(Second book from the Death Avenue series)
Sierra has known California all her life. She grew up with the palm trees and desirable temperatures. She has her mom, Anna and her brother, DeMarcus, but she has never gotten to truly know her father.
He...
I get out of the car and walk towards the house. "Don't forget to put some ice on that eye Khalil!"
I smile at him and walk into the house. I make my way towards the kitchen for a snack. I then head to my room.
"Not so fast young lady, I need you to do something for me."
"Can't, I've got homework."
"I said I need you to do something for me." I stop at the top of the staircase and turn to look at my mother. I huff loudly giving in. "Yes?"
"When you're done with your homework, I need you to help box up some of the junk in the attic and put it outside by the trash bin for pickup."
"Why do I have to go up there?"
"Excuse me?" I huff again and make sure she sees my obvious eye roll. "Never mind, I'll get it done."
I turn away and continue walking to my room.
*time passes*
I toss my phone aside bored from liking pictures and lurking through my crush's instagram. She so fine.
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I leave my room heading downstairs to see if there's anything cooking for dinner.
"Are you done with your homework yet?"
My mom walks over to me from her room. "Yep. Cook anything for dinner?"
"Well, you and you're brother can order some carry-out once my attic is cleaned." A frown forms on my face instantly.
She walks past me just barely brushing my shoulder. I roll my eyes and make my way to the attic.
"I can help if you want." I look over at my brother standing in the bathroom doorway wearing nothing but a t-shirt and boxers.
"It's okay I don't want to drag you into this. I'll just take one for the team. I started the argument anyway and I'd prefer it if you'd at least wear sweatpants."
I ruffle his puffy hair and continue to the attic. I pull the ladder down and open the door as a wave of dust smacks me in the face. I cough and wave my hand at the air.
I look around at all the small boxes and old pieces of furniture grandma gave us. I decide on a sorting method and look through the small boxes for things we should keep or get rid of.
I find dusty Polaroids and worn out journals with writing I dont recognize. They must've been my dad's work journals. He was always taking notes and writing reminders he'd forget he wrote. The stories I here.
I just wish he hadn't left...
I carefully place the journals aside and find a scrap book dated 1998. The pictures start at my mom and dad's wedding. They go on to my birth and stop a few months before the Christmas dad left.
They must've really liked the idea of family pictures, everything's in here. Oh all the trips they took. There is their honeymoon, their dates, and even a picture of mom's first pregnancy test.
She must've thought it would be too painful to continue this book after he left. I remember a little while after DeMarcus was born she would sit in her room looking through this book smiling and crying. I used to think she'd go mad. I suppose any wife would go crazy if their husband left them randomly before Christmas. Just left you stranded and knocked up with one baby already.
I move onto the next box covered in a white sheet with black smudges and cob webbs everywhere. This one is filled with important files. I pick up a folder with birth certificates and some large photographs of me and some of DeMarcus.
I reach around in the box to see if I missed anything and find a brown folder mark "All Case Information" in big red letters. I look through the files. I can't resist.
Case #28473
Last Name First Name DOB Williams Tristan 10/3/1978
Time of Death Date of Death 22:30 12/24/2004
Cause Laceration of the throat. Victim then choked on blood. Murder.
Weapon Hunting knife.
Suspects N/A
This is a classified case.
Death? Death! He died? He didn't even die peacefully. He was murdered. Tears stream down my face. I can't even believe what I'm seeing. My head is spinning with questions and anger. I feel dizzy. Why did my mom keep this from me? From us? Why did she lie? How could she do this to DeMarcus? She saw how much it affected him.
Does she plan on telling us the truth?
I dont understand why she'd lie. All these years I thought he was still out there. I thought he walked out on us. Khalil's mom even lied to us. All those times DeMarcus said he wanted to look for him. He can't look for a dead man unless it's his grave.
What should I do now? I definitely have to keep this a secret. Mom will definitely kill me if I tell her about this.
But I could be helping her to continue to lie to DeMarcus if I do. I don't know what to do. I can't believe this shit!
I try to calm down and stop myself from having a panic attack. I sit back and hold my chest. I wipe the tears from my face as I breath in and out. I need to keep this to myself for now, but first I need to find out everything I can about his murder.
I need to start searching for the truth. No more lies. No more secrets. I must know everything. I want answers.
