femme fatale | t.r

(i) heaven is too far.

6:00 AM: MAYA.

I hated car rides.
    Especially the long ones where it felt as though they would never end. The CD player in my hand started to beep, signaling that it needed some recharging. Monica stopped playing in my ears, a yawn escaping from my lips. How long had it already been? Jas was in the front seat, which meant that her and Reign had switched not too long ago. The road was packed with honking cars, sun peeking and rising at the horizon in the distance. As much as I hated new technology, I pulled out my iPhone and began taking pictures. These could make for beautiful inspiration art later.
    Jas had been sipping on some melted iced coffee, a twang of disgust on her face. "You'll learn to leave that stuff alone and start enhancing your body with green teas and meditation. It's a better booster than that caffeinated stuff." I said, looking in the back seat at my younger brother. He slept so peaceful, no worries on his freckles face. I didn't like staring at him too long. He was a striking image of Mom.
    "Meditation and green teas? That's why you're over there drooling on your car window?" Jas said with laughter in her voice, rolling her eyes. "I took a wrong exit not too long ago. These Manhattan streets are confusing, it's like being in downtown LA with a lot more cars and bicycles." She looked around as she spoke, chocolate hands gripping the wheel in clear distress. I just nodded in agreement, keeping my concerns to myself.
    The move was random, but with the funeral donations and some other generous loans, we could afford it. University had always been the plan, but I envisioned my mother being involved in it. When they closed her case, our whole town was distraught. From bakery owners to car mechanics - my mother really left her mark and smile everywhere she went. The funeral felt like yesterday. It wasn't though. In a couple of weeks, it would have been a year. Two years since I walked the stage, a year since I was forced to prom by my best friend and a year since my acceptance later had been delivered. All those things and the one thing missing was my Mom.
    "Aren't you excited? It's like a new start." Jas said, meeting me in my thoughts to run away from my city.

    "Yeah, I'm excited for what's in store." A small smile creeped on my features. Although drawing had been my passion, I had much bigger fish to fry.

Like opening a closed case and getting justice for my Mom.

3:00 PM.

"Zzz, zzz, zzz, zzzz, zzzz..."
    I tossed and turned in my bed, reaching around to silence the vibration of my alarm. How long had I been asleep? I silenced the alarm, sitting up and looking around the room. Right, since about 10 or 11 am. We had finally touched down into our 3 bedroom condo on the third floor, which overlooked the heroine and drug addicts of Brooklyn. The person before us kept the apartment super nice, so with some minor sweeping and tidying we had settled in. I tossed the comforter covers off of me and walked across the bare wood, taking a seat at the window. It was a much different scenery than before. I pulled the curtains back before yawning and walking into the main area, where I found Reign scrolling on his tablet.
    "What are you doing, hm?" I asked, taking a seat on the couch across from him. He had an addiction to that tablet, but that was another argument for another time.

    "I'm currently looking at our hashtag on Twitter. I'm trying to scope out some eye candy and maybe a party for us to attend. I refuse to be holed up in the house on our first day." Reign said, shaking his head and using his pointer finger to aggressively swipe the tablet. "What about you? How was that nap?"

    "It was fine. Bad dreams per usual.. why do we need to go to a party? Why can't we just be new students on the first day like the rest of the losers coming?" Reign chuckled at my response, shaking his head in obvious disapproval.

    "Uh uh, not me. I'm not a loser and you're not either. But speaking of losers, didn't you need to go to the precinct? It's 3:15 and we need to head out at least before 5. The traffic here is crazy." Reign said, turning the tablet off and looking in my direction.

Shit.

    I had scheduled appointment with the Chief down here some weeks ago in hopes of another detective opening my mother's case. With a nod of confirmation and not much else to say, I stood from the couch and headed back to my room. I couldn't show up in silk pajamas with bed hair, I needed to look like I meant business. I tossed on a pantsuit, using a scrunchie to tie my bouncy curls back. I brushed my teeth, mouthwashed and slipped on some comfortable running flats. I had a briefcase of news articles that covered my mother's absence and many other things that could convince them to open the case. I just needed a chance and someone to believe me.