causing her to pick up instantly. "Hey mom, everything ok? I see you—"

"It's your father, sweetheart." Sanai cut her daughter off, a somber tone displayed in her voice. "He got in an accident a couple months ago with your brother in the car. He's—They say he won't be able to feel anything from the shoulders down for the rest of his life."

The line got silent as Sage attempted to process the information she was receiving. A couple of months? And she was only just finding out about it then.

"What? Why wouldn't somebody call me and tell me that daddy and Gio got into an accident? Y'all don't think that's something I should know too?!" Sage yelled into the phone, frustrated with her family for not informing her any sooner. More so with her mother because her father physically couldn't and as far as she knew, Sergio might have been injured too.

She heard her mother sigh on the other end of the line. It wasn't one of sadness, but more so annoyance. "Sage, your father and I didn't wanna bother you while you were away at school. It isn't like you pick up the phone anyway. How many times did I have to call before you finally answered?"

"That doesn't matter!" Sage's hand flew to her face as she closed her eyes and began to rub small circles into her temples, now pacing the floor. "So what? You call me to finally tell me that he's crippled now and that's it?"

"No. Your brother and I need your help down here caring for your father. Sergio's still going to school during the day and I have to work to take care of the bills. Somebody's gotta be there to help him." Sanai pleaded through the phone's speaker. "You can continue your classes online and just do that while you're at home with your dad."

Sage's hand flew back down to her side as her eyes bulged open at the favor her mother was suddenly trying to ask of her after not even bothering to call for months. She loved the freedom of being at her college with nothing to worry about but passing her classes and keeping food in her fridge. "Why me? You haven't tried hiring someone for that or something?"

It wasn't that she didn't want to help her family because she did, but that would ultimately mean she would have to choose between furthering her education and taking care of her parent. She was already halfway through with her credits and had been anticipating her graduation date since she was a mere freshman.

"Yes, Sage." Her mother answered sternly. She could tell Sanai was growing more annoyed as the conversation went on. She couldn't understand why her daughter wouldn't want to come back home and help the man who raised her. It was the least she could do. "But the first caretaker was a slacker and only checked on your father every couple of hours while I was away and the second was stealing from the house. I'm not hiring another stranger to stay in my home while I'm not there. Shamar needs someone who will show him the love and care that he needs and he can't get that from someone he doesn't even know." The line grew silent once again before Sanai sighed lightly after a minute or so.

"He needs his daughter, Sage."

She sighed as she sat up in her bed and began rummaging around for her remote by running her hand along the sheets of her bed since it was too dark for her to see anything on her own.

Once she found the small rectangular object, she pressed the 'on' button causing her TV to spring to life. She found the news channel in a matter of seconds and what she saw immediately made her blood turn cold.

"Last night, my two daughters were taken from me. And as I mourn the loss of them, let me reiterate that the person who did this will be found and persecuted swiftly." The city's mayor stood in front of a podium dressed in a cream suit as lights quickly and consistently flashed across his face, his pictures being taken as he spoke. His eyes were red and anyone who looked at him could tell he had been crying nonstop since he heard the news. "I will not stop until my daughters receive their proper justice." With that, he stepped away from the podium causing array of questions to be fired at him by the numerous reporters who wanted an inside story on the incident.

The short video of him stopped before a well put together middle aged woman appeared on the screen immediately after. "Mayor Holt has just spoken out about the double homicide of his twenty-two year old twin daughters, Malaysia and Kaniya Holt, that took place around seventeen hours ago. Autopsy report reveals the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head and massive swelling to the brain. The two young women were apparently beaten to death."

Sage drowned out the rest of the reporter's words going on about the suspects as De'Angelo laid beside her, speechless and astonished just as she was. Neither of them could find the right words to say about what they had just watched.

She had witnessed the mayor's daughters get murdered right before her eyes and according to the news, her cracked phone was the only piece of evidence left at the crime scene. She hadn't called to report what happened and went back to the crime scene the day after. It was only a matter of time before the police came knocking on her door and she'd have to find an answer for every question they threw at her, but she couldn't even find answers to the questions that she had.

She couldn't help but to shut off the TV, leaving her and De'Angelo in the pitch darkness once again. "Sorry, I just couldn't watch that anymore." She uttered out after a minute of silence. She felt like she wanted to spew up all the contents in her stomach right then and there.

Her best friend didn't blame her. He wasn't sure what he would do if he was in her position. So, he just held onto her. Sage sighed as she rubbed his back, thanking him without having to say a word. Small gestures like him showing up when she called would always resonate with her and remind her to never stop appreciating their friendship.

"Thanks for this by the way. I just didn't wanna be alone and my brother's cool and all, but he's not the best at comforting women." She added as she thought back to the night before and how silent Sergio had been the entire time.

De'Angelo playfully smacked his lips. "Chill, that make me sound like a whore." He spoke, emphasizing the last word in his Blac Youngsta voice causing the both of them to let out a short laugh as she gave him a knowing look. "Nah, but for real. You know I always got you and I know in my heart you wouldn't be able to do some shit like this. So if they come to you on some rah rah, I'll be fighting with you every step of the way. I promise."

Her heart grew warm as he spoke, grateful that she had at least one person in her corner at a time like this and that person was one of the most important to her. "I know you will. Thanks Angel, I love you."

"I love you too, Sage."

The two embraced each other once again as De'Angelo stared ahead at nothing in particular since he couldn't see anything in the first place. He was worried about her; physically and mentally.

The last time she had broke down like this was when she found out her father was never going to be able to walk her down the aisle or even hug her anymore. She had gone into a deep depression after that, starving herself and enduring sleepless nights, and he didn't want this situation to be a rerun of that.

Sage woke up immediately trying to remember when exactly she had fallen asleep. The night before was a blur but she was sure she and her brother were up to no good considering all of the things that were thrown around littering the ground. Those things including the empty bottle of alcohol, the cards they used for their games, and all of the sheets and pillows from off the bed.

Her eyes stung a bit, attempting to readjust to the bright sunlight as a headache soon came over her. She knew she shouldn't have gave into her brother's temptation. As quickly as she thought about Sergio, she took another glance around the room to find that he was nowhere in sight.

She sighed, mentally preparing herself to get up from the comfort of his bed. Her back lifted off of the mattress slightly as she stretched, her arms and legs gyrating a bit with low grunts escaping her lips.

Once she was finally out of bed, she made her way to the bathroom and noticed that Sergio had set out a new toothbrush, washcloth, towel, and fresh set of clothes for her which instantly caused Sage to smile. He didn't act like it very often, but she knew her brother had a big heart and could be extremely thoughtful. It was the way their mom raised them up until the accident.

Though, she didn't want to think about that nor her mother at the moment. She was just ready to scrub herself clean from everything. It took no less than ten minutes for her to shower and get dressed before she began to brush her teeth. Once that was done, she semi-smiled in the mirror as she looked over all her teeth to make sure she had cleaned them well.

She stepped out of the bathroom and jumped slightly at the sight of her brother sitting on the same bed that was empty just fifteen minutes ago. She wasn't expecting him to be there at all, forgetting for a moment that she was at his place. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Yea? Well, maybe next time you shouldn't be so pussy." He retorted in a tone that just screamed nothing but sarcasm.

Sage immediately rolled her eyes. The asshole part of her brother was clearly back in action and ready to be slapped. She was glad he was able to be a bit more vulnerable with her last night, but she should have known it would only be short lived.

"Fuck you. Where's my phone?" She inquired as her eyes scanned the room for any signs of her bright yellow phone case.

Sergio broke his attention away from the show he was watching to stare at Sage as if she had five different heads. "Didn't you literally just say yesterday that you dropped it?"

Suddenly, all of the memories she had spent the entirety of the night trying to forget came rushing back to her all at once. Her bottom lip trembled a bit as she nodded in response. "Oh... yea."

She went to plop down next to him on the bed causing him to give her a quick glance before turning his eyes back to the television. Her mind began to race as she thought about what had happened the night prior. In all honesty, she wanted to go back and see if her phone was still there or if the person had took it, but that alone was a risky move. What if the killer was waiting there for her? Waiting until she came back so they could finish off the only eye witness to the crime they committed.

But if they didn't take it, she couldn't just leave it there for them to come back or for someone else to get it. It was a lose, lose situation so she just had to pick the lesser loss. She couldn't figure out which choice that was though.

Sage was broken away from her thoughts when Sergio's phone began to vibrate loudly, indicating that he was getting a call. He sighed once he looked at the caller ID and without saying a word, he got up and left the room. Sage presumed it was to answer the call in private, but she knew her younger brother hated to share too much of his business with anyone for her to even bother to ask. He'd probably just give her some vague answer and that would be the end of it anyway.

After a few minutes, her sibling walked back into his room and took the same spot he had occupied before. There was a more distant look in his eyes as his attention averted over to his sister. "That was mom. She said she needs you back at home."

"What? Why wouldn't she ask to speak to me first? See if I'm ok? Ask why I'm not answering the phone maybe?"

Sergio only shrugged lazily and turned his brown eyes back towards the television and Sage knew that meant that he didn't feel like talking about it anymore. He was just like that.

The topic of his parents, for Sergio, was a tender one and he'd spent most of his time trying to avoid them both as much as he could. It wasn't that he was angry or upset with them, but more so he felt guilty. He couldn't even look either of them in the eye anymore.

Sage only rolled her eyes momentarily before getting up to get ready and head back home. Her decision making would just have to wait for a later time. Out of habit, she made her way straight towards the bathroom and contemplated whether or not she wanted to change back into her clothes from the night before. She had sweated in her dress from running so much.

"Gio!" She called out to her brother as she attempted to smooth out her bed head. She looked crazy when her hair wasn't done up. "Do you mind if I take your clothes home? I'll wash it and bring it back whenever I see you again."

She heard her brother smack his lips from the bedroom. "Man, you don't even come here often enough to bring it back. Those my favorite sweats."

Sage waved him off as if he could see her before putting the toilet seat down and using the bathroom. Her hand reached out to grab toilet paper, but instead was met with the plastic from the roll holder. She immediately rolled her eyes. Sergio never used to replace the toilet paper when he lived at his parents house too. It was annoying always having to call out to someone to get some tissue to wipe herself.

Instead of calling out to him, she figured it must be in the bathroom and reached over to pull open the cabinet door underneath the seat. Ravaging through the junk her brother had his cabinet, she let out a sigh of relief once she saw a half used roll of toilet paper and grabbed it causing something to fall on the floor next to her feet.

She picked up the orange pill bottle and instantly raised her eyebrows at the Xanax pills prescribed to her brother. Sage knew after the accident, Sergio had been depressed but she had no idea it was to the point where he basically needed antidepressants. The bottle only had about five pills left in it altogether although the date on the bottle stated that he had picked up the prescription only two days ago.

Sage felt her blood start to boil as she hurried to wipe herself, wash her hands, then grab the pill bottle before walking back out to the bedroom. "Sergio." She stopped right in front of his view of the television and folded her arms across her chest causing her brother to instantly smack his lips.

He knew that whenever she called him by his full name instead of her nickname for him, she was upset about something and after the conversation he just had, he didn't feel like dealing with any of that. He just wanted to watch his little TV and relax.

Sergio moved his head enough to where he could see the screen from behind her without responding back to her. His stubbornness was peaking through and it was something Sage despised about him ever since they were younger. If Sergio didn't feel like doing something, no one could tell him a damn thing.

She instead decided to grab his attention by throwing the pill bottle at him causing it to smack against his chest with a loud thud before falling to his lap. Although it did what it was supposed to, Sergio was now glaring at his older sister with a mug on his face. "You went through my stuff?" His hand reached for the orange bottle in his lap and threw it to the side of him.

"I was trying to find some damn toilet paper but that's besides the point. Where are the rest of those pills?" Sage interrogated as her hand gestured towards the item he had just tossed away, her eyes never leaving her brother's. He shrugged, only making her more upset because she knew when her brother was lying to her about something. "Don't fucking play with me, Sergio. Why are damn near all of those pills gone?"

The seventeen-year-old smacked his lips and stood up to place the small bottle back where it came from. "Why does it matter to you? You're not my mom."

"Well, somebody has to act like it! You run around here acting like you have no control. How many schools kicked you out before you finally decided to drop out? And now you're either abusing or selling prescription pills. Or maybe both!" She scolded, salty tears threatening to cloud her vision as she thought about the direction her brother was beginning to take in life. Whether he believed it or not, she only wanted what was best for him. "I can't believe you're doing this to mom and dad with all they're going through right now."

As if those words had flipped a switch in him, Sergio's face began to quickly change a bright hue of red. The angry part of him wanted to kick her out right then and there, but she was his sister and as far as he was concerned, that was the only thing saving her right about now.

"You don't know what the fuck you're talking 'bout. Maybe try worrying more 'bout yourself. Remember, we're both dropouts. The only difference is that I decided school was bullshit in high school and you wanted to continue to please mom and dad. I'm sorry that I'm not a fuckin' people pleaser." He spat in response, dismissing her with the wave of his hand.

Sage opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but she couldn't bring herself to form any words. He had no idea how much she had to sacrifice and he knew the topic of her dropping out was a sensitive one for her considering she still wanted to finish school and get her degree. She just had way too much on her plate right now and didn't know if she'd be able to balance her home life, work life, and school life.

"Okay." Was all that managed to slip out before she began gathering her things while Sergio remained silent beside her.

He wanted to tell her that he was sorry and that he hadn't meant what he said but his pride wouldn't allow him to. So he decided to say nothing at all. The tension remained in the air before Sage left altogether, not even bothering to ask her brother for a ride home. Boy, how she wished she had drove to her date last night.

Sage attempted to prolong the trek home as best she could, but it wasn't long before she was walking up to the front porch of the two story house she resided in. Grabbing her keys out of her clutch, she unlocked the front door and stepped inside, the breeze from the cool air immediately causing goosebumps to arise on her skin. She hated how cold her mother kept it all the time but she figured it must be for a reason. That, and she really had no urge to start an argument with her mom.

The aroma of food wafted effortlessly into her nostrils as she walked deeper through the home. Her mother's body soon came into view once Sage stepped into the kitchen, where Sanai had her back turned to her daughter as she began mixing smoked sausage into her jambalaya.

She had heard Sage's footsteps as she entered the kitchen, but couldn't find the energy to turn around or break away from what she was doing. Sanai's relationship with her daughter was a strained one. She'd describe their bond as cordial to say the least.

"Hey, I'm not dead by the way. Thanks for asking." Sage started causing her mother to instantly roll her eyes.

Sanai despised her child's tendency to make things so negative all the time. She couldn't just greet her with a 'Hey, how are you?' like normal people. "And why would you be dead Sage? Did your date turn into Jeffrey Dahmer?"

Sage narrowed her eyes as she burned holes into the back of her mother's skull. If this woman hadn't birthed her, she'd have half the mind to cuss her out. She wondered if Sanai had even bothered to call her phone in the first place.

Shaking her head, she turned on her heel to walk away but halted in her tracks once she heard her mother's stern voice call out to her again. "Go wake your father up, lunch's almost ready. Tell him I'll bring it up to him this time."

Sage nodded as if she could see her and continued on upstairs to her bedroom to put her things down. The first thing she had to do after she was free of her responsibilities was buy herself a new phone. She hated the fact that she couldn't just pull it out and listen to some music to calm her down or aimlessly scroll through funny videos.

Once she set everything on her bed and tied her baby blue durag around her head, she made her way towards her parents room where her father laid in the bed snoring loudly. He had that problem since she was a kid. At times, she could hear it all the way in her room with the door closed.

Sage gently nudged his head as she spoke just above a whisper. "Dad, wake up. Food's ready."

Her father's snoring soon came to a halt as she watched his eyes struggle to open themselves up against the sunlight in the room. His pupils immediately fixated themselves on her as a goofy grin formed on his face. "Was I snoring again?"

"You know you were." Sage chuckled making Shamar do the same. She was surprised he was such a light sleeper considering how loud he snored. She figured if he could sleep through that, he could sleep through just about anything.

"Here, help me up so I can take a better look at you." Shamar spoke causing his daughter to instantly spring into action as she braced herself, turned him on his back, and began lifting his limp body up so that he was sitting up, leaning against the headboard. Small veins popped out of Sage's forehead as she fixed his posture and position so that he was as comfortable as possible.

Shamar had become a paraplegic from the shoulders down after a nasty car accident that nearly cost him his life altogether. His first instinct was to protect his son and take the most impact from the blow which he was successful in doing, but it ultimately had consequences that changed he and his family's lives forever. He knew his wife was unhappy and his children were unhappy; hell, he was unhappy. It just felt like there was nothing he could do. Literally.

He eyed Sage for a couple seconds before furrowing his eyebrows. "You were crying? Your eyes look puffier than usual."

She subconsciously reached up to touch the tender skin underneath her eye as she chuckled. Leave it to her dad to be the one to notice something so minute in detail about her and form completely correct guesses from it. He knew her like the back of his hand and it showed. She had always been a daddy's girl.

"Just a long night. Nothing you need to be worried about. How you feeling? You need anything?"

Shamar just looked down at his lap in response. He hated the fact that everyone was too focused on him to worry about themselves and what they needed. He hated having to need anything in the first place. "Nah, mama. I don't. Just go ahead and go eat, your mom got all this."

Sage frowned slightly. "You sure?"

Shamar nodded and smiled softly when his daughter leaned down to plant a kiss on his forehead. He was glad he could at least still feel the love from those. Sage gave him a small grin before turning to leave the room, her eyes stinging as her deeply buried emotions threatened to come out at full force.

*******

Detective Morris and Steele arrived at the crime scene together, a mass of nosey people already swarming behind the yellow caution tape trying to figure out what was going on. It was nearing five in the afternoon and Steele looked a bit pensive as she glanced over every pedestrian face she saw. She knew anyone in the crowd could be a potential suspect.

Sandra Steele was a caucasian woman in her mid-thirties and one of the best detectives in the state, due to how perceptive she was at all times. She was suspicious of everyone and to her, anyone was a suspect; no matter the age, race, or gender. Her long jet black hair always remained tied up into a neat low bun, bringing out her high cheek bones and icy blue eyes. She had no children or husband, just a dog and two cats. Sandra was the type of woman people just knew not to mess with.

"What do we got here?" Detective Morris asked one of the CSI people that were already collecting evidence as he himself slapped on a pair of latex gloves, careful not to get his DNA or fingerprints on anything.

The room reeked of dried blood and aged rotten wood. The scent alone caused Morris to cover his nose with the back of his hand as he scrunched up his face. This wasn't his first time smelling the scent of a dead body, it just wasn't something he ever thought he could get used to. The unpleasant smell garnered the same reaction out of him every time.

"Oh, man up Ronald." Detective Steele iterated with the roll of her eyes once she noticed her partner covering his nose. This wasn't even the worst of what they had smelled before. The bodies still seemed to be a bit fresh, meaning they hadn't been decomposing for that long before they were found. Older bodies smelt much worse.

Morris smacked his lips but continued to hold his nose as he gave his full attention to the crime scene investigator. "Apparently, a local crackhead stumbled on these two while he was looking for shelter. Said he had to run to a nearby restaurant just to call 911."

"Great, we'll be taking him into custody for questioning. And nobody else saw or heard what happened here?" Ronald responded, his deep heavy accent shining through with ease. The man in front of him shook his head indicating that the answer to his question was no. Agent Morris followed with a sigh as he looked over at Sandra who was looking back at him with a more bored expression. He hated how callous their job had turned her.

Ronald Morris was an American man who had spent majority of his childhood and teen years in Italy due to his father being stationed there for the military. His strong Italian accent and jet black hair caused most people to assume that he was originally from the country, but he too was of caucasian descent.

He and Sandra had been partners for all of one year and the amount of quarrels they had already gotten into would make anyone question their union and why their lieutenant had made it. Though, it seemed as if they couldn't get along for no more than five minutes, they were excellent together on the cases they had worked. They each brought something to the table that the other might have lacked. So, it worked for them although they got on each other's last nerve.

"We found this outside." One of the other men from the CSI team walked up and handed them a plastic baggy with a phone inside. A bright yellow case covered the exterior of the phone and the glass screen was badly cracked. "We're gonna grab the fingerprints off this and see if it belongs to either of the victims."

Agent Morris and Agent Steele nodded in response, allowing the evidence to be taken away to forensic experts while they continued to look around for any signs of footprints or droplets of blood.

As her brown orbs scanned the area, Steele managed to catch sight of a light skinned woman's worried expression from the corner of her eye before the civilian began to run away from the crime scene and back towards the direction Sandra presumed the woman came in before she began to pay attention. She was hard to miss because her hair was so bright.

"Hmph." Agent Steele grumbled to herself as she took note of the lady's behavior and any facial features she was able to remember from her peripheral vision.

Chantell happily awoke to the sight and scent of her boyfriend, who had been laying right beside her still knocked out. She could honestly say that was some of the best sleep she had ever gotten in her life and waking up to De'Angelo on the opposite side of her bed only made the feeling ten times better.

She gently slipped out of his hold and headed straight towards the bathroom to take a quick shower, ridding herself of last night's festivities. Shivers were sent shooting up her spine just thinking about it.

She could still feel every kiss and caress her man had showered her with the night before and it was driving her insane.

Chantell stepped out of the shower causing drops of water to come streaming down her legs and onto the white tiled floors before swiftly hopping back in, a pink and purple vibrator now residing in her hands. Her fingernails were long and manicured so she wouldn't dare cut herself up trying to play around with that.

The steam from the shower hugged her body closely as she lifted one of her legs and rested it on the edge of the tub. She allowed her fingertips to rub small gentle circles against her clit, the sensitive bud immediately jumping at the touch.

Images from last night replayed in her head as she toyed with her center, her chest heaving up and down in pleasure. She imagined her hands running down his tattoo riddled skin as De'Angelo delivered deep, long strokes into her wetness. Pushing the silver button on her vibrator which instantly sprung it to life, her wrists moved to circle the tip of her toy around her clit a couple of times before allowing the device to push through her walls, a low whine escaping her lips.

Chantell plunged the vibrator in and out of her at a steady pace as she used her unoccupied hand to continue playing with her now throbbing bud. "Fuck, D." She moaned out lowly as the man in her bed flooded her mind; his love faces and the way his body moved when he fucked her all coming into play.

Eyes closed, she bit down on her bottom lip with a small smile at the euphoria she was feeling. It wasn't nearly as good as the real thing but it would have to do since De'Angelo was still asleep.

She managed to keep her moans light and breathy so that she didn't wake him up as she continued to pump the toy against her spot, the squishing sounds from her juices echoing throughout the bathroom each time she pushed it deeper inside of her. The water had already began to get cold but Chantell didn't care in the slightest.

After a few more minutes of pleasuring herself, she let out a light yelp as her body jerked forward and she quickly pulled the vibrator out of her causing her juices to go flying towards the opposite end of the tub. The walls of her vagina contracted unwillingly as she attempted to catch her breath, her eyes fluttering open to see how coated her hands were with her wetness.

Chantell stepped back underneath the shower head and began to wash up quickly since the water was now ice cold. Once she was finished and her hygiene routine was completed, she got dressed in some shorts and one of De'Angelo's t-shirts before heading downstairs to make breakfast for the both of them.

He was surprisingly still asleep and Chantell thought breakfast in bed would be the perfect way to wake him up after the night they just had.

As she headed downstairs, she rolled her eyes at the realization that she had forgotten to lock the front door again as she neared it. It was something De'Angelo had scolded her about multiple times in the past. He knew better than anyone how dangerous it was to leave a door unlocked, especially once it got dark outside.

De'Angelo pulled his keys from the ignition and exited his car with a bag of food for he and his mom present in his hand. He didn't live with her but he still always tried to have dinner with her as much as possible. He wasn't one of those people that forgot their parents existed just because they moved out of their house. His mother was all he had and vice versa.

She had raised him as a single mother after his father decided that a child would just be too much to handle for him at the moment. He never thought Clarissa would end up pregnant, they always protected themselves to prevent that very thing from happening. He just wasn't cut out to be a dad.

Clarissa never told De'Angelo his father's name because she didn't want him to someday go out searching for him and end up more disappointed than when he started. She wanted to protect her baby from all of the pain and abandonment that she felt at the hands of his father.

As he neared the door, he could see that the kitchen light was on so he knew his mother was probably in there cleaning up or setting out dishes for the two to get ready for their movie night. De'Angelo tried the door and it immediately twisted open causing him to roll his eyes with a frustrated huff as he maneuvered inside to lock it. "Ma, what I tell you 'bout leaving your door unlocked? Just 'cause you know everybody in the neighborhood, doesn't mean it's safe—"

His voice suddenly hitched in his throat once he turned around and noticed the struggle in the living room though it had been empty. The couch was tipped over, books from the bookcase were littered all over the floor, glass from lamps and the TV resided on the ground, it was just an all around mess.

De'Angelo set the food down with his eyes trained on the kitchen as he tiptoed through the living room. The house was eerily silent and his stomach had been doing flips from the moment he stepped inside.

Glass and debris crunched underneath his feet as he made his way through the entryway of the kitchen, the light illuminating the blood splatter that was evident on the counters and majority of the floor. De'Angelo made his way around the island placed in the middle of the kitchen and immediately sunk to his knees, panic beginning to set in.

"Mom? What the fuck—mom?!" He shook her violently causing her head to flap limply, exposing the long slit that was across her neck. Blood stained every inch of the dress she had been wearing and pooled the ground around them as tears came to De'Angelo's eyes at the sight of her open flesh.

His brown orbs began to dart everywhere, realizing the kitchen knife that was clad in Clarissa's hand and covered in her blood. He knocked the sharp object away from her loose grip as he hugged his mother's cold body close to him, rocking them slowly as tears continuously poured from his eyes at every corner.

Chantell began prepping the food and taking out the things she would need to cook their meal while also preheating the oven. She decided that blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon, and biscuits would suffice for the both of them. It was simple but it would fill their stomachs.

She hadn't got the chance to cook for him much since they had been dating. They went out to eat most of the time because Chantell loved to get all dressed up, so she thought the home cooked meal would be a delightful surprise.

She started on the pancake batter and eggs first, whisking them both to perfection in their set of separate bowls. Removing the biscuit dough from the container, she laid the playdoh like substance on a sheet of aluminum foil that she had placed around a pan. She placed the biscuits inside of the oven then got to work on cooking the food. It wasn't long before the meal was ready to be set up neatly on two plates.

The sweet aroma of breakfast foods filled the air and it immediately caused De'Angelo to pleasantly shift out of his sleep. Food was one thing he didn't play about and his mother always said that if she just wafted a microwaved honeybun underneath his nose, it'd even have the power to wake him from a coma. And he believed it.

He slid out of the bed and headed to the bathroom first to brush his teeth before he began to make his way downstairs towards the kitchen. When Chantell came into view, her back was turned to him but he could tell she was focused on something. His arms instantly snaked around her small waist once he came up behind her as his lips planted soft kisses against her neck.

Chantell smiled as light tingles shot up her spine from the sensation of their bodies being so close together. The smell of mint radiated off of him which let her know that it was safe to kiss him. She absolutely hated morning breath and refused to do anything until both parties have brushed their teeth.

She turned in his hold so they were facing one another and threw her arms around his neck as she stared up at him for a few seconds with a slight pout on her face. "You weren't supposed to wake up yet. I wanted to serve you breakfast in bed." She spoke in an innocent whiny tone. She had used it a lot to get what she wanted and for the most part, it worked.

"Doesn't matter how tired I am, my body wakes up when it smells food." De'Angelo shrugged in response as his arms tightened around her waist. She giggled and leaned up to peck his lips before turning back around and picking up their plates, carrying their food over to the table.

Chantell took her time and set everything up perfectly as her boyfriend watched her with a small smile. It reminded him of how OCD his mother had been whenever she was setting things up for the nights where they'd have dinner together. Clarissa always fixed the food up as if she owned a restaurant and was serving a customer. It just showed how much love and care she put into everything she did for her son.

"Hey, can I show you something baby?" De'Angelo called out causing his girlfriend to turn around with wondering eyes. Still, she came closer to him anyway.

He pulled his wallet from the pocket of his joggers before flipping over to a picture and turning it so Chantell could see. "That's my mom and me when I was a baby. A lot of the pictures we had together were ruined when she—" He trailed off causing her to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder. This had been the most he shared with her about his family since they'd been together so even if he couldn't finish, this was a breakthrough for her. "Anyway, this was the only one that was still perfectly in tact."

"She's beautiful babe." Chantell beamed with a loving smile. "And you look just like her. Right down to the mesmerizing eyes." She looked at him to find him gazing right back at her with a certain hunger in his eyes.

He raised his hand to cup her cheek and swiftly pressed his lips against hers, their tongues instantly beginning to fight each other for dominance. There was a sense of urgency in their kiss although they both had plenty of time to spare.

When they pulled away, there was a satisfied smile on Chantell's face as De'Angelo's eyes averted over to the breakfast fully prepared and ready to be eaten on the table. "I love all this. I love you." He spoke as his attention drifted back over to her. That smile never left her face.

"I love you too."

*******

Sage allowed tears to silently fall down her face as she rested her head against her younger brother's lap, his hands moving against her head in a petting motion in attempts to console her.

Sergio remained quiet, unknowing of what exactly to say after what he had just been told. His sister was one of the toughest people he knew and if something had her breaking down like this, he knew it was something too terrible to bounce back from. She was never the one to run to him for anything.

Sergio didn't live with his parents although he was only seventeen and legally could be counted as a runaway. After a while though, their mother just stopped caring. She had too many other things to worry about than to run behind a child that didn't want to be chased. She was tired and it showed in the way she handled her children. For that, Sage didn't get to see him as much as she would like.

"Gio, I don't understand how anyone can do that. To just beat the life out of somebody? It's one of the cruelest things I've ever seen." Sage spoke after a minute of sulking about the situation. She honestly didn't know whether or not the information she had would be useful to the police. She couldn't even get a good look at the killer.

All she knew was that whoever the person was, was dressed down in black from head to toe. Everything from their feet to their hands to their head was covered in the color black. She couldn't understand how something could be made of nothing but darkness.

Sergio continued to ruffle the curls in her head as he stared straight ahead of him, thinking over everything. He couldn't even say that everything would be okay because he didn't know that for sure. He just hoped it would be.

"What if the killer finds out who I am?" Sage added, beginning to panic a little as she sat up straight in the bed. "My phone fell and I ran before I could pick it up. What if they find it and track me down? They might think I saw them!" Her mind was racing a million miles a minute as her heartbeat began to quicken.

Sergio began to call her name to try and calm her down, but all she could hear was faint background noise as her head started to spin. Seeing how unstable she was getting, her younger brother placed both hands on her shoulders and shook her violently to bring her back to reality. "Sage!" He broke through the sound barrier.

Her heart rate began to decrease as she took deep breaths and closed her eyes as if that would help her to take her mind off of everything. "I'm sorry. I just—I don't know how to live with what I saw like nothing happened."

"And you don't have to." Her brother spoke in the softest tone she had ever heard come out of his mouth. Even when they were kids, Sergio was more on the aggressive side than most. "But panicking like this isn't gonna solve anything. Can you look back and remember at least one thing that stood out to you 'bout the person that did this? Anything?"

He squinted at Sage with just a sliver of hope in his eyes, but it was like she told him before, she saw nothing but darkness. She wanted to pinch herself and hopefully awake from the nightmare she was in but she couldn't. It was real.

And all she could do was run.

Sage anxiously nibbled on the inside of her cheeks, trying her best to think back to last night and come up with something more useful but to no avail. All she could remember was the awful sounds of bones cracking as they were being struck and the echo it made throughout the abandoned home.

"Wait!" She shot up a bit straighter as Sergio did the same, hoping what she said next would help them to figure out what exactly happened and why. "Whoever it was had to have some kind of brass knuckles on. I can tell by the sound it made each time they..." She trailed off, not even wanting to finish the sentence.

Her brother shrugged. "Well, that's cool and all but brass knuckles doesn't really tell us who they could be."

Sage let out a frustrated sigh as she plopped back down on the bed, her arms spread out wide across the mattress. He was right. It wasn't like they could go searching for people with brass knuckles and even if they could, a person owning a pair wasn't exactly the conviction they needed. She couldn't help but to feel frustrated by the entire situation and not being of any help.

She didn't even want to go back home and bring the drama to her parents, so her size seven feet carried her all the way over to her younger brother's apartment since he had basically emancipated himself. By the time she arrived, it was three in the morning and her clothes were tattered on her body while her hair and makeup were smudged all over the place.

Luckily, Sergio allowed her to shower and borrow some of his loungewear which was now clad on her body. "Ugh, I know. I give up Gio." Her bottom lip trembled a bit as the memory flashed in her head like an instant replay over and over again.

"I know just what you need." Sergio remarked as he stood up from the bed and made his way over to his dresser. He pulled out one of the drawers and grabbed the bottle of apple Crown Royal and bag of weed that resided inside of it. Once he turned back around to face Sage, he held the two substances up with a devious grin.

She automatically began to shake her head, knowing exactly what he was getting at and she wanted no parts. Sergio knew better than anyone how wild his sister got when she was cross faded. "Oh no. Hell no. No no no no."

Her voice sounded confident as she spoke but in reality, she had been craving an escape from everything. And her brother could sense that right away. "Come on, sis. Just one little game of drunk Uno."

Andrew sat at the designated reserved table for the evening, patiently awaiting his date who he had been trying to get himself a chance with for a few years now. He was more than shocked to finally hear a 'yes' come out of her mouth.

There was no doubt that he looked handsome that evening. His dreads were braided back into a neat low ponytail and he was clad in a beige suit, complimented by a navy blue tie and white buttoned down shirt. Navy blue Gucci dress shoes also dressed his feet, completing the entire outfit nicely. He wasn't big on jewelry so he only wore a gold watch on his wrist and a diamond earring in one of his ears, making his light brown eyes pop that much more.

He sat with a glass of water in front of him as he awaited Sage's arrival, casually glancing over the menu so it wouldn't take too long for him to order. He knew that this was an upscale restaurant that anyone with deep pockets frequented their time in, so they moved pretty quickly to appease their clientele but it was still a restaurant and they still had other customers to attend to. The waiter that had previously sat his water in front of him also came back around to place a basket of soft buttered rolls on the table, fresh steam coming off of them as the heavenly smell immediately wafted through Andrew's nose. He was hungry, but wouldn't touch the food until Sage arrived.

As if on cue, Sage stepped into the dimly lit restaurant and looked around in awe. The place looked as if it were a ballroom that the owners just sat tables inside of and called a restaurant. There was a giant clear-crystal chandelier that hung beautifully in the middle of the room, the light reflecting off of it and accentuating the golden gleams on the business's interior. The floor was carpeted in a deep maroon color and people in thousand dollar suits and dresses conversed all around her.

This was the first time Sage had been anywhere fancier than Benihana, one of her favorite hibachi grills that she didn't get to go to often since the plates were nearly twenty dollars each. While she did work full time, she also helped her parents around the house with things like the utility bills and groceries while also paying her car note and insurance, so she couldn't just spend her money all willy-nilly whenever she wanted to. She knew having her priorities straight was much more important than indulging herself.

Once she was safely inside, De'Angelo pulled off from the front of the establishment. She allowed him to drive her there since he was already heading out and she wasn't expecting to be going anywhere in her own car tonight. It didn't matter if she was heading to his place or hers.

After telling the hostess of her party, the nicely dressed woman soon led Sage to the table Andrew was sitting at. His eyes immediately caught hers as she neared him, his legs lifting him to his feet as he stood up to greet her. Sage placed a light peck on his cheek as they embraced one another and Andrew pulled out her chair for her once they pulled away.

His multi-colored orbs couldn't help but to roam her appearance, taking in how beautiful she really was. He had only seen her dress up once and that was for their high school graduation, so he appreciated her taking her time out to look good for their first date. "You look beautiful." He complimented as he took his seat in front of her.

Sage blushed and a small smile crept on her face as she eyed him as well, the handsome baby face he had as a teenager now more developed into a panty dropping grown man. "Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself. This place is gorgeous by the way." She replied as she took another glance around at her environment.

"I couldn't take you somewhere like Red Lobster after all these years of me practically begging to take you out." He chuckled, a playful saltiness about in his tone.

Sage giggled and rolled her eyes a bit, remembering how Andrew used to attempt to sweet talk her into going out with him, her answer always remaining a firm 'no.' She knew her worth and getting with Andrew back then was just like looking to get cheated on. "You weren't ready to handle me just yet."

"And now I am?" He retorted as he raised his 'brow, a confident smirk playing on his features as he gave the woman in front of him his full attention.

Sage casually picked up her menu and glanced over it for a few seconds, leaving him in suspense. In all actuality, she just had to tear her eyes away from him before she ended up jumping him over the table and giving herself to him in front of all these people. It had been a while since she got any type of action and Sage was never the type that was afraid to admit that she really enjoyed sex. Though she was always safe and careful with who she let have her, the look on Andrew's face made her want to risk it all for him.

"We'll just have to see." Lust was laced in her voice as she responded back in a low tone, finally looking up from the many words on the menu. The food there all sounded delicious, but she wouldn't mind having him for dessert.

She quickly shook those thoughts away though, not wanting sex to be all that was on their mind for the entirety of the date. She wanted to get to know the man that was in front of her all over again. A lot could change within a person in five years and Sage wanted to know what he had been up to since then.

Before she could get a word out, the waiter popped in on the couple and took their drink orders. Andrew ordered a bottle of champagne for the two to share, and Sage couldn't help but notice it was the most expensive one on the menu.

She wasn't one to care about how much money a man could spend on her but it just felt nice to be catered to every once in a while. It was nice to know that he thought she deserved that as much as she did.

The waiter returned with two glasses of water for the couple, replacing Andrew's previous glass before leaving them to continue their conversation. Sage popped her straw into her cup and took a small sip, lightly clearing her throat soon after. "So, what have you been doing since high school? I remember you used to be a beast in football. Did that ever take off? I wouldn't know, I don't watch much."

Andrew chuckled a bit uncomfortably causing her to furrow her eyebrows. "Well, I played for UCLA and was a natural up until my junior year when I tore my ACL and wasn't able to play again."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." She uttered genuinely as she reached out to touch his hand.

He smiled, comforted by her gesture as he continued. "But I graduated with honors majoring in business. Now, I'm a financial analyst which is basically exactly what it sounds like. I analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a business from a financial aspect and from there, I'm able to offer them my best recommendations on investments or allowance of resources that particular business would benefit from. Lots of math involved. Very boring." He chuckled lowly.

Sage gave him a quiet round of applause for his perseverance. It was hard being told you would never be able to do something you grew up doing and loved your entire life, but she was glad that he didn't allow that to stop him from being successful in life. She was impressed to say the least.

"Well, you know math was never my subject. I cheated on damn near all of my tests throughout high school." Sage shook her head with a small smile, reminiscing on memories that felt like they had just happened last week. Life was so much simpler back then and she wished she could go back, even if it was just for a day. "I'm proud of you though. You definitely came a long way from that immature little boy back in school."

Andrew playfully held his hand over his chest as if he was wounded by her words. "Ouch, after all these years, I'm finally finding out how you actually felt about me."

A light giggle escaped her lips as she drank some more of her water and rolled her eyes. "But am I lying though?"

"Nah, you're right." His deep, baritone laugh soon followed after hers as he shook his head. His hazel orbs landed on her face and he took that time to really admire her features again. The woman she had become intrigued him and he'd be lying if he said he hadn't been undressing her with his eyes since the moment he laid them on her. And Sage couldn't help but watch as his tongue slowly dragged along his lower lip, his gaze never straying from her.

"My bad for staring but you look so gorgeous tonight and your skin..." He allowed his fingertips to lightly trail down the length of her arm, sending slight shivers throughout her body at the gentleness of his touch alone. "You're glowing."

Sage's cheeks instantly turned a reddish tint as she fought back the smile that made its way to her face. She couldn't figure out whether it suddenly became hot in the restaurant or if it was just her. "Thank you and let me find out you tryna butter me up. Your charms won't work on me." She lied. It was already working.

Andrew leaned back in his seat with a hearty chuckle, amused to say the least. There was no doubt she had him wrapped around her finger. "I wouldn't tell you anything that isn't true baby girl."

Sage could feel her heart flutter in her chest as those words rolled off his tongue. Something about that pet name always made her feel a way. It wasn't too aggressive or forward, but it also wasn't something you called just anybody.

Once their waiter took their food orders and brought out their champagne bottle on ice, the rest of their date was spent catching up, laughing, eating good food, and reciprocating flirtatious touches. Sage and Andrew were both enjoying their date with one another and she'd be lying if she said she didn't see things possibly going somewhere in the future if they continued to speak. Although at the moment, she wanted to think about the present; not the future nor the past.

"I hope I'm not being too forward but the restaurant is about to close and I don't want our night to end here." Andrew spoke up as he gulped down the rest of the champagne in his glass before setting it down, his eyes glazed over and focused exclusively on Sage. "Would you want to come over to my house when we leave here?"

Honestly, Sage was screaming inside because she thought he'd never ask. Her lips were tugged into a small smile as Sage did the same with her drink and returned his lustful gaze. "As a matter of fact, I do think it's too good of a night to just end here. I can ride with you."

And on you, she thought.

Andrew flashed her a grin, showcasing his pearly whites before calling to their waiter for the check. Once the check arrived, Sage instantly furrowed her eyebrows when Andrew didn't even lift a muscle to grab his wallet and pay for their meal.

She had decided against saying anything at first but once she realized Andrew clearly wasn't going to be the one to break the ice either, she spoke up. "Um, are you waiting for something or...?"

"Oh, actually I—uh—I forgot my wallet at home. I meant to tell you. You can just cover our food and I pay you back." Andrew uttered out with a slight shrug.

Sage stared at him for a few seconds, internally battling with herself on whether she should smack him now and make a scene or just walk away. Her hand twitched from wanting to fly across his face for even allowing that to come out of his mouth. A bitter chuckle escaped her lips. "I know he didn't."

She spoke more so to herself as she began to gather her things and shook her head. Andrew sat there waiting with one of his eyebrows raised. "So... you're not gonna do it?"

"You know what, Andrew? You ain't change at all and I'm mad at myself for even having a slight hope that you would." Sage spat angrily. The fact that he didn't even bother to reach for his wallet set off red flags in her head and immediately she knew that Andrew never intended on paying for their meal in the first place. The restaurant was one of the more fancy ones in the neighborhood and the bill had came out to over a hundred dollars. "Fuck you."

Andrew instantly scoffed. "What? You one of them broads that think you too good to pay for a nigga meal? Y'all always think y'all supposed to be spoiled and catered to when all y'all do is sit on y'all ass and twerk on Instagram." The frustration in his tone spoke for itself. He didn't see what the big deal in paying for his food was.

"No, Andrew. I'm not, but you would think since you invited me on this fucking date that you would have the money to pay for me to eat. I didn't ask you out, remember that." She pointed at him as she angrily waved down the waiter once again. "Excuse me! I'd like to pay for my food." She turned to Andrew. "You gonna have to figure out how you're gonna pay for yours."

Sage quickly paid her portion of the meal and stormed outside the restaurant, leaving Andrew to sit there looking stupid at the table she had previously occupied. She turned back around and looked through the glass doors to see Andrew sighing as he spoke to their waiter before reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out his wallet. Andrew paid for his food and thanked the waiter, the sight instantly making Sage seethe.

She was mad that he really thought she was some dumb and naive bitch that he could try to play. Not wanting to be in his presence once he came out of the restaurant, she quickly walked away and attempted to calm herself down by counting down from ten in her head.

She should have known that things were going way too well for there not to be some kind of catch and if that didn't happen, he probably would have turned out to have a little dick.

Sage opted to call De'Angelo to come and get her until she remembered that he had told her he was going over to Chantell's house after he dropped her off. After the night she just had, she wasn't trying to get into anymore drama because if Chantell wanted to start something, Sage surely would finish it with the way she was feeling.

She had to dispute a transaction with her bank recently and was waiting to be sent a new card, so she couldn't use Uber or Lyft to get her back home. It seemed as if the only option was to walk.

Sage groaned in frustration as she looked up at the sky, mentally cursing at herself for being so sure the date would end well. "Fucking great. This is just hilarious to you, isn't it?" She spoke at nothing in particular as she focused her eyes back ahead of her and began her trek towards her house.

Her feet grew tired after about ten minutes of walking and she had no choice but to take off her heels to finish off her journey. She wasn't even halfway there yet and she knew the bottom of her feet would be as black as the night sky by the time she arrived back home.

She attempted to remain vigilant of her surroundings and turned down every creepy guy that stopped to ask if she needed a ride. Sage had too many things to worry about to be out there getting kidnapped. Her family depended on her.

As she walked, she heard a faint scream echo throughout the night causing her to halt in her tracks for only a second before she began speed walking. She didn't even want to know what that was all about. Rushing as quickly as she could with her heels tight in her hand, she stopped again once she heard the noise more clearly.

Somebody help me!

Help us, please!!

Sage's stomach turned as she heard the cries, tracing the noise back to an abandoned house that she had just passed a minute prior. Her light footsteps didn't even make a sound against the asphalt as she neared the building, instinctively holding her breath as the street got silent again.

Her heart pounded out of her chest as she stepped up to the worn down home that had paint chipping from the door and the windows all boarded up. The grass her feet were stepping in was overgrown and the wood around the house looked as if termites had gotten to it. She peeked through one of the open spaces that the boards on the windows didn't manage to cover.

Sage had to rush to cover her mouth from the loud gasp that threatened to escape as tears were immediately brought to her eyes at the sight before her.

A tall dark figure forcefully beat what looked to be a woman that was laid out on the ground. There was another woman laying limp beside her, her face too bloodied and swollen to be recognizable. Not to mention the only light shining through was from the moon.

There was so much maliciousness and hatred in each blow the figure delivered to the woman's disfigured face. Sage could literally hear the bones in the victim's face cracking under the pressure of the punches as her feet twitched violently underneath the killer.

The person's demeanor was dark and their body seemed to exude nothing but pure evil. She couldn't imagine that being the last thing she experienced before she died. Fear was the only word that could describe how she felt just being in the figure's presence.

Sage couldn't break her attention away from what was happening; she was frozen and petrified as she watched someone beat the life out of a lady with another lifeless woman beside her that had suffered the same fate.

Finally building up the courage to even move a muscle, Sage frantically patted her body down in search for her phone before realizing it was in her clutch that she had brought with her. She was so frantic that she couldn't even think straight. She tucked her heels underneath her arm and quickly dug for the cellphone, rushing to call the police before the dark figure could manage to escape.

As she took her phone out, it began to ring loudly with Andrew's name popping up across the screen causing Sage to swiftly fumble with the button to turn it off but only making the device fall to the ground instead.

She flinched at the loud sound it made once it hit the porch and quickly looked up through the crack to see the figure staring right back at her, the moon lighting not being enough to get a good look at his face but that was honestly the last thing on her mind at the moment. Now the killer had saw her too.

De'Angelo's head pounded violently as he lifted it from the countertop he had consequently fell asleep on the night before. His eyes traveled over to the empty bottle of alcohol that sat in front of him as a low sigh escaped his lips.

He was angry and disappointed in himself for back tracking so easily, and he was sure that his mother would be disappointed as well. He stood up and rid himself of the evidence of his failure by throwing the empty whiskey bottle in the trash can.

The first thing he thought to do was to call Sage and vent to her about what happened last night but as his finger hovered over the call button, he remembered why he had been back at home in the first place. He wasn't sure if she was still upset with him for what happened and in all honesty, he was angry with her too.

The one person that said she would always be there for him, no matter what, kicked him out of her home over a stupid little argument. So he decided that it would be better to take up his girlfriend's advice from the night before and vent to her instead for once. He was hoping she wouldn't still be mad enough to decline his calls but he never knew with Chantell.

The phone had rang a few times and it seemed as if she wasn't going to answer his call until her tumultuous voice blared through his cell phone's speaker at the very last moment. "What do you want De'Angelo? Don't you have your little best friend to run back to?" Venom was laced in her voice as she spoke, adding extra emphasis on her mention of Sage.

He sighed, the incident that happened the night before being the last thing he wanted to talk about. He just needed something to take his mind off of things and bring him back to a much happier place, but it seemed as if Chantell wasn't about to let that fly.

"Baby, I don't wanna argue with you right now. I just really need someone to talk to." He responded exhaustedly.

Her face immediately softened once she noticed the tone in his voice, her eyes finally focusing on the tired expression that he wore on his face. He looked as if he hadn't gotten sleep in nearly a week. "D, what's wrong? You look..." She trailed off as his eyes glanced up at her through the screen of the phone, the bags underneath them becoming more recognizable at that angle.

De'Angelo contemplated on whether or not he wanted to open up to her the way he only had with Sage; or if he even should tell her what happened for that matter. Drinking may not have been that serious to most people their age but for him, it felt like an unspoken promise he had just broken. Something that Sage had been able to help him with in every instance except for last night. It was his first time relapsing in over a year.

"I just—I don't know." He ran his hand through the soft waves in his hair, shaking his head slightly. "I got really drunk last night and I'm feeling like shit right 'bout now."

Chantell couldn't help but to let a low chuckle escape her lips. A hangover was what had him looking as if he was about to pass out from exhaustion at any second? Clearly, he couldn't handle his liquor. "So? Baby, you're twenty-five years old. You can have a drink or two whenever you want to." She shrugged slightly, feeling as if he was overreacting about the situation.

"No, you don't understand. My momma doesn't like how I get when I drink." He added, which only earned a raised eyebrow from his girlfriend of four months.

The amused expression had never left her face as she stared at him from the other side of the phone. "Well, it's not like she's there with you to see it happen." She responded in more of a 'duh' tone.

Although Chantell had not the slightest clue about the situation with his mother, it cut him deep when she spoke those words. His heart felt like it was depleting in his chest by the second. Yea, his mom wasn't there but he still felt as if she could see him and all of his failures. He still felt as if she was disappointed in him.

"Yea, she won't be able to see anything happen 'cause she, uh, she passed away about a year and a half ago." He blurted out all in the same breath as his eyes gazed around at everything but Chantell.

Her face quickly straightened out, looking as if she had seen a ghost as her mouth made an 'O' formation. She felt bad for even saying anything about the subject now. "Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't know—"

"I know you didn't." He quickly cut her off and dismissively shook his head. "You don't have to apologize. It's my fault for not telling you."

She nodded, her facial expression still full with pity for the broken man who she noticed had been avoiding her gaze after his revelation. "Yea... that would have been something important to know so I wouldn't say something stupid like that." She spoke as she lightly palmed her forehead. She felt like an idiot but it wasn't like she could have known. He rarely spoke about his family or even the chance of her meeting them for that matter. "Are you okay?"

He nodded in response, not really wanting to speak on his mother's death because it would put him in an even worse mood than he was already in. Plus, his hangover was starting to make him a bit nauseous due to him actually sitting up instead of laying down.

His attention was instantly broken away from the call once he heard light knocks sounding off on his front door. An immediate sigh escaped De'Angelo's lips, the last thing he wanted to do being to get up from his spot on the stool behind the island in his kitchen. "Hold on, I'll call you back."

Before Chantell could have a chance to respond, the call had ended and De'Angelo hastily pulled himself up from his seat before making his way over to the front door. It wasn't that he necessarily needed to hang up on her to go and answer the door, but in all honesty, her call had just made him feel ten times worse without even trying. He had let her in on a little piece of his life but he still wasn't ready to be that vulnerable in front of her. He wasn't ready to be that vulnerable to anyone for that matter.

Before opening his door, he always made sure to look through the peep hole first; something he had to learn to do the hard way. He couldn't see the person's entire face but that didn't matter because her short platinum blonde hair had automatically gave it away.

Without a second thought, he unlocked his front door and swung it open, revealing Sage's short five foot stature as she held a bag of food and snacks in one hand and a bag full of some of their favorite movies in the other. A small smile graced her face as she held up the food, not needing to say anything because De'Angelo had already stepped aside to let her enter.

There was a bit of an awkward silence between the two, it more so being because De'Angelo didn't want to speak first. He was still a bit pissed and honestly kind of sad about the entire situation. His steely expression would have never given the latter away though.

Sage immediately headed to his living room to place the bags full of goods down before turning to her best friend as she bit down on the sides of her cheeks, a nervous habit she picked up when she was younger. "So, I know I was being a bitch last night about your girlfriend and I just wanna say that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let her—"

"I drank yesterday."

Sage quickly halted in her tracks as she stared at De'Angelo with a blank expression on her face. Almost as if she hadn't even processed his words yet. "You what?"

He sighed as he moved around her before plopping down on the couch that she had been standing in front of, her eyes following his every movement as his were focused straight ahead of him. He seemed so nonchalant about the entire situation. "I said I drank yesterday." He repeated, not an ounce of emotion in his voice.

"Drank what?" She asked and immediately rolled her eyes to herself at the dumb question as she sat down beside her best friend, his attention still not moving towards her just yet.

De'Angelo let out a dry chuckle. "Well, it sure wasn't apple juice." He mumbled back sarcastically.

Sage instantly felt regret wash over her as she glared at the man in front of her, who she knew for a fact was trying to mask his pain with dark humor. It was something he did a lot and that was when she knew he was really hurting. "Angel, you—"

"Don't." He quickly interrupted her causing her to furrow her eyebrows. "Don't feel pity for me."

Her face softened a bit as she reached down into one of the bags she had brought with her, pulling out a single DVD case. "I was gonna say do you wanna watch a movie, smart ass. Juice." She held up the DVD, allowing him to see what she had chose as if she didn't just say it aloud. "Our favorite. Yay or nay? Doesn't matter because I'm putting it in anyway."

A small smile tugged at his lips as Sage stood up from the couch to go and put the movie in. She had a way of making him forget about the clouded thoughts in his head. She never pushed him to speak about things simply because she knew that when he was ready to open up to her, he would. Right now, her main focus was just getting him out of the slump that he was in.

"What you got in here?" De'Angelo perked up a bit as he dug around through the bags of food she had carried in, the smell of shrimp fried rice instantly wavering through his nostrils. Another one of his favorites. He hadn't even remembered why he was upset with her in the first place. "Oh, you done fucked up now."

He wasted no time in digging into the rice, after smothering it with duck sauce of course, causing Sage to quickly make her way back over to the couch to get her share of food. She knew that if she didn't, her best friend would eat the entire container with no shame.

The two ate and watched their movie together, occasionally breaking their attention away from the screen to joke and laugh about other things that had randomly popped into their minds. This was the comfort and distraction De'Angelo needed after his fuck up last night. So distracted that he completely forgot to call Chantell back like he said he would.

*******

"Tell me why you came over here to watch me get ready for a date again?" Sage called out as she stood in front of her vanity mirror, applying a light coat of mascara to her lashes to make them pop a bit more.

De'Angelo sat comfortably on her bed, his eyes fixated on the TV screen in front of him as he occasionally glanced at his friend's progress through her reflection in the mirror. "Gotta make sure you ain't going out looking a hot ass mess. You be thinking you a hippie or some shit." He teased, referring to her odd and outlandish sense of style that he definitely would say was unique.

She immediately rolled her eyes. "Whatever nigga, you don't know nothing about no damn fashion." She spat as she closed the tube of mascara that was in her hand and threw it into her makeup bag.

De'Angelo snickered to himself, knowing how easy it was to get under her skin. If she didn't bounce back to being happy just as fast, she'd probably be a complete pain in the ass to be around.

"How do I look?" She turned from the mirror to face him causing his attention to break away from the cartoon that had been playing in front of him.

His eyes slowly glided downward then back up her slim frame as he raised his eyebrows. "Uh... you wearing that?" He asked, pointing to the oversized graphic t-shirt and jeans that was clad on her body.

Sage let another eye roll grace her face and smacked her lips. "No, asshole. I'm talking about my make up."

Sage was no professional nor beauty guru, but she definitely knew how to slay her makeup looks when she felt like it. It was rare to see her in a full face of make up though because in all honesty, she was too lazy to go through all of that time and effort put into beating her face. She'd much rather keep it cute and simple; much like herself.

"Oh, it looks good. Why your cheeks look so shiny though?" De'Angelo questioned since the glare from her cheek was nearly blinding him.

She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she made her way towards the bed. "It's called highlight. What are you, a caveman?" She asked as she pulled the handles to the compartment drawer that was connected to underneath her bed, which held all of her underwear and bras.

"No, just a man." He shrugged earning a laugh from the both of them. Sage couldn't disagree, only a few men actually knew what the different products were called and almost all of the time, those men had girlfriends who were really into makeup so they learned by watching the process repeatedly.

"Touché." She replied as she dug through her drawer to find her favorite no show panties from PINK. They hugged the little bit of booty she did have well and were just the right amount of sexy for the occasion.

Once she found the pair of underwear and a bra that matched perfectly, she snatched them out of the drawer and quickly attempted to maneuver her hands behind her back before making her way to the bathroom so De'Angelo wouldn't see them, but it was no use. He had already caught her red handed. "Oh, you bringing out the big guns." He teased with a small smirk playing on his features causing her to halt her movements, only to turn around and flash him a middle finger.

He simply laughed as she continued her trek to the bathroom to set her things down and get ready, since the nuisance in her bedroom clearly wasn't going to leave anytime soon.

Her hair and makeup was already done and all that was left was getting dressed and accessorized. She had slicked her short locks into beautiful finger waves and, as always, was light with her makeup; only doing her brows and adding false lashes, topped with a pale taupe colored eyeshadow to darken up her eyelids a bit and add extra emphasis to her sultry brown eyes. And she could never forget the blinding golden highlight at the peak of her cheekbones.

For her ensemble, Sage decided on a cheetah print styled mini dress that exposed a bit of her cleavage but still left a more classy look to her. She paired the dress with a pair of black open toed heels that was decorated in small subtle black rhinestones that could only been seen when the light was reflecting off of it. Her polished white toes contrasted with the dark color of the heels nicely.

       Once she was lotioned and dressed, Sage admired herself in the mirror for a minute. Many people would have thought that she was conceited but she felt it was necessary to admire oneself every once in awhile in a complementary way instead of judging one's flaws. As everyone else does, Sage knew that she had flaws but one thing she still reminded herself to do was to love herself regardless.

After finishing gawking over her look, she stepped back into the bedroom and immediately earned the attention of De'Angelo whose jaw nearly fell to his lap. "Wow. I don't think I've ever seen you look so... normal."

Sage couldn't help but to chuckle as she rolled her eyes and chucked the nearest small object at him, which coincidentally had been the lotion she had just rubbed her body down with. His quick reflexes luckily kicked in and he dodged the tube of cream easily, looking back at her with a playful mug. "What? You tryna say I'm ashy assum'? Throwing lotion bottles at me and shit." He laughed out as he picked up the tube and set it down on her nightstand. "Nah, for real though. You look good. You really went all out, huh?"

She shrugged in response and headed to her walk-in closet to grab herself a simple black cardigan for when she started to grow cold. "I guess. I mean, he used to stay asking me out back in high school and I always turned him down 'cause I heard about him." De'Angelo quickly nodded in agreement since he had heard all of the rumors about Andrew and his infidelity also. "But... we're grown now and we bumped into each other at my job the other day. His persistent ass said he still wanted to take me out, so I decided why not? It's not like he's unattractive or anything."

Which had been very true. Andrew Denali was far from unattractive with his blemish free caramel toned skin and neatly done dreads that stopped at the middle of his back. He always had them in some kind of style and surprisingly, it fit him each and every time. His smile was contagious and his charm had him in shit loads of trouble and drama when he was a teenager. It didn't help that his eyes were a dreamy hazel brown that any girl he came across couldn't help but to get lost in.

Except for Sage, that is.

"Alright, well, I hope you have fun and if you need me to beat his ass, I'll be here." De'Angelo spoke as he quickly saluted her before turning his attention right back to the TV screen in front of him.

Sage's face couldn't help but to scrunch up as she grabbed a clutch and stuffed her phone, lip gloss, car keys, wallet and a couple of condoms tucked away inside just in case. "Uh, yea no. Sorry baby boy but you gotta go."

"What?" His head quickly snapped in her direction as she began grabbing his arm and pulling him off of the bed, him doing his best to make things harder for her by relaxing all of his body weight. "How you gon' kick me out again? You don't trust me to be in here alone or something?"

Once she successfully struggled to pull him to the edge of the bed, he finally kicked his feet out so that he wouldn't fall off head first and stood up as Sage immediately began pushing him out of the door. "No, but if I happen to get lucky tonight, I don't need you laying on my bed when we come through."

De'Angelo dramatically gasped and turned to her as she shut her room door behind them. "On the first date, Sage?"

Sage stepped out of her now steamy bathroom, a large cotton shirt wrapped around her head in attempts to dry her freshly washed hair. Her eyebrows instantly furrowed at the sound of her TV playing the news loudly although it had been off when she first went into the shower.

Her footsteps halted and she began to take slow quiet steps through the small dark hallway that led to her bedroom, picking up the closest weapon she could find to defend herself with: her mother's priceless antique vase that sat on a stand against the wall. Her heartbeat began to pick up as she neared closer to her room, the blaring of her TV becoming louder and louder the closer she got.

Her breath hitched in her throat once she arrived at her closed room door, the vase present in her shaky hands, swallowing hard as she remained as silent as possible. She wouldn't dare pull the scary movie move by calling out 'who's there' as if someone who was trying to harm her would really answer.

Sage slowly reached for the doorknob, the bones in her wrists and elbows beginning to reverberate a low cracking sound under the pressure of her movements. She swiftly swung the door open, her arms ready to serve a crucial blow to the intruder with the large glass vase in her hands before immediately stopping to roll her eyes once she saw her best friend, De'Angelo, laying comfortably in her bed with his hands behind his head.

His eyes averted over towards Sage as he allowed a low chuckle to escape his lips. "Out of everything, you choose a damn vase? Ya mom's is gonna kill you for even breathing on that thing."

"Whatever." She waved him off with another roll of her eyes before going back out into the hallway to put the antique item back where she had found it before her parents could find out she touched it. She headed back towards her bedroom and removed the shirt from her head, her short blond locks becoming exposed in the process. "Did my mom let you in?"

Of course, she already knew the answer. She just wanted the proof on how he managed to infiltrate her bedroom in the short twenty minutes it took her to shower and wash her hair.

"She told me to keep my mouth shut so..." He trailed off, pretending to zip his mouth closed and lock it before throwing away the key causing Sage to giggle and toss the now soaking wet t-shirt at him. "Aye, aye!" He quickly jumped up to throw the cold clothing away from him, with it landing on the floor beside her feet.

Sage playfully stuck her tongue out at her friend as she grabbed the shirt from off of the floor and hung it to dry on top of her dirty clothes hamper so it wouldn't get that musty smell to it by being balled up. Her feet then carried her over to the side of the bed she favored most before plopping down onto the soft mattress, the silk sheets engulfing her body almost immediately.

De'Angelo soon moved over and laid his head on her lap which prompted her to begin running her hands through his low cut waves, something she always did when they were positioned this way. "You okay?" She asked, knowing the only time her best friend came to sleep over was when things weren't going too well for him at home and he didn't want to be alone.

"Yea, I just didn't wanna take the chance of turning to alcohol again... you know ma dukes hated seeing me drunk." He replied lowly, the playful tone in his voice had now shifted to sounding as if he was broken on the inside.

Ever since De'Angelo's mother had passed away, he spent more of his nights at Sage's house instead of his own. Her parents didn't mind because he was like a second son to them since he was a child and they could see how hurt and messed up he had become from his mother's death. Granted, he usually always informed Sage on when he was coming over so she knew something had to happen for him to pop up out of the blue and scare her half to death.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Her fingers continued to massage through his scalp as he shook his head no, earning silence from the both of them as the news persisted in the background.

Sage allowed the two to succumb to the quiet that had taken over the room, not wanting to push him if he wasn't ready. She knew that he would tell her eventually.

Suddenly, a topic changer popped into her mind as a wide smile formed on her face. "Oh! Angel, guess what?" She spoke cheerfully, calling him by the nickname she had called him since they were young. He responded by shifting his body so that he was now on his back, raising a curious brow at her. "Andrew asked me out. We're going on a date tomorrow night."

De'Angelo instantly scrunched up his face at her revelation. It's not that he wasn't happy for her, he just wanted it to be anyone other than Andrew. He wasn't someone De'Angelo felt was good enough for Sage. "Andrew? Andrew Denali?"

"That's the only Andrew we know dick head." She teased as she playfully flicked his forehead causing him to smack her hand away.

"Wow, so after all these years, Andrew Denali's getting a date before I do? Tragic." He shook his head in pretend disappointment, only earning another flick to his head.

Sage rolled her eyes and pushed his head from her lap causing him to sit up, eyeing her as if she had lost her mind. "Oh please, like I'd risk catching something from one of the hoes you like to mess with." She spoke as she stood up to retrieve her light blue du-rag from on top of her dresser.

Sometimes, she liked to wear one when she didn't feel like doing something to her hair since styling short hair wasn't as easy as most people thought. One wrong move and she'd be looking like Alfalfa from The Little Rascals.

"I think you've forgotten that I'm in a committed relationship now." Her best friend responded proudly which only caused Sage to roll her eyes as she tied a light knot in her du-rag so that a mark wouldn't show up on her forehead in the morning.

She wasn't jealous of his relationship in any way, but Chantell wasn't someone that Sage exactly favored. She had never met someone that complained so much in her entire life and the first time they were introduced, Chantell acted like a complete bitch for no apparent reason. Sage had actually been excited to meet her best friend's new girlfriend until she saw the look on Chantell's face once she caught sight of her.

"Ugh, don't remind me." Once the du-rag was secured on her head, she made her way back over to the bed to sit down next to him. "She's lucky you were there when we first met because you know I don't take too kindly to disrespect."

De'Angelo responded with an eye roll of his own as he laid back against her headboard. The last thing he wanted was for his girlfriend and his best friend to have beef with each other, but Chantell wasn't exactly a people person. She had actually been looking forward to meeting his childhood friend until she got out of the car and saw another woman come up to hug him. Her mood quickly went from sweet to sour in less than a second.

"Why do y'all have to do this every time you hear each other's names? It's been three months and it's getting old already." He exhaustedly ran his hand over his face, not even wanting to go down that road again. They had already gone over this conversation a plethora of times before and no matter how much he attempted to change the both of their minds, it never went through their thick skulls.

Sage simply stared at him for a few seconds with an expressionless face. "De'Angelo, honestly? Fuck that bitch."

His head quickly snapped in her direction at her words, a stern glare on his face as they both stared at each other never backing down from one another. Though, Sage was never the one that could stay serious when she needed to be and ultimately ended up cracking a smile causing De'Angelo to do the same as they both began to laugh hysterically at one another.

"Yo, did you see your face?" She chuckled out, holding her stomach as they both laughed even harder.

He playfully mushed her. "Fuck up. You get on my nerves bruh. Both of y'all."

Before Sage could respond, his phone began to ring loudly from his pants pocket causing him to fish it out, seeing his girlfriend's name flash across the screen which only earned an eye roll from Sage as she turned away and laid on her side, her back facing him.

With a small sigh, he answered Chantell's FaceTime call and her face soon popped up on his screen, a slight pout playing on her features as she sat in bed. "What are you doing? Why aren't you answering my messages, D?"

"My bad bae, I didn't know you were—"

"And whose house are you at?" She quickly interrupted him, her eyebrows furrowing as her face came a bit closer to the camera. "That doesn't look like your headboard."

He let out a low sigh. "I'm at Sage's house, relax."

Chantell's expression quickly changed from confused to angry as she immediately began to chew him out. "Without a shirt?! The fuck are you doing at that bitch's house anyway?"

Sage's eyes popped open as she had to bite her tongue to refrain from saying anything that might cause them to get into another argument. She usually wouldn't have even given her a second chance but she knew De'Angelo really liked Chantell for some odd reason. She personally couldn't understand why but she also didn't question it.

"Chill, I just need to talk and get some things off my chest. I was in one of my moods." He replied in a tone signifying that he was attempting to get her to calm down but it had only pissed her off more.

He didn't seem to realize that spending all of his time with another bitch wasn't something that she was okay with or something that was appropriate for someone in a relationship. She didn't care how close they were nor how long they've known each other. "So you go to her house when you could have easily came to mine? See, this is what I'm talking about De'Angelo. I'm sick of coming second to that bitch—"

Sage immediately popped up and snatched the phone from his hands causing him to instantly kneel up on the bed and try to get it back, struggling to grab it out of Sage's reach. "First of all, bitch, I'm gonna need you to watch your damn mouth because I haven't even disrespected you once for you to be calling me out of my name. Second, y'all have only been dating for four months, of course he's not gonna spill out his heart to you immediately and tell you all of his life's secrets. What he was going through tonight was something he barely likes to talk about with me so what makes you think he would wanna talk about it with someone he just met and doesn't even know if y'all are gonna last or not?"

Chantell was infuriated that this girl really had the nerve and the audacity to come at her when she was having a conversation with her boyfriend, not with Sage. She already didn't like the girl or her relationship with De'Angelo and this was just strike two of the reasons to make him stop being friends with her. Chantell didn't care about anything else, she wasn't about to let this girl punk her.

"Bitch, was I talking to you? No. Give my nigga back the phone before we have some problems, for real." Chantell retorted, her voice laced with an attitude as her neck rolled in this and that way.

De'Angelo continued to reach for his phone but Sage kept switching around the hands she kept it in and pushing him back with her elbow to make it harder for him. Though, her attention remained on his disrespectful ass girlfriend. "We already gotta problem hoe, and what? The fuck you gon' do?" Sage's hispanic accent began to shine through as she became more angry the longer she looked at this girl's face.

Chantell began to respond until the phone was quickly snatched back out of Sage's hand and De'Angelo instantly pressed the red end call button so things wouldn't escalate any further than they already had.

Not even a second later, his phone began to vibrate again with another incoming call from his girlfriend. He quickly declined it only to receive yet another call from her, it being clear that she wasn't about to let up. He decided to turn his phone on do not disturb with a low sigh. "Why would you do that?"

Sage gave him a look as if he had eight different heads and smacked her lips. "Don't even go there, you need to keep your dog on a leash because I could have done her way worse."

And it was true, she could have. While Sage and De'Angelo had never had something going on, he told her everything whether she wanted to hear it or not and Sage was willing to bet that Chantell didn't know about him slipping up with a frequent fuck buddy a month or so ago. She could have really hurt the girl's feelings but out of respect for her best friend, she wouldn't spill his tea just because she was angry or upset.

"You still ain't have to do all that though. I already told you how she is." He replied, running his hand over his face as he attempted to defend his girlfriend; something that angered Sage even more because she felt that she wasn't in the wrong.

If she hadn't been disrespected, she wouldn't have said anything to the girl. Yet here they are. "Me? You need to be telling her that!" She paused before she said something she regretted. She was sure she'd be over it by the morning, but right now, she didn't have time nor wanted to deal with the bullshit. "You know what? Just get out. Go to her place like she said because you're about to take me out of my character. I'll talk to you in the morning."

De'Angelo stared at his friend as if to see if she had actually been serious about him leaving but her body language clearly read that she wanted to be left alone. He simply nodded, angry and offended by her kicking him out as he scooped up his t-shirt and threw it back on over his body before leaving from her room without so much as a glance her way.

He knew that ever since he started dating Chantell, he and Sage had been getting into more arguments but she never went as far as to tell him to leave her house before. He didn't even feel the situation was that serious.

The last thing he wanted to do was hear Chantell's mouth too so he just decided to drive himself home; the place he didn't want to be at in the first place. It held too many memories of he and his mother together. Memories that he'd never be able to relive nor get back.

A sigh escaped from his lips as he stepped through his front door, the house still dark with the exception of the kitchen light on. He threw his car keys down onto the counter and sat at the island that had resided in the middle of his kitchen. The same bottle of whiskey that had sat on the island's countertop before he left still rested in the same spot.

He grabbed it with the quickness, the added stress from tonight doing nothing to help his situation. A bit of hesitation washed over him as he was about to open the bottle, his mother's disappointed face appearing in the back of his mind and tears beginning to cloud his eyes. He had never let anyone see him when he broke down like this, not even Sage and he wasn't even sure if the tears were of sadness or of anger.

Twisting the cap off of the glass bottle, he tossed it to the side before throwing back the whiskey, allowing the harsh liquid to slide down his throat as the burning sensation instantly presented itself in the back of his esophagus. After a few gulps, he slammed the bottle down as his eyes shut tightly and he had to clear his throat to rid himself of the pain that soon followed.

His body immediately warmed and when he opened his eyes, he could have sworn he saw his mother, her back rested against the counter with her arms folded as she shook her head at him. "Mom?" He couldn't believe she was actually there, the affects of the alcohol coursing through his blood being the last thing on his mind at that moment.

He closed his eyes again and shook his head—just to be sure that she was real and he wasn't just seeing things—but when he opened them up again, she was gone. The darkness overcame the space she had previously been in as De'Angelo buried his head in his hands, his heart falling to the pit of his stomach as he allowed the tears he had been holding back to now fall freely.