Just the Beginning

48

ANA

I'm sitting in a room... I'm alone. I'm pretty sure it's an interrogation room. My heart is racing and my palms are sweaty. What should I say? What if our stories don't line up? They separated me and Matt. I haven't seen him since and they've told me nothing other than "he's doing fine". Not very convincing if you ask me.

The door opens and a man walks in. He's tall, mid 30s maybe. "Anastasia?" He asks. I nod and he sits across from me. "My name is Detective Patel. I've just got some questions about what happened today. Hope that's okay." I feel like I'm going to throw up.

"Okay let's start with the basics, what happened?"

"Uhm- uh- I- Matt-"

"Okay I guess I should advise that anything you say will be held as evidence. I would suggest telling the truth here today. We're talking to Matthias too."

I look down at my hands. What should I do? What should I say? "I um- well me and Matt are together- as- as a couple," I stutter, "I got a call from him today- and I could tell her wasn't okay-"

"How could you tell?"

"The background noise," I close my eyes and think back. The man screaming at Matt, the sound of the object that hit him oh so many times. "There- there was a man there yelling at him, hitting him with something-"

"What was he saying? Did you know the man?"

"No," I shake my head, "I don't think so. I- I can't really remember what was being said— I just remember knowing he wasn't in a good spot and I had to find out where he was-"

"So how did you?"

"How did I what?"

"How did you know where he was?"

Fuck. Now what? I can't tell him about the gang stuff. They'll be able to put him away won't they? They could take him in.

"I- I heard the word Elm and I searched for it. There's only one Elm and it's Elm Avenue so I called you and I just told you because that had to be it. And it was."

He looks at me for a moment, "okay. Has this ever happened before?"

"No," I shake my head, "I- I don't know. Why? Do you think so?" I have to play dumb to some degree.

"Well there's been a line of crimes here recently," he sighs, "we're thinking it's all part of the same group."

"Which is what?"

"Well there's no proof yet but we're working to build the case. We think everything is gang related. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

I feel like a deer in headlights, "no- no I don't."

"Really?" He looks at his paper, "your father was in one was he not? That's why he's in prison, yes?"

I look at him, "my dad? Really? I think I've answered everything regarding the situation-"

"You most certainly have not. Let's finish up here."

MATT

They aren't really questioning me. I'm not sure why but they aren't. Will it happen later? Maybe. But I'm hoping it won't happen today. All I've gotten was the general 'what happened' , 'did you know anyone' , yada yada yada. I haven't seen Ana since that house. They put us in separate cars.

I feel so bad about what's happened. I mean this puts us in a bad spot. They're coming. I know they are. She called the cops. They KNOW it was her. And they're going to retaliate. Badly.

"Okay," the female officer walked in, "you're good to go."

"Is Ana-"

"She's getting ready to be let out."

I stand and walk out of the room I was sitting in. Every step is painful, a sharp shrieking pain that shoots up my back. My head is pounding, luckily it's stopped bleeding though. I haven't had a chance to look in a mirror yet, so I don't know what I look like. I was told to go to the hospital but I'd really rather not.

As I walk down the hall that's filled with plaques and little trophies, I see another door open. She steps out and with her back to me I tell it's her. Her hair is straight and shiny, so long and pretty. She's in jeans, combat boots and a maroon leather jacket.

"Hey love," I whisper. She stops and turns her head quickly. Her mouth forms a sad face and she slightly pouts with sad eyes while walking towards me. She holds her arms up and wraps me in a hug. I blink away the tears before they're able to fall. I can't let emotions win here.

"Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

I can't help but laugh a bit, "I'm alright. I just- have you seen Chase? He wasn't there?"

Confusion is written on her face, "you- there was an accident. I thought you were in it-"

"I was," I nod, "Where did you-? How did you know-"

"I saw it. Me and Jada-"

"What?" I stop, "what happened?"

"He's in the hospital," she shakes her head and looks down, "I Uhm- I need to call Jada." I urge her to call while we walk outside.

"Jada? How's everything going?" Ana asks over the phone. I listen but can't hear Jada. "So he's stable now? Doing better? Oh he's eating? That's good. Yeah- yeah we're okay. Well, Matt isn't in too good of shape but he'll feel better once he rests." Suddenly her face is wrapped with fear, "what did she say? What is she- what is she going to do? I'm not going to just stop— no. I'm not doing that Jada. Because I care. The same way you do. We can- we can go to Chase's house. I went there, I went and talked to his mom. That's why she showed up- I don't care about the consequences anymore. I don't. I just won't go back for a while. I'll sleep in my car. It's what I'd be doing anyways. I'll be fine. I'll see you later, call me if anything happens." She pulls the phone away from her and ends the call, she stares at her phone.

"What is it?" I whisper, "what's wrong?"

"He's okay," she puts on a smile for show. I can see through that. She should know that by now. "He's doing okay, he's stable. Which is much better than he was." We walked to her car, one of the officers was kind enough to bring it back to the station. She opens the door before I'm able to and has me sit in the passenger seat. She runs around, gets in and starts the car. It's chilly outside. You can tell Fall has come.