Gangs, drugs and her

7

"Once? Who did you kill" I asked curiously while sitting up in my seat.

"The man who murdered my mum. April killed the man who murdered my dad. It's a long story. You don't have to listen" Regina says looking down upset at herself.

"No. I want to" I say holding her hand.

She slowly looked up at me. I can see in her eyes she's never spoken about her feeling towards this. She's never done this. I want to be someone for her to talk to but I'm starting to feel bad that I'm doing this for my job. When she finds out who I am this moment will be in her mind and will hurt her. I have to though.

"Okay. There was three men. I was with my parents and April. We walked out the movies headed down an ally way where dads car was parked. I then heard running footsteps. We turned round to see these men running away from something. They had guns and money bags" Regina was stiff as she spoke and barely looked me in the eye.

"So they most likely robbed a bank" I asked knowing the answer.

"Yeah. I think so. We heard sirens and the police shouting stop them. My dad was brave and feared nothing. He punched the one who was running ahead of the others. He fell to the floor and dropped the money. The other two stopped and looked at him. One points a gun at him and the other points a gun at my mum. She hid me and April behind her"

"I thought you said you shot someone. When does it get to that part" I asked eager to know now.

"I'm getting there" Regina cuts me off. "The one on the floor shot my dad while he was distracted. The bullet hit his stomach. As he fell to his knees one of the others shot him in the head. My mum pinched the man stood up and kicked the one on the floor. A gun landed in front of me from the one on the floor. The third guy shot my mum in the head which instantly killed her. Without thinking I picked the gun up. The two men stood up pointed there gun at me. The one who shot my mum shot at me. He missed. I shot back. I didn't" Regina says looking down upset.

"That's self defence though. You shot because he was shooting at you. I thought you said April killed someone" I asked in slight relief since she isn't a murdered.

"Yeah. She took the gun from my hand and shot the other two. One didn't have a gun so it was classed as murder. She through the gun on the floor and looked at the dead bodies. We heard the police cars getting closer. She grabbed me and pulled me back down the end of the ally" Regina finished with a look as if she was going to cry.

"How old were you" I asked softly.

"15. April was 17" she replied looking down.

Regina isn't a murderer. She was a scared 15 year old girl who was being shot at so she did what she thought was best. She isn't a criminal. She doesn't do drugs. She isn't a murderer. She is innocent.

"Your innocent? I knew it. Your innocent" I say half shocked half proud.

"Sshh ok! No one can know I'm not like them" she quickly says as she leaped onto my lap and held her hand over my mouth.

"I wont" I mumbled under her hand. She moved her hand and raised an eyebrow up. "I said I wont. Why do you pretend to do all this stuff" I asked softly as I made sure our eyes are locked.

"Because of my sister. If I leave then I can be out behind bars for crimes I didn't commit. We know we'll never be found and taken down. Not unless they get a fucking great detective then we are ok. I can't risk all this. If I pretend then I stay. April knows everything. She knows I'm not a criminal. She knows I hate drugs. I take them so the other girls don't know. I trust you'll keep it a secret" she asked holding both my hands tight in fear.

"I won't tell the girls. I promise. Are you the only one who's not a criminal" I asked making sure I keep note of everything.

"Yes. April got a taste for killing and loved it. They all have killed. Like I said before we only do it if we have to. The most we do is sell, buy and do drugs. I don't. April knows I refuse to do it all. Our agreement was if the gang got caught I left town"

I didn't know what to do or say. I pulled her into my arms and just hugged her. I held her close to me to make her feel better. Her grip on me around me became tight as if she didn't want me to leave.

"It's ok. You aren't a murderer. That was self defence" I whispered holding her close.

"Wait a minute. Your just a stripper? How do you know that and how are you hay good with a gun" Regina asked pulling away confused.

"I... I like the... shooting range" I say stumbling on words not sure what to say.

"Ow my god... your not a stripper" she says looking shocked at me. Regina stood up from the sofa and went to the draw. She took my badge out and looked at it closer. She skimmed her finger across it and felt it was real. "This is real. You lied to me. You lied to us all. Ow my fucking god your a detective"

"Regina I..."