November 5th, 1998
Baby's black balloon makes her fly
A young girl swerves through a hoard of pedestrians, kicking her foot a few times on the sidewalk to give her scooter more speed as she rode by. People turn to yell at her as the spin around to avoid her, but their curses are taken by the windy November afternoon. The girl turns her head ever so slightly, lifting her middle finger to a woman who hit her with a flier as she hits the kick pedal on her scooter, halting it in front of a dilapidated building. Taking a breath, the girl goes in, bringing her ride with her.
I almost fell into that hole in your life.
The girl smiles at the man behind the front desk, a small Plexiglas screen barely separating him from the residents of the building. The girl ignored the burning in her eyes as she approached him, lightly waving the marijuana smoke out of her face. She held her breathe, waiting for the man to notice her standing there. He finally glanced up and rolled his eyes, snubbing his joint against the desk.
"You again?" He muttered, smoke leaving his mouth and hitting the screen
You're not thinking about tomorrow,
'Cause you are the same as me,
"Great to see you again too, Bri!" The girl chirped, a smile spreading on her face "Is she here today?" Knowing the answer, the girl slowly made her way to the dirty, broken staircase. But out of politeness, she kept her eyed glued on "Bri"
Bri sighed and just waved the girl off, and she ran up the stairs two at a time, her scooter dragged behind her.
But on your knees.
The girl pushed the door with the number three on it, though the number looked like a small "c", the number long ago falling apart and now hanging upside down. The girl looked up and down the hall, slowly walking to the right, past the row of dirty white doors to the one on the very end, labeled "3G', by far the nicest of the doors.
A thousand other boys couldn't reach you
How could I be the one?
The girl slammed her fist against the door, the "3G" rattling as she did "Leia! Open up!" She yelled, looking over her shoulder warily.
Another young girl opened the door, looking startled. A small baby laid in her arms, screeching at the noise. Leia rubbed her eyes, rocking the child in her arms "Shela, what are you doing here?" Leia asked the girl, pushing a strand of raven black hair from her eyes.
Shela pushed her way into the apartment, looking around as she took a wad of cash from her pocket "I have Levi's support money." She said as she tossed it on the counter, next to a pile of bills.
Comin' down the world turned over
Leia closed the door and looked at the money by the bills "I-I was just getting away to paying those. Things have just been a bit hectic. They're not even overdo." She said as Shela leafed through the envelopes "Please don't tell Levi."
And angels fall without you there
And I go on as you get colder
Or are you someone's prayer?
Shela looked ate Leia and the child in her arms. She shook her head, removing the green knit cap she was wearing off her head, and ran her fingers though her dirty blonde hair "Leia, I'm not Le's spy. I've told you that a dozen times. I'm not yours either. I'm the go between for the two of you, you know that." She said as she moved from the bills and sat down on the couch.
You know the lies they always told you
And the love you never knew
Leia looked at the girl with suspicion, holding her baby close to her. Shela just gave her a smile and stood up, holding out her arms "Is that my nephew? Is that Maxie?"
Leia looked down to the baby in her arms, staring back with curious green eyes "Yeah, it is." She said, handing him over to Shela.
Shela smiled a little "He is beautiful." She looked up to Leia before looking back at Max "Like his mother."
What's the things they never showed you
That swallow the light from the sun inside your room, yeah
Leia forced a smile and mumbled a thank you, looking at Shela holding her son in her dirty apartment. It almost felt forced; this 18 year old girl about to go to Princeton holding her son. The girl with a bright future, friends with a recovering addict, the ex-girlfriend and mother to her brother and his child.
Comin' down the world turned over
And angels fall without you there
And I go on as you get colder
Always someone there
Shela stopped rocking the baby, looking back to Leia to give her him. Shela took one more look around the apartment before her friend "Levi will be here tomorrow to visit Max. How about you and I start cleaning this place up, yeah?"
Leia sighed and nodded, walking across the living room to Max's room, putting him gently in the crib. She walked out, Shela already grabbing some takeout cartons that was strewn around the room.
"Is he going to try and take Max away from me?" Leia asked after a few moments of silence, not daring to look up from a stain in the carpet. What was that? Milk? Soda? Juice? Piss? All she knew it was dark and still damp.
And there's no time left for losin'
When you stand they fall, yeah
Shela looked up, then threw out the cartons "Not that I know of. As far as I know, he wants nothing to do with you or Max, other than visitation of course. But let's not give him any reasons to want to take Max." Shela walked to her friend and placed her hands on Leia's shoulders "Hey, look at me."
Comin' down the world turned over
And angels fall without you there
And I go on as you get colder
All because I'm
Comin' down the years turn over
And angels fall without you there
Leia did as Shela said. Shela gave Leia a small smile and squeezed her shoulders gently, trying to let Leia knew she supported her "Levi will never get Max. He's the one who pushed you guys away, even though he wants to seem like 'Ex and dad of the year'. He's the dead beat, not you Leia. You're the one taking care of him and holding down a job. You're Max's only parent as far as anyone else is concerned."
"But what if he tries?" Leia asked, holding Shela's stare with her own.
Shela didn't even winced, but smirked "He's gonna have to get past me."
And I'll go on and I'll lead you home and
All because I'm
All because I'm
And I'll become
What you became to me
In the apartment, Max wails as loud as he can as a hooded figure tries to rock him, packing a bag with his formula. The figure tucked black hair behind the hood and looked back to the middle of the apartment, at a skinny dirty blonde figure lying face down on the floor. The hooded figure swallowed hard as she ran out of the apartment, duffel bag in one arm, crying baby in the other.
December 18th, 2014
"It's too cold to be waiting out here." Nick Vera complained as he clutched his coffee with one hand, looking to his friends Kat Miller and Will Jeffries to his right.
Will smirked, looking at the detective out of the corner of his eye "I thought that excess body fat kept mammals warm."
"I'm still waiting for the day he goes into hibernation." Kat said, nodding at Vera with a joking smile on her face.
"You mean every other day?" Will asked.
"Ha ha" Nick shot at them, though he couldn't help but smile a bit. He knew it was all just fun and games.
As the three finished their coffee, Lilly Rush and Scotty Valens arrived, trailing behind their captain, Lt. John Stillman. He greeted the other detective with a brief smile as the squad huddled together. "Sorry to keep you guys waiting out here in the cold."
"I didn't mind much," Nick said, smiling as he nodded to Kat and Will "But these two babies?"
Kat hit Nick's arm, causing him to rub it in mock pain. John smiled tightly, and the two looked at him with attention. He looked in no mood to joke around.
"Anyway." John said as he reached inside his over coat, taking out three files "I asked you guys to meet me so we could talk about a possible triple homicide or double kidnapping in '98."
"How come you're not sure?" Lilly asked as she took the top file from her boss and opening. A pretty girl with dark hair and green eyes stared back at her.
"Only one body was found, two missing." John answered as he gave a file to Will "That's Shela DeWalt." John said as Will looked at the picture of the dark haired blonde, her dark eyes smiling at him "18 years old, on a full ride to Princeton when she was found dead at the Wilmore Complex in Feltonville."
"Wilmore? Isn't it full of junkies and prostitutes?" Scotty asked as he leaned over Lilly's shoulder to look at the file she had "What was a soon to be Princeton kid doing there?"
"Visiting her friend, Leia Schultz," John nodded to the file Lilly and Scotty had "and Leia's son, Max Schultz." Sadly, John opened the final file, a green eyed infant smiling in the photo "Leia was a 20 year old dropout, and the ex Shela's brother, Levi DeWalt. Max was Leia and Levi's son. He was only a five months old." John sighed, looking sadly at the picture.
"I remember this case" Nick said solemnly "Someone beat DeWalt to death, and there was no sign of either Schultz. Cops thought they were killed too and the doer dumped their bodies."
John nodded "That why I said a possible triple homicide. Today is sixteen years since the murder of Shela happened. This morning, I got a call from a blocked number."
"What was the call about?" Lilly asked, but everyone knew where this was going.
"The caller said that we had it all wrong, and that Leia and Max were still alive, but were too scared to come home." John said as he played with the file "but they would come back if we got Shela's murderer behind bars. The city has been looking for them for nearly two decades. If this caller was telling the truth, we'd bring a happy ending to such a tragic case."
"And if this caller isn't?" Kat asked.
"We find Leia and Max's bodies, and give this case an ending. Either way, we catch a killer and put him or her behind bars and get justice."
The group of detectives nodded, closing the files, ready to get to work.
Hey! So I plan on continuing Hold on Loosely, but I couldn't help myself with this one! That's all I really gotta say about it. Hope you like!