One Last Time

15

Bobby

Bobby watched the young man. He'd had to be in his twenties, looking muscular like the type of guy that worked out at his local gym. His outfit or "drip" as Buck had referred to it, looked like something a famous rapper would wear.

Bobby's wife, now standing beside him, her face pressed up to the window of Darrius' office, smirked. Darrius sat at his desk, accompanied by Leah, who leaned against the wall. Malik, his hands still tied with zip ties, behind his back, bit the bottom of his lip.

"Eddie's convinced," Athena started, her gaze frozen to Malik. "But me, I'm not sure."

Bobby shook his head, "You weren't there," he warned. "Evelyn walked right out from behind the wall in his room.

"Bobby, I'm skeptical."

"Can I talk to Malik?" Bobby asked.

"They're wrapping up in here," she explained. "Do you want me in there?"
"Stay," Bobby ordered gently. "I want him to prove to me that he's innocent, not you."

Athena nodded, understandingly. Darrius opened the door and exchanged a quick word with Athena and him.

He faced Malik, clenching his jaw tightly. Bobby sat next to Eddie. Eddie's knee bounced rapidly, creating a loud tapping noise on the floor.

"Tap, tap, tap, tap."

Bobby placed a hand on Eddie's knee, stopping his anxiety from sounding like a tap dance routine. Eddie flinched, his nervousness rubbing off on Bobby. The three of them sat in the office, tension rising each minute. Malik refused to make eye contact, he stared at his feet.

"I know you don't believe me," Malik admitted, folding his hands together. "And I know this looks bad for me."

Eddie tilted his head downwards. Bobby noticed Eddie had seemed off this whole trip. Was he eating enough? Was he worried about his son? Had this case shaken him up too much? Eddie wasn't a delicate guy, yet, Bobby knew that Eddie would selflessly hide his trauma from the rest of the crew. Nobody ever wanted to feel like they were a burden.

Bobby sighed, "Malik, can you just run me through your side of the story?"

With optimism sparkling in Malik's eyes, he nodded eagerly, "Yes."

"Alright, what happened?"

Malik took a deep breath, "Aight, so about an hour ago, I was hanging out in my room, catching up on a good book, The Hobbit. I was thirsty, and my water bottle was empty, so I decided to fill up at the water fountain just down the hallway."

Bobby interrupted, "Did you leave your door unlocked?"

"Nah man– sir, not with a killer around. I brought my keycard."

"Did anyone see you at the water fountain?" Eddie spoke up, abruptly.

Malik closed his eyes, "I know this is bad. But no, I ain't see nobody and nobody saw me."

Bobby and Eddie exchanged glances.

"Wait, but you gotta understand, everyone was in their rooms, hiding," Malik ushered. Malik noticed their doubtful faces, Bobby tried to hide his. "For real, I had no idea she was in there, and I would never do that to a child, ever."

Bobby closed his eyes, a strange doubtfulness rising in his chest. Malik did appear apologetic, scared, and sorry for the incident.

"I can show you my water bottle," Malik pleaded, "It's full, maybe still cold. Or, or the book, I could tell you about what I read in the chapter..." his voice trailed off.