I walked over and twisted the faucet’s knob, then placed my hands under the thick stream of water. Deep red droplets tainted the otherwise grey sink, and again, the smell of blood hit my nose, making me lick my lips.
I pumped some dish-wash liquid into my palms and began rubbing it between my fingers. “Mind if I change?” I asked. “I’ll make a better killer with some decent clothes on.”
“Don’t test me, kid.”
I chuckled. “Have it your way.” I turned the knob and stepped away from the sink, then walked over to Sheriff Solo before putting my hands behind my back.
“You wanna tell me what happened here?” he asked.
“If I do, will it change what’s about to happen to me?” I countered.
“Absolutely. If you haven’t done th–”
I snorted, cutting him off.
“Dude, if you think I didn’t do this,” I nodded towards Mom’s cold, wretched body, “then you seriously need to fuckingretire.”
The sheriff placed the cuffs around my wrists. “If you’re trying to save some–”
“It had to be done,” I cut him off again, then stared at the pool of blood on the floor. “Ihadto do it; I had no other choice. I was sick of it – so damn tired of the pain, the bruises, the insults. The…the rapes.” I swallowed, and blinked when my eyes stung. “I couldn’t take it anymore. It had to go –allof it did. But it wouldn’t whileshewas alive.” I laughed a little. “And so, I changed that.”
I heard Sheriff Solo let go of a shaky breath behind me. “Well then,” he said, and tightened the cuffs around my wrists.
I closed my eyes when the suffocating steel bit into my skin, and smiled when the sheriff started reading me my rights.
You have the right to remain silent…
You hear that, Mom?I thought to myself.Silence. Peace.
Retribution.
18. Past
Year 2008
My bare feet pressed against the cold floor as I stepped inside the sheriff’s office. The air around me had a slight chill to it, and the office smelled like a combination of body odor and cleaning supplies.
Insistent chatter, along with the occasional static of radios going off every few seconds, filled the clustered room, and as Sheriff Solo led me further into the large area – with a hand wrapped around my left arm – I noticed the quizzical glances the deputies gave me. I realized that despite having seen a lot of weird shit in their line of work, they mustn’t have witnessed a teenage boy dressed like a girl as a prisoner. I could only imagine the scenarios and assumptions they must have created in those bland little heads of theirs when I passed them by. Their curious eyes travelled over me – amusement and confusion clear on their faces – which only made me chuckle.
I winked at a couple of deputies in the back, who scowled at me and got back to whatever it is they were doing before they decided to ogle me like I was a piece of evidence or something.
Assholes.
But I guess not everyone had the ability of showcasing empathy. Most people only see a person’s exterior and form a complete biography about them in their minds, but they fail to understand where that person is coming from.
As Sherlock Holmes, penned by Arthur Conan Doyle, had said:You see, but you do not observe.
That’s exactly what most people do. They see you, they judge you, and they form an opinion about you without you even having opened your mouth to explain yourself.
Such is life, I guess.
Sheriff Solo led me away from prying eyes, and towards a slightly darker and chillier part of the office. This room had cinderblock walls, a white tiled floor, and twice as many cameras as the ones in the main office.
There were two very large, very glaringly bleak-looking cells in there, and my skin pricked with goosebumps at the idea of having to beinsideone of them.
A table with a computer and some other shit was set up in one corner, with a disgruntled looking deputy sitting behind it. It was clear by the curl of his top lip and his bunched-together brows that he wanted to be anywherebutin that confined space, and honestly, I could relate, becausemyGod, the stink in that room was appalling, at best. It was making me nauseous; making my damn nose burn. I was seconds away from heaving on the floor, and that says alot, because I’m the kinda fucker who gets hard over the smell ofblood.
Sheriff Solo stopped in front of the cell that was on the left side of the room, then let go of my arm and began unlocking it.
