Impact

Chapter 1

Mandy entered her apartment, pulling off her police coat and resting it on the kitchen table. Ashtyn, who was on her laptop on the couch, set it to the side and stood. Ashtyn and Mandy had been dating for a while now and decided to live together in Ashtyn's apartment.

Ashtyn pointed to the coat. "Put it on the rack by the door. Chris is coming over to have dinner with us. She'll be here any minute, so get cleaned up." She stepped into the kitchen, leaning against the counter. She eyed the pizza box to her right, which she just had delivered a few minutes before.

Mandy groaned, picking up her coat and taking it to the rack. She trudged into their room to change out of the police uniform. When she returned to the kitchen, Ashtyn smiled at the ground.

The doorbell rang.

As Ashtyn skipped to the door, she whispered, "Be nice!" to Mandy, who rolled her eyes. Before Ashtyn could even fully open the door, Christine, Ashtyn's adopted sister, walked in as though the smell of pizza dragged her in by the throat. After sniffing the pizza box and grinning in approval, she hugged the both of them, Mandy more awkwardly than Ashtyn.

Christine's relationship with Mandy was never as strong as it should've been. Often resulted in arguments or someone storming out, usually Mandy. It wasn't that Mandy had a problem with her girlfriend's adopted sister or that Christine had a problem with her adoptive sister's girlfriend; it was the work. They shared political views, so there was never that fear at a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Both of them enjoyed their jobs, proud of their lines of work. But the two of them had different ways of accomplishing the same goal: preventing the city from undergoing any harm. Negotiation verses force. The method of accomplishing a common goal. There was a difference between them. They could avoid the conversation of who did what job incorrectly if they wanted to. If.

"Lovely to see you, Chris. It's been a while. Outside of work, I mean." Mandy's failed attempt to start conversation rose Christine's anxiety about the night, but when the two of them locked eyes as they sat down, it was as though Ashtyn wasn't even there.

"Yeah," Christine smiled. "You, too."

After placing the pizza box and plates on the table, Christine took a seat beside her adoptive sister, across from Mandy. Ashtyn had been seated at the head of the table so she would be between both of them, almost like a separation barrier. Her heart sunk in her chest down to the pit of her stomach as if someone had just told her that her sister or girlfriend had just been harmed on the job.

They made it through the entire meal with casual discussion about a tropical storm in the south-eastern portion of the country that had entire cities under several inches of water. It was comfortable. Until the topic was brought up.

"So, I heard a cop shot a black guy last week," Christine started, receiving a scowl from Ashtyn. Her hands were folded on the table, drumming slightly.

Mandy sipped from her glass of wine she had just poured each of them. "Yeah, um, that—that didn't happen, Chris."

Obviously aggravated, Ashtyn sighed, wiping her mouth with her napkin. She took a look drink from her wine, then traced the round rim of the bottom of the glass with her finger.

Slightly offended by Mandy's reply, Christine sat up straighter. "I have a source that says he saw it. The entire thing."

Ashtyn looked over at Christine. "Chris..."

"Just because you're a reporter with a source who told you something to put in an article doesn't make it true," Mandy cut in. "People lie all the time to make us cops sound bad."