Wheee. The brother returns with part 2. Time to give him atleast a new tab on the blog, I think. You can find all of his work on this blog here.
“You have got to be kidding me, Gwen! Seriously, why can’t you just get off the phone and answer the door for once?”
Forcing her feet to make loud thuds signaling her anger about her room-mate’s laziness, Sarah Dawson comes down the stairs. She sneaked in a quick glance at the mirror, followed by tying up the last few loose hair-strands. She didn’t know who was at the door, but that wouldn’t stop her from looking her best.
They say, for police officers, knowing justice is being served is good enough, but not for the new-age detective. It’s not only about finding the criminals, but also looking good while doing it. But today was something extra special – it was Sarah’s first day as a homicide detective. Obviously, she wasn’t the most experienced officer out there, but with a series of unsolved murders and a serial-killer out on the loose, exceptions had to be made, new recruits had to be brought in. She had traded in her faded, worn out patrol uniform for off-the-rack suits – reminiscent to a “rags to riches” story. She had never considered herself to be poor, and let’s face it, even the top detectives don’t get to have all the luxuries in the world, but this was about earning respect. Sarah had worked her way up, from the bottom. Law-enforcement seminars, self-defense classes, weapons workshops and slogging it out in the real world, she had done it all. Although she was a small fish in a very big tank, full of people telling her she was too pretty to be in the police, too nice. Surrounded by so much of negativity, there was never a moment where she gave up hope. A life-long dream was finally going to come true today.
As the door-bell rang again, her thoughts were brought to a screeching halt, and on opening the door, Sarah hoped she could just disappear of the face of the planet. Between the young, vibrant and energetic Sarah and the equally vibrant and colourful spring morning, stood her aunt - Michelle Rose. Michelle and Rose – both words have such a tender, beautiful feel to them. When you put them together, you can imagine feminine grace and the capability of painting such a pretty picture. Sarah’s aunt though, was the complete opposite. A tall, bulky woman, dressed in a black “Metallica” t-shirt and cargo shorts, Aunty Michelle was a professional wrestler in the old days, under the name ‘Monster Mama’. Hitting her early fifties, it would still take more than one Sarah to take her down – and that’s exactly why Sarah sighed loudly. If only her aunt was the petite figure that her name portrayed, she would’ve simply run over her and deal with the consequences later.
Sarah had a pretty simple way of behaving with people, and there were no exceptions – If you are nice to me, I’m nice to you. If you are not, I do not care. Every time she considered joining the forces as a fresh graduate, and after every promotion, it was the same ritual. Her aunt tried persuading her to find something better to do in her life. She told her how this life wasn’t for her, but coming from a successful woman in a heavily male-dominated industry, Sarah never paid heed to any of her advice. She expected another anger-filled tirade from Michelle, which usually ended with the niece demanding that her aunt leave immediately and never show her face ever again, but evidently, it didn’t ever work.
This time, the young detective was prepared. She sat through dinner last night, thinking of all that she would say to her aunt as her she bursts up into flames like every other occasion. With a curled up fist, solid as a rock, the very confident Sarah was waiting to pounce on her aunt with a barrage of her own; ready to go to war. But after a brief, yet intense stare, something unimaginable happened. As Sarah gave her eyes momentary rest with a quick blink, the near 6-foot tall Michelle was on her knees. The smirk and arrogance replaced with a meek, exhausted look.
“Please, Sarah, please don’t ruin your life. Get out while there’s still time”.
Sarah was quick to reply, without any emotion or distress, “After years of trying to force me, you’ve finally found a more innovative way, but that doesn’t mean its going to work.”
“Sarah, darling, if you keep going along this path, you’ll open doors which have to be kept closed. All those secrets have to be kept untouched. Otherwise, your life will be ruined”.
“What secrets are you talking about? How can my life be any more ruined than it is right now? I have no family – my dad’s dead, and my mother is spending the rest of her life in prison for killing him”.
