How I killed my mother

11th March, 2020: The Diary

"I've been worried sick since the last 3 days, I can't anymore," Eyzah whined as Harry gently rubbed her temples.

"Don't worry, hon. I believe in you. You're gonna be fine," Harry kissed her in the forehead, gently and slowly.

"We don't know anything about the raincoat yet. Who does it belong to? Who hid it there? Why did they wipe it clean? And what did they burn? There's something I'm missing, something big.."

"Eyzah, you're overthinking. The DNA reports will be here soon, and then we'll know who was behind all that, okay?"

"Does that necessarily mean Errum pushed her though? Could be a print from a touch or something else..."

"Eyzah, do you realise you're in denial? I get why. You see the foreigner girl who everyone hates in Errum, and you had been the same girl once. I know how people treated you when you were young, just because of your race was so, so wrong. And that applies for Errum too. But that's no excuse for what she did. The people...they aren't wrong on this one. There is just too much of circumstantial evidence that we cannot overlook. It's most probable that she's the one who did this. And if it is, it doesn't mean people are right in being racist. But it does mean that someone who pushes her mother to death deserves to be behind the bars."

"But she's just 17, Harry. If what Alayna said was true, have you imagined how much she has gone through? Bullies, absent father, drug addicted, abusive mother. She barely had anyone, Harry. So much trauma must've been so hard for her to handle. It's understandable if she was driven to do something sinister. She's not the one at fault. Yet she's gonna spend the rest of her life, alone in prison, miserable..."

"If the court decides she was traumatized, she'll get good treatment and a better life. It's gonna be fine, Eyzah. Have faith like you always do. Please don't take this case so personally, if the sarge realizes this he's gonna kick you out of the case. And can we talk about something else? It feels like all we talk about nowadays is this case, even after making love. We promised not to bring our professional lives between ourselves, didn't we?"

Eyzah silently nodded.

"Now please cheer up, and tell me what you want for breakfast. It's time for Chef Styles to do the magic for you," he winked.

Harry pulled her into a hug and they laid there, silently as they saw the sun beautifully rise at the dawn sky. It was so pretty, Eyzah felt like crying. Sometimes looking at pretty things made her cry. Because she knew it was forever an illusion, real innocence, and real beauty, had been long gone.

***

"Yes, Jake. Any updates?"

"It's so good you'll wanna pull me in a hug and kiss my brains out,"

"Just spit it, Jake."

"Alayna Hassan brought in something. Something you'd love to see,"

Eyzah pulled away from Harry as he grumbled under his breathe. He'd been peacefully asleep for over an hour now, while Eyzah was worried sick about Errum's future. She was always sensitive to people's sorrows, but she never had this much sympathy for someone who allegedly murdered their mother. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Eyzah knew how hard it was for people like her to fit in. And when you don't fit in, it messes with your head.

Eyzah slowly got up and took a long shower. She wasn't quite eager on finding out what was it that Alayna brought in. She had had enough of obsessing over this case. A few more days, after the case runs in court, she could go on a well earned and much needed break. Maybe a vacation to the Stone Manor with Harry?

The cold water helped her muscles relax. She tried to convince herself: Errum is nothing to you. She's just a troubled girl who murdered her mother. She deserves to be punished. It's fine.

Eyzah cursed under her breathe as the water suddenly ran out.

***

"Good morning Alayna. Would you like to have a cup of coffee? Juice?"

"No thank you. I'll just stick to water."

"Let's jump to the point, then. What is it that you have, Alayna?"

Alayna looked as pale as ghost that day. Understandable, she thought. She tied her hair in a low bun, with a few strands hanging loosely by the sides. She fidgeted with her finger and sipped her water before talking.

"I can't believe I'm doing this. Errum always confided in me, sought protection when she needed it. And here I am, sabotaging her life." Alayna closed her eyes and sighed.

"For your mother. You aren't sabotaging her, Alayna. The truth will uncover itself. And if Errum did this, she deserves to be behind the bars."

Alayna nodded slowly and looked at her feet.

"So..what is it, Alayna?"

"Detective, I told you about how she disliked mom, right? That was because, because our mom was suffering from withdrawal symptoms and a lot of pressure, and sometimes tend to..abuse Errum. I knew that, and I regretted not doing anything about it, and letting her hate grow to the point where... But there's something I didn't know. I had no idea about the extent of torture Errum had to go through,"

"What extent?" Eyzah felt awake now.

"I know none of this looks good for Errum. But I was looking through her belongings of her locker room that the school handed me yesterday. I had no idea she.. she maintained a diary. She considered me her best friend, I thought she'd tell me about it. I just opened it to see what was inside, and, and..." A shiver went through Alayna and she was visibly shaking.

"Alayna, are you okay? Here take some water. Relax. Breathe. Talk to me, Alayna. Where is the diary? I need to see it."

Alayna slowly handed her a red leather bound diary with shaky hands.

Just as Eyzah's eyes fell on the diary, she had a feeling the answer to all the mysteries she had been obsessing over since days lay trapped inside the red leather bound diary.