When life falls apart

Chapter 1- The funeral

"Isn't it amazing how life is one thing and then, in an instant it becomes something else." - If I stay (Mia)

Kehlani Jacqueline Hernandez

24 years old. Half Mexican/ Half Italian. Tri-lingual (English, Spanish, Italian). Adopted. Mom is a nurse. Father is a detective. Trained in MMA. Skilled shooter. Best friends are Jade & Hazel.

Luca Dean Moretti (Love interest)

25 years old. Italian. Bi-lingual (English, Italian). Trained fighter since birth. Excellent shot. Father is right hand man of current Mafia Boss. Will take over the right hand position when he steps down. Best friends are Noah & Lorenzo.

Jade Ramos

24 years old. Half Dominican/Half Black. Bi-lingual (English, Spanish). Kehlani & Hazel's best friend. Feisty. Her parents were abusive so she moved in with Kehlani & her parents when they were 13. Her friends are the most important thing to her.

Hazel Spencer

24 years old. Irish. Kehlani & Jade's best friend. Her father was never in her life & her mother passed away 3 years ago. She has a smart mouth which usually ends up getting her & the rest of the trio in trouble. Would take a bullet for her friends.

The rest of the characters I will introduce as the story goes.

                                  Kehlani's POV

   All I could do was watch. Watch as they lowered my parents caskets into the ground. I felt numb. I've been in denial since it happened but now staring at their grave is leaving me no choice but to accept it. Accept that this horrible nightmare is now my reality. I sat with my best friends Jade and Hazel on each side of me. Hazel on my left and Jade on my right. They haven't let go of my hands this entire time and even though I didn't act like it I'm so glad they didn't. I needed to feel something. Knowing that I still had people who loved me was the only thing getting me through this. I looked around at all the people in the crowd. Friends, family and others all gathered to pay their respects to my parents. They were truly loved by many.

My mother was the sweetest woman in the world. She was a nurse at the local hospital & she loved her job. She told me that she liked to think of her patients as extended family, which I guess is why they all loved her so much. My father was a special victims unit detective. He was one of the best. He said the worst part of the job was notifying the families and I understand that now more than ever. He dealt with people on the worst day of their lives but now here I was having the worst day of mine. Except I didn't have him to help me through it.

The priest was speaking about "love" & "forgiveness" & I honestly might go to hell but I wanted to punch him in the face right now. I wasn't necessarily an atheist but after what happened I was getting closer to it each day. How could God let such terrible things happen to good people? At the moment I didn't believe anything he was saying & "forgiveness" was the last thing on my mind. All I felt was anger. Actually it's more like blood boiling rage. I could feel the tears swelling in my eyes as I tried my hardest to hold them back. I hate crying. It makes me feel weak. As if she could read my thoughts Hazel whispered in my ear "It's ok to cry Kehlani.." I think that's exactly what I needed to hear because I finally let go.

   I sobbed into her chest harder than I've ever cried before. She didn't say anything else. She didn't need to. She just kept rubbing my back & stroking my hair. I could feel Jade lean into me and hug me. I like to put on a brave face but in that moment I fell apart. I don't know how long we stayed like that but by the time I looked up again I realized everyone else had already left & it was just us three now.

   "We should probably go now" I said. Jade shook her head "Not unless you're ready. We can stay here all day if you want to." I gave her a weak smile "Thank you" I choked out and gave them both another hug. I honestly don't know what I would do without these girls. They're all I have left now. "Of course babe. You know we always have your back". I looked at my girls & saw they were trying to hold back tears of their own. I was so caught up in my emotions I didn't even think about theirs. They loved my parents too. We just sat there for a while telling stories about them. "Remember when your dad caught us sneaking out?" Jade said. "How could I forget I was grounded for a month!" I laughed. "I can still hear him yelling Are you girls crazy? Do you know how many sickos I see everyday who try to take advantage of young girls?" Jade starts laughing too. "What I mainly remember is how Hazel got us in even more trouble when she told him that he taught us to fight for a reason and we could defend ourselves" Hazel rolled her eyes. "Yeah he practically had steam coming out of his ears when I said that!"

We all shared a laugh reminiscing on how protective dad was. He made sure to teach me how to defend myself. That's why he had me training to fight since I was basically old enough to walk. After I turned 14 he started to teach me how to shoot. He taught Hazel & Jade too since they were family at that point. Whenever I would whine about not wanting to practice he'd always say "Baby doll one day I'm not gonna be there to protect you & you're gonna need to be able to handle yourself because I am not going to raise a damsel in distress." Well Dad the day has come where you and Mom aren't here to protect me anymore. You were always there for me and now it's my turn to be there for you.

    Don't worry Mom & Dad. I WILL find out who did this to you & make them beg for death. I know you would want me to let the cops handle it but just putting your killers in jail is too good for them. They need to suffer. We can't all be saints. Rest In Peace. I love you...