1.12 - It's Not a Date

The next morning, Erika was the first one up.  Even though Danisha had the day off yesterday, she was still catching up on lack of sleep from the week and stayed in bed while Erika made up her side until it was perfect.  She didn't bother to think that the moment her mother rolled over her side of the bed would just be a mess again.

Once she was done she got dressed and headed out to the kitchen for breakfast.  There were leftover waffles that her mother had made, but after a bit of scrounging she also found some salad in the refrigerator.  Waffles are far too fattening.  Erika needed to make sure she maintained her perfect physique, and that meant watching what she ate very carefully.

When she was finished she decided to sit down and finally read the book her mother had bought her for her birthday.  She'd completely forgotten about it yesterday in her eagerness to explore the city, but now she had time.  It's not like she could get started on perfecting the city yet.  She understood that as a child she had a great many limitations.  She just needed to be patient.

And it wasn't a big deal for her.  She was really enjoying her new book.

She was so caught up in her reading that she didn't even notice when Nielson entered the room.

Nielson was less than thrilled to see his little sister.  He had been hoping that the sounds he'd heard out here were Danisha so that he could get her opinion on something.  He was going out to meet VampGirl66 in person for the first time and he wanted to make sure he looked all right.  Although, technically Erika was a girl so he supposed her opinion counted.  Maybe.

"So... um... Erika.  How do I look?" Nielson prompted, forcing himself to smile.

Erika looked up over the top of her book and raised an eyebrow as she looked her brother over.  "What are you wearing?" Erika asked, sounding less than impressed.

"What do you mean, 'what'.  It's obvious.  I just put a little more effort into my outfit than usual, that's all," Nielson retorted, feeling defensive under Erika's derisive look.

"Oh.  You're going on a date then," Erika responded, still not seeming all that interested in what her brother had disturbed her for.

"It's not a date," Nielson retorted, scowling at his sister.  "I'm going to meet up with a friend," he informed her.  He couldn't believe she had even suggested such a thing!

"Is your friend a girl?" Erika prompted.

"Yes," Nielson replied, not even giving the idea that she might have lied about her gender online any consideration.

"And you're dressing up to meet her?" she prompted again.

"That's right," Nielson replied.  He did want to make a good impression, after all.

"Then it's a date," she stated in a matter-of-fact way.  Nielson just sighed.  It was obvious he wasn't going to get anything useful out of his sister, so he was better of not trying.  "I guess it's okay.  For a date," she commented at last.

"It's not a date," Nielson corrected, not bothering to get angry with his sister.  It's not like he'd ever been able to get her to cooperate with him ever anyway.

Deciding he wasn't going to worry about it, Nielson headed out and made his way to the theater.  They had agreed to meet up online for the latest vampire flick as their first real-life meeting.  The Vampire Journal was supposed to be really cheesy, but VampGirl66 really liked anything and everything to do with vampires so he hoped she'd like it anyway.

When he got there he started looking around, wondering where or who she might be.  Mostly it was just a bunch of guys hanging out.  There was one little girl who he hoped wasn't VampGirl66 and then his eyes focused on one other person there.  Belisama, the girl who had flat-out rejected him at prom.  Like always she was attached to her phone.  Probably chatting with one of her friends or her boyfriend from school.

He immediately felt self-conscious and tried to hide from her.  He really didn't want to confront her so soon after prom.  The emotional wounds were still a little too raw.  Although, he supposed after a week he should be feeling recovered enough to at least look at her...

After a minute she hung up on whoever it was that she was talking to and started glancing around.  She definitely seemed to be looking for someone.

"Oh no... it can't be..." Nielson whispered, groaning inwardly to himself.  But he still managed to work up every single ounce of courage he possessed and walk over to her.

She raised an eyebrow as he approached and pointedly looked away.  That is, until he asked "Are you VampGirl66?" at which point her gaze focused on him immediately.

"You are VampGirl66, aren't you?" he prompted, feeling a bit more confident now.

"How do you...?" she began to ask, before realization dawned on her.  And then all of a sudden her expression went from mild annoyance to pure disgust.

"You're BlueWindster7?" she demanded, not seeming at all happy with that idea.

"Um... yes.  Yes I am," Nielson agreed.

"I don't believe this!  You're BlueWindster7?!  Nielson Gaul.  About the lamest person in our class?  This has to be some kind of joke!" Belisama exclaimed, not holding back.

"And what's up with that monkey suit?  You really think that's the kind of outfit you wear when meeting a girl for the first time?  Did you actually think this was going to be a date?  Are you really that pathetic?" she continued ranting.  With each insult hurled his way, Nielson felt himself shrink away a little and visibly cringed backward.

She just kept going, not holding anything back, and didn't seem interested in stopping any time soon.  But the longer she ranted the less Nielson could take until finally he felt himself just snap.

"Now you listen here!" he retorted, frowning.  "I never once lied about myself online so I don't know what your problem is.  You think I'm lame?  Well, you never implied that at all when we were chatting online," he snapped back.

"And if you hate being around me so much, why don't you just leave?  No one's forcing you to stay with someone so obviously embarrassing for you to be around!" he shouted, not willing to put up with her abuse any more.

"But before you go, there's just one thing you should know.  You seemed like a nice person online, but in person you're really mean!  I don't know which one's the real you, but maybe you should put as much thought into the words you speak as you do into what you type," he added as a last retort.

Belisama seemed visibly taken aback by Nielson's words.  At first she just looked shocked.  Probably because she'd never dealt with anyone standing up to her.  But then she actually had the dignity to look embarrassed, downright repentant even.

Not that Nielson was going to by the for a minute.  He was just about to turn and leave when he heard her speak up again.

"Wait.  Don't go," she urged, her voice a lot softer than it had been before.

"You... you're right.  I shouldn't have said those things to you," Belisama admitted, although it seemed rather difficult for her to admit to being wrong.

"I guess I just... well, I've always had this mental image of you being such a weirdo and a loner.  Sorry, I'm doing it again, aren't I?  Well, I just never imagined that the confident BlueWingster7 and Nielson Gaul could be the same person.  But I guess he really is in there, isn't he?" she mused, and actually smiled at him.

Even though Nielson was supposed to be angry at her, seeing that smile that he'd always seen from afar pointed at him practically made him melt.

"Look, I'm really sorry, okay?  This is a really bad start to what was supposed to be our first offline meeting, isn't it?" she mused.

"Well, I suppose I could forgive you," Nielson replied, blushing a bit.  He really couldn't stay mad at a girl as pretty as Belisama.  And she really was VampGirl66 who was one of his few friends, on or offline.

"Look, why don't we go and see the movie we were going to?  It's about to start.  I don't want to ruin our whole day," she suggested, looking expectantly at him.

"I suppose it would be a shame to miss it, since we're already here," Nielson agreed.

 The two of them entered the theater and managed to avoid any further fighting.  As a matter of fact, they both thoroughly enjoyed the movie... particularly because of how terribly cheesy it was.

"Oh my god... did you hear the sound effects when the vampire was drinking that lady's blood?" Belisama exclaimed, pretending to gag and then bursting out laughing.

"Or the transformation sequence from vampire to bat?  That was terrible!" Nielson agreed, laughing with her.

"Thanks, Nielson, I had a really good time today," Belisama replied with a smile, once they finally managed to stop laughing.

"Well, you're welcome," Nielson replied with a smile.  The day may have started out rough, but he was glad that he came all the same.  I mean, he'd gotten to spend the day with Belisama.  The hottest girl in school.  Who could complain?  And in the fading light he couldn't help but think she looked even more beautiful than usual.  In fact, her eyes almost seemed to be glowing in the dimming light.

 "You know, I should have given you more credit, Nielson.  I guess this is one of those rare cases where the internet personality is more true to the real you than the real life personality," Belisama mused.

"Am I really that boring in real life?" Nielson asked, starting to feel down again.

"How was I supposed to know?  I think the first time you ever talked to me was when you asked me to dance at prom, you know," she responded, and Nielson blushed.

"Oh... yeah," he mumbled.

"It's really a pity, though.  I wish we'd gotten to know each other a lot sooner.  I really enjoy spending time with you," Belisama commented, and all of a sudden Nielson noticed that she was getting closer.

 "Um... thanks!" Nielson replied.  Then blushed when his voice squeaked.  He couldn't believe he was getting nervous now, of all times!  He needed to keep it together, just a little while longer.

"Let's do this again, okay?" Belisama prompted and Nielson started to nod when all of a sudden he felt Belisama pressing her lips against his.  His head, along with the rest of him, was immediately immobilized by the sensation.  Part of his mind noted that her lips were colder than he'd expected, but the rest of his mind couldn't come up with a single coherent thought.

 When she pulled back his mind finally started working again.  A kiss.  He'd just been kissed!  By Belisama!  His first kiss with the girl of his dreams!  He was elated!  On cloud nine!  Although there was one thing that kept his joy in check.

"What about your boyfriend?" he asked, his voice husky as if he hadn't used it in a while, causing him to swallow in the hopes of wetting his now-parched throat.

"What boyfriend?" Belisama replied with a smile.  "I may not have been fond of you before now, but I don't need a guy who's going to beat up any guy who does something as simple as ask me to dance.  We broke up the night of the prom," she assured.

As she glanced up at the sky he suddenly realized it was nighttime now.  "Well, I'll see you in school tomorrow," Belisama assured, giving him another smile before heading into the taxi waiting behind her.

Maybe Erika had been right.  Maybe this was a date.


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New chapter!  A happy break from all of the other drama going on.  I wanted to make it up to Nielson since he had such a crappy prom.  *Cheshire grin*  Although, Belisama actually did still have a boyfriend.  But I have never seen a romantic relationship that was so red.  Their relationship meter wasn't all red, but it was pretty close.  I don't know how they were still dating.  But I fixed that.

1.11 - Perfection

Danisha had wanted to get home early for a change.  As dedicated as she was to her job, this was a rare occasion where she really needed to get home early.  But there's been a break-in in the North side of town that was proving to be quite difficult.  In fact, aside from the fact that there was no body it rather mirrored her own case with a bunch of furniture tossed about or damaged and only one particularly expensive item missing.

But as tantalizing as the case was, as soon as they finished taking photos and collecting what little evidence there was to be had, Danisha rushed home.  She hoped she'd made it in time and opened the door to the apartment only to find a lovely young lady standing in the hallway.

"Welcome home, Danisha," Erika greeted.  "Look!  I had my birthday," she announced.

"And it seems you found the clothes I bought you.  Along with... my makeup?" Danisha prompted, raising an eyebrow at her daughter's appearance.

"It's just a little.  To enhance my perfection," Erika explained.

"I'm not sure what 'enhancements' are needed, but it seems you grew up quite perfect in my eyes.  I'm sorry I missed your birthday," Danisha replied.

"It's okay, Danisha.  I know your work is important.  I forgive you," Erika assured.  Danisha had been worried that her daughter would throw a tantrum or something, but it was a relief that she was taking it so well.

"I'm grateful you understand, darling," Danisha replied, leaning down and hugging the little girl.

"Where's your brother?  Did he, at least, celebrate your birthday with you?" Danisha asked.  Erika made a disgusted expression and rolled her eyes.

"Like I wanted him to celebrate my birthday with me.  He's in his room, attached to that computer of his.  Like he ever does anything else," Erika replied.  She didn't understand how someone as perfect as her mother had resulted in someone so imperfect like Nielson.  It was a sheer mystery to her.

"Well, never mind him.  I'm sure he'll wish you happy birthday when it isn't so late.  Speaking of which, you should get off to bed," Danisha reminded her daughter.

"But it's Saturday tomorrow!  Besides, you haven't given me a birthday present yet," Erika demanded.  There was that fussy toddler poking out again.

"All right, all right.  Present, then bed," Danisha agreed, producing the package from her work bag.  It wasn't nearly as extravagant as a new apartment with a private bedroom, but it was nearly the same thing she'd given Nielson on his birthday when he became a child.  A book, although a different flavor of book than the one she'd gotten Nielson.

She tore open her present and while not as overjoyed as Nielson had been with her book, she still seemed pleased.  She even tried to stay up to read it but Danisha reminded her of her promise and sent her off to bed.

Since Danisha stayed up a while longer to have dinner and do some chores about the house, the kids were up before she was.

"Good morning," Erika greeted her brother as he walked past.  He mumbled a greeting in response, apparently still half asleep despite being dressed.  Erika just rolled her eyes and decided to ignore him.

When she entered the bathroom she wrinkled her nose in disgust.  The toilet was foul.  How could they live like this?  She could kind of understand where Danisha was coming from since she was constantly working, but what was Nielson's excuse.

"Is it too much to ask for the house to be perfect?" Erika grumbled as she set to work scrubbing the toilet until it sparkled.

Once she was finished she took a shower to make sure none of that nasty dirt had gotten on her and got dressed.  She then stepped up in front of the mirror to do her make-up.  "Perfect.  Well, almost," Erika mused as she regarded herself in the mirror.

She wasn't an overly huge fan of the clothes her mother had picked out for her.  It wasn't that she didn't like purple, it just wasn't a perfect shade.  Still, her mother had bought them for her so she wouldn't complain.  She would just need to make sure that she went shopping with her mother when it came time to buy teenage clothes.

Satisfied for the moment, Erika decided to go out and explore the town a bit.  It wasn't like she had anything better to do, and she certainly wasn't spending the day with her brother.

She made her way outside and considered the city around her, making note of different things.  The apartment complex they lived in was nearly perfect.  If only a little old.  Still, that was an easy fix.  All of the plants in the small garden were perfect as well, with a perfect black gate surrounding them.  She smiled as she walked along the sidewalk only to freeze.

There was something decidedly imperfect spoiling their beautiful apartment complex.

 There, on the sidewalk just outside the garden, was a rat sitting on the sidewalk.  Well, not a rat perhaps, a relative of the squirrel.  Which was close enough as far as she was concerned.  A dirty, filthy animal was blighting the otherwise perfection of the perfectly laid out sidewalk slabs she was walking across.

That simply would not do.

She reached down for it.  She hadn't entirely formed an idea of what to do with it once she caught it.  All she cared about was getting rid of it.  Unfortunately, it saw her shadow leaning over it and fled down the sidewalk and into a gutter.

Erika immediately frowned that it had gotten away.  It was still tainting her image of perfection by the fact that it was still there, even if it wasn't right in front of her anymore.  Next time she wouldn't let it get away.  In the meantime, she made a mental note to tell her mother that they needed to hire an exterminator.

The buildings that she walked past as she made her way through the city varied greatly.  Some were perfect pinnacles of human achievement, others were dilapidated and decidedly imperfect.  She also passed a large variety of people on the street.  Some were dressed exquisitely in perfection and others were decidedly not.  Now she understood why her mother worked so hard to 'clean up' this city.  There was so much wrong with it.  So much imperfection.  She wondered if something like the police really could clean up this mess.

Finally, her wandering brought her to the edge of the city and in front of the iron gates to the cemetery.  She paused, but the gates were open so she figured there was no reason she couldn't go inside.

She wandered amidst the tombstones for a bit, quite pleased at how well-cared for this place was.  There weren't even any pests marring the carefully manicured grass and flowers.  Finally, she stopped in front of the gravestone that she hadn't realized she'd been looking for.  It read 'Nielson Gaul'.  But she knew this wasn't her brother's grave.  It was his father's grave.  Her mother's husband.

"Hello," she commented, not sure what to call him since she knew he wasn't her father.  Oh, her mother had never outright told her that when she would tell her stories about him, but she knew enough about timing to know it didn't make any sense.

"You know, Danisha is trying to clean up this city.  It's the imperfections of this filthy city that resulted in you dying so soon," Erika explained.  "I'm not sure if she's going to be successful, though," she admitted.  From what little she'd seen just today, it seemed like a lot of work for just one person.

"But you don't have to worry.  Even if she doesn't succeed, I will.  I won't tolerate living in a city that isn't perfect.  I promise," Erika assured the tombstone.  Satisfied with her little speech she left the cemetery.  She could have gone straight home, but decided to stop at the park across the street from her apartment.  She hopped on the swing and gazed out around the city, deep in thought.  How was she supposed to make this city perfect, when with every swing all she could see was dirt and corruption on the horizon?

Meanwhile, Danisha had just been about to go out and see if she could find her wayward daughter when she was stopped by an unfamiliar face in the hallway.  "Excuse me, are you an officer?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Danisha agreed, wondering how this woman knew since she wasn't in uniform.

"Oh good, Emilio told me you were," the woman replied with a sigh.  A flash of irritation went through Danisha as she wondered how many others that guy had told after specifically requesting her to be silent on the matter.

"What seems to be the problem?" Danisha asked, not letting her annoyance show on her face.

"Well, you see, I've been seeing this suspicious behavior recently and just knew I had to tell someone," the woman replied, her voice filled with concern.  Danisha instantly became more focused.  Suspicious behavior?  And the fact that she was referred to her by Emilio meant that it could have something to do with the incident he saw at the river.

"Go on," Danisha urged, and the woman smiled when she realized Danisha would hear her out.

Unfortunately, this proved to be just a waste of Danisha's time as the woman, Peyton, proceeded to ramble on about how she was pretty sure that she saw celebrity Harry Marks slumming about and that the receptionist at the spa was pregnant without a baby daddy in sight and on and on with the casual gossip.

Danisha had already pulled out her notepad and was dutifully writing things down, although only things that  might be somewhat relevant to illegal activity.  The woman just seemed to be having way too much fun with this, though, that she wondered if she wasn't just making most or all of it up.

Finally, the woman was finished and Danisha forced herself to thank her for her time before heading inside to write up the report.  As long as she spent the time writing all of that down, she was certainly going to get credit for it.  Unfortunately, she found someone else occupying the computer at that moment.

Nielson was the one on the computer with his chat program open.  He was talking to someone named VampGirl66.  She was way nicer than the girls at school (if she was a girl) especially that Belisama.  He was still sore over her turning him down at the dance in front of everyone.  Even though it had been a couple of days ago, the other students were still talking about prom so he hadn't been able to forget about it yet.  But VampGirl66 was showing him that not all girls were like that.  Although he was pretty sure that was the type of girl his sister was going to turn out to be.

So, wanting to get this report over and done with as quickly as possible, Danisha headed out to the local library to write it up.  There wasn't anything serious in it so she was quite positive that it wouldn't matter if she typed it up on a public computer or not.

Although she did make a mental note that she should probably look into buying another computer for herself as well.  As soon as she got another promotion, that is.


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Hello everyone!  Hopefully this chapter didn't feel too much like a filler.  We got a chance to see some of Erika's personality, now that she's a child.  I have to say, she has a rather disturbing set of traits right now and I was trying to show that in her behavior with this chapter.  Spoiler, for those who want to know: Erika's current traits are genius, evil, and perfectionist.  So hopefully that explains some of her behavior this chapter.

1.10 - Questions

The next morning, Danisha got up and did something she hadn't in a long time... make breakfast.  She cooked up some waffles for herself and Nielson before making some baby food for Erika as well.

She spent some time with Erika as well, before it was time for her to head off to work.  Before leaving, she put the little toddler into one of her new purchases to spruce up the new apartment, a baby swing.  It wasn't one of those fancy electronic ones that played music and could swing on its own, but Erika still seemed to enjoy it.  And she quickly learned that if she kicked her legs back and forth she could make the swing move on its own.  It was perfect.

Nielson, meanwhile, had started high school.  He found that even now that he was going to school regularly he still wasn't able to make friends easily.  He was a bit of a loner to start with, and then the fact that all of the kids seemed to already have their pals from elementary school just made things worse.

Fortunately, he was able to befriend another boy in his class who was also an outcast.  Luke Bell was his name, and he's the son of Jupiter Bell who's known for being a very eccentric celebrity.  So despite being fabulously wealthy and famous, Luke didn't really have any friends either.  It seemed like the two outcasts took some comfort in each other.  At least Nielson had someone to sit by on the bus.

Although, to be honest Nielson preferred to chat with his friends on the computer.  If he'd had a computer as a child he probably would have used it to socialize too, and was grateful his mom had sold off the Foosball table that had come with the apartment to buy this instead.

Part of him wondered if his childhood of barely ever going to school and interacting with his peers didn't somehow contribute to his lonesome nature.  Not that he was really bothered by it, mind you.  He could even stand talking to some of the girls in his class on the computer.  They tended to be loud and obnoxious in person... rather like his little sister.

 He didn't see his mom as much now that he had his own room either.  She was spending even more time at work than before (if that was possible) and what little time she did have at home she devoted to little Erika.  Although he supposed that couldn't be helped since she was a toddler and couldn't do much on her own.

Still, Nielson couldn't help but feel there was something off about his little sister.  Even something as simple as 'the claw' game.  Nielson couldn't help but notice that Erika looked more surprised a curious about the claw than actually being afraid of it.  Or, at least, that's how it looked to him.

Nielson just sighed and tried to ignore his sister's shrieking/wailing/crying whenever he did his homework.  He tried to at least be semi-social by doing it in the kitchen instead of in his room (otherwise all his time would be spent in there) but Erika really made it hard to stay committed to that...

 As a result, Nielson decided to spend his weekend out of the house.  Not that he wanted to spend it with other people, either.  Fortunately, although the spring festival was in town it was still a few days until Love Day so there was barely anyone there.  And that suited Nielson just fine.  Most of his classmates were probably home getting ready for the stupid prom anyway.

He decided to kill some time until Erika's bedtime by trying some rollerskating.  He recalled going iceskating as a kid.  Rollerskating couldn't be that much harder, could it?

Famous last words.

In the end he grew bored with falling on his face and spotted a bunch of his fellow students across the street heading into the school for the prom.  When he spotted Belisama entering the school.  She looked really pretty in a black dress, and Nielson fell down again while watching her.

Well, maybe it would be worth it to go to prom after all.  He didn't have a monkey suit or anything to wear, but he spotted Luke showing up in his regular clothes so he figured he wouldn't be too out of place and went inside.

Meanwhile, Danisha was on her way home from a long day of work.  Being a patrol officer had been hard work, but now she was a lieutenant.  Which meant more responsibility that was going to weigh heavily on her.

"You seem tense," Bianca pointed out from the driver's seat of the cruiser.

"It's nothing," Danisha replied with a smile.  She was one step closer to reaching her goal.  She couldn't let nerves hinder her now.  She needed to be brave.

When she got home she waited to wave goodbye to her partner before heading inside.  She was about to head upstairs to relieve the babysitter and make sure that Erika was okay when she was stopped in the lobby.

"'Scuse me, lady.  Yer an officer, ain't ya?" a man asked hesitantly as he approached Danisha.

"I am," she replied, not questioning the man on recognizing her from her uniform since he seemed very uncomfortable.

"Name's Emilio.  I live in this here apartments too.  'M a fisherman," Emilio explained while Danisha waited patiently for him to get to the reason why he had approached her.  "An I saw somethin'," he added, his voice dropping in volume as if he worried about someone overhearing him.

"Saw something?" Danisha repeated.  All of a sudden she had a feeling this might be important.  Maybe even related to her husband's death, so she quickly pulled out her notepad.  "All right, tell me exactly what it is you saw," she urged, ready to take down his statement.

"Well, I was fishin' on the river, ye see.  Don't have no boat like the big ocean fishermen, but I make do..." he began to ramble, but a sharp look from Danisha got him back on track.  "Ah... yes... an' I saw these guys on the other side of the river.  They was too far away to see their faces, but they definitely wasn't doing anything legal-like.  In fact... I think they may have been dumpin' somethin' in the river," he explained, beginning to look more nervous the longer he spoke.

"Do you have any idea what they might have been dumping?" Danisha asked, wondering if this was just one of many industrial crimes this city was plagued with.

"I think t'was a body," the man replied with a whisper, causing Danisha to look up sharply.

"Where was this?  Can you take me to the exact location?" Danisha demanded.

"I ain't goin' back there.  Nossir.  But I can tell you where t'was," the man replied, looking even more agitated.  Danisha supposed she should be grateful he'd given her the information at all.  Most people didn't want to get involved with these things and pretended they'd never seen anything in the first place.  It was part of the reason why crime was so rampant here.

Understanding that this was the best she was going to get, she took down what information she could get out of the man before letting him retreat to his apartment.  She needed to file a report with the department anyway.

She was now doubly glad she had bought Nielson a computer, both because he liked it so much and because she could now electronically file her report while the information was still fresh without having to wait for work the next day.  And I'll the while she was writing the information down, she wondered if these murderers might have any connection to Nielson's murderer.  Maybe she was finally getting somewhere after well over a decade of no progress.

Unfortunately, the evening did not go nearly as well for another member of the family.  Nielson came home more certain than ever that large groups of people were something to avoid.  He'd attempted to ask Belisama to a dance and had gotten rejected.  Then her boyfriend (Nielson had no clue she was dating anyone) had picked a fight with him.  Then someone had started picking on Luke so Nielson who had already been high-strung from his previous fight decided to pick a fight with them.  It was a miracle he hadn't been kicked out of the prom.  But right now all he wanted to do was bury his face in his pillow and go to bed.

Fortunately, his mother had already finished her report by then so he was able to do so without having to answer any question's about how his day was.

The next morning, Danisha was awoken early by a ring to the doorbell, and to her surprise she found an older woman dressed in fur standing outside her door.  "I have information for you.  Is there somewhere we can talk privately?" the woman asked.

"Of course," Danisha said, before hurrying into Nielson's room.  "I'm sorry, honey, but would you mind letting me use your bedroom for a bit?  Erika's still sleeping and you know how she gets when she wakes up," she explained.

Nielson reluctantly agreed.  He figured he might as well head to the kitchen and get breakfast anyway.

"Make sure you take care of your sister when she wakes up.  I don't know how long I'll be," Danisha urged before ushering the woman into the room and shutting the door behind them.

"Information, you say?" she asked, now turning her full and undivided attention on the stranger.

"Yes.  Emilio said I should come talk to you," the woman replied in a highly nasal voice.  She seemed rather arrogant, although Danisha couldn't help but notice that her fur coat had seen better days and was probably quite old.  "You see, I live on that side of the river," she added, and Danisha suddenly realized she was talking about the same incident Emilio had told her about last evening.

"And?  Did you see anything?" Danisha asked eagerly.

"Maybe.  But my advice is stay away from them.  This isn't some petty burglar you're dealing with.  This is a crime syndicate.  Even if you do get evidence on them, all that's going to happen is that you're going to end up like your husband," the woman informed her with a sniff.

"I don't care.  Please, what do you know?" Danisha urged, pulling out her notepad again.  The woman sighed and shook her head.

"All I can tell you is that they're powerful and are extremely wealthy.  They sometimes take in promising young crooks, but for the most part they just look after their own.  Like a family.  I'm not sure if they had anything to do with your husband's death, though.  They don't kill for no reason.  Ends up with people like you on their back.  So unless he was connected to them somehow, the criminal you're after is probably just some common thug who got lucky enough to avoid police detection.  Not that that's all that hard, given the incompetence of the police force.  No offense," the woman added with a shrug.

Danisha realized that was all she was going to get out of her.  She wanted to shake the woman until she gave her more.  To take her down to the precinct and question her until she learned everything.  But she had nothing on this woman to do so.  There was literally nothing more she could do but report the information she had gotten and hope to get a break.

"Thank you for coming all this way," she replied, trying not to sound too disappointed.

The woman let herself out, leaving Danisha to file a report on what little information she'd managed to gather.

Meanwhile, Nielson was hoping that the lady leaving meant that his mother would be out to save him, soon.  Erika was being... less than cooperative to put it lightly.  After throwing her baby food in his face she'd set up one hell of a temper tantrum and Nielson was at a complete loss on how to calm her down.  What did he do to deserve this level of torture?

"Danisha?  You're coming out soon, right?" he called down the hallway.  "Danisha?"


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Poor Nielson and his sister.  I actually had an instance where Erika started crying in her crib in Danisha's bedroom... and it managed to wake Nielson up in his bedroom.  So apparently the girl has quite the set of lungs on her.  And the lady who showed up at the apartment really was a complete stranger.  I have no idea why she decided to stop by, but I figured I could work her into the story.  Plus it gave me the opportunity to write another report and improve Danisha's job performance.  She's halfway through the law enforcement career now.  Hopefully her progress will continue to be swift now that there's no pesky maternity leave to get in her way.