There's Always A Plot Twist | Wattys 2023 ✓

40| The Emergence

So of course Amara's Taser and Asanti's pepper spray and mace were confiscated after effectively triggering a breakdown in a man that was already on the verge of having one.

But Riley can tell that neither of them mind, knowing that they'd probably just go out and buy more if they don't already have backups.

After the police handcuffed Alberto into an ambulance, the paramedics insisted on checking on Amber's injuries who was even more persistent that she didn't need anything.

Kaizen, Riley, Asanti and Amara sit on the curb, watching the army of officers flood in and out of the house.

They put up tape a while ago, posting officers along the line to stop the nosey neighbours from coming any closer.

As Amber and Arlo reconnect, embracing eachother underneath flood lights and drizzle, Riley can't take her eyes away.

"I'll never understand it..." Kaizen utters, shaking his head as he pulls out a vape.

"What?" Asanti drawls after yawning for the second time.

"How they brought us into this world just to fuck us up."

Riley tilts her head the other way to peer into the ambulance where Alberto is being treated, watching as he rives in silent agony, deciding to play devil's advocate.

"That was never the plan, to hurt her, I don't believe that."

Kaizen blows smoke that smells sweet like sugar into the air. "Really? After what we just saw?"

"But you didn't see what I saw." she replies, taking her mind back inside that house. "On the walls, he had all these pictures of her mother. I don't know much about what went down between them, but he loved his wife, and I think he missed her."

"But she's not dead. They divorced and she fled to god knows where." Amara points out, watching yet another officer pass them.

"But that's my point. Imagine being left with a fragment of the thing you love most in the world and not being able to have that thing with you."

"He's not supposed to take that out on Amber." Kaizen utters, licking his lips as he stares down at his feet. "That's not her responsibility."

Riley's sighs. "I'm not justifying anything he did, I think he deserves everything that's coming to him...but the writing is literally on the wall."

Asanti crosses his legs, lazily pulling at the strings of his jacket. "Which means what, exactly?"

"Hurt people hurt other people."

Kaizen puffs out another plume of smoke, replaying her words in his mind over and over again.

"No. It shouldn't be that way. I mean, his wife left her in his hands probably because she thought that was the one place that she'd be safe...but I don't see why."

"Maybe he was a different guy back then?" Riley offers, pulling her eyes back towards the crying couple still shivering underneath the night sky. "People change all the time, sometimes without rhyme or reason...it just happens."

Amara tucks her hands underneath her armpits to keep them warm, appearing to be more effected by the sudden drop in temperature than the others. "She was leaving her child with a man she thought loved his child as much as he loved her."

Kaizen lifts his eyes, her words resonating with him more than he ever thought could be possible.

Riley looks down at her reflection in the puddle near her feet, being able recognise parts of herself in Alberto's story.

A man who spends his life being stuck in the past, holding onto what once was, something that remains without an answer.

The final stage of a butterfly, and the most crucial part, is knowing when to let go.

Knowing when it's finally time, to fly from the comfort zone.

Thankfully an officer arrives to save the pair from their own eureka moments, having spent more than enounce time in time out contemplating their own lives.

"Alright you two are free to go." he declares, pointing towards Kaizen and Riley. "Get out of here."

"What about our friends?" Riley inquires, gesturing towards Asanti and Amara who remain seated on the curb.

"The homeowner is pressing charges, so these two will unfortunately be coming with us."