Familiar Foe √

9. Chain

My fourth night in the Coker house was anything but boring. Charles, still dressed in his clothes from earlier stood beside me as we both stared across the table at Tamara Coker.

"You are not making any sense Mara."

Charles was surprisingly patient with her. I could already imagine the prints my fingers would leave on her yellow cheek if she didn't stop acting like a Kardashian.

"I've spent days locked in this house, away from civilization, so forgive me if I've lost my sense of comprehension."

"For a dropout, you know a lot of big words." I leaned a little toward her. "If you think this is deprivation of civilization, wait until you are transported to kirikiri where you won't even have the sweet pleasure of seeing a light bulb."

The room was quiet.

"I'm asking you for the last time now. Do you recognize this?" I pointed to the silver chain sitting on a small polythene bag on the table.

"It's my leg chain. I've been looking for it." She gave in.

"Since when?" Charles asked.

"Four days now. Look, I know what you are thinking but it's nothing like that."

"Why don't you tell us what you think we are thinking?" Charles proposed. Her sisters had already confirmed that the chain was hers.

"I know how it looks but I didn't do anything."

"How did your leg-chain end up in Mrs. Coker's bedroom?"

"I was there." She took her legs off the table. "I was in mom's room that night."

"I thought you were at a party."

"After I got back."

"Why didn't you mention it before?"

"It was irrelevant, it only made me look suspicious."

"Even more so now."

"I didn't do anything."

"You should have mentioned it, only the guilty keep secrets, Itoro."

"I am not guilty!" She pounded the table and I smiled.

"I was in the room that night but only because I had mistook it for my own. I was drunk."

"How drunk? Enough to not be conscious of your words, your environment, your body, your actions?"

"What? No."

"Maybe you did it without realizing."

"Right. I just strolled into Sade's room, took her weird knife and murdered our mother without her noticing? She is the world's lightest sleeper."

"You must have taken it beforehand. Sade wouldn't have noticed, she hardly used the blades."

"This is ridiculous."

"I don't think it is. I think you had it all planned out. You used the party as your alibi and since everyone knows you always get wasted at parties, no one would suspect you. Who goes mom murdering in a state of drunkenness right? Except you weren't drunk and no one was awake so how'd they know?"

"Oh my God! You really believe all that shit you are saying, don't you?"

She was horrified, panicky.

"I told you what happened. I got in the room because I thought it was mine but it didn't feel like it so I walked out, I didn't even turn on the lights."

Her words were eager and I knew a certain part of me already believed her but when Charles looked down at me, I knew we weren't being factual. Due to her unfiltered attitude, I had developed a certain likeness for the girl and I feared it was clouding my judgement.