1.14 - Discord

The next morning Nielson made sure to get Erika on the bus and was going to actually go to school today when he got another text from Belisama.  After a moment's hesitation he let the bus go without him and started walking down the sidewalk to meet up with her.

He was halfway down the sidewalk outside their apartment building when he heard his mother's very angry voice.

"Nielson Gaul, you stop right there!" Danisha called, coming up behind Nielson with a very angry look on her face.  "I just got a call from your school asking if you were going to be absent again today.  What do they mean, again?  And why aren't you on the bus?" she demanded.

"It's no big deal, Danisha.  I have A's in all of my classes.  Skipping one day isn't going to ruin my education or anything," Nielson replied defensively.

"Your grades aren't the point," Danisha snapped back.  "First off, you're legally supposed to be at school, secondly you were supposed to take care of Erika yesterday, and thirdly if you're not at school then how will anyone know where you are?  What if something happened to you!  No one would know!" Danisha explained.

"Look it's..." Nielson tried to explain himself again, but Danisha cut him off.

"I don't want excuses, Nielson.  I'm very disappointed in you," she stated matter-of-factly.  It stung.  Especially since just last night she'd been praising him.  But it also made Nielson feel defiant in response.  Although he knew now wasn't the time to talk back to his mother.

"I'm taking you to school today to make sure you get there and stay there," Danisha announced.

"What?!" Nielson demanded.  He was way too old to have his mother take him to school.  "Are you planning on holding my hand on the subway or something?" he demanded, horrified by the thought.

"Nonsense, you'll be late that way.  We'll take my car," Danisha replied dismissively.

"What car?" Nielson asked, following his mother into the parking lot only to freeze.  Oh no, she wasn't seriously planning on taking him in a police car, was she?

"Get in," Danisha ordered.  Apparently she was.  This was going to be so embarrassing.  And he was going to have to ditch Belisama.  He'd text her once he got to school to explain the situation.  He really didn't want to have to tell his mother who Belisama was in this situation.  He, for some reason, doubted his mother would approve.  And unfortunately the ensuing car ride was silent and decidedly uncomfortable.

Nielson was very grateful Danisha didn't escort him to his classroom.  He half-expected that.  Instead she walked him into the office and let him leave from there.  Which meant he had just enough time to text Belisama to explain the change of plans before he had to get into the room.

When lunchtime came around he checked his phone and found that Belisama wasn't upset.  In fact, she'd gotten a new job so it just gave her more time to prepare for that.  Although that also meant that she turned down his offer to meet up after school.  It seemed he wouldn't be seeing her today.

Once school was over, Nielson was still feeling bitter about what happened that morning so he decided not to go home.  Not that his mom would be home, he knew.  But he still felt some sense of defiance as he went to the river instead.  He pulled out a fishing pole he'd borrowed from the school to complete a project for the science labs and set to work trying to catch something.

Meanwhile, Erika had been tasked by her teacher to deliver some forms to City Hall.  She wasn't really interested in doing the teacher any favors... but the teacher promised to give her credit for it and if that would get her one step closer to perfect grades then it was worth it.

Plus, the police station where her mother worked was a wing of City Hall...

It took no time at all to drop off the paperwork.  The receptionist was expecting it.  Apparently kids frequently got sent on these types of errands.  Apparently because the adults were too lazy to do them, Erika guessed.  So once she was done she stopped by the police wing.  The man sitting at the front desk looked decidedly bored as she entered, staring blankly at his computer screen.  She supposed she could understand.  It had to be boring stuck in the office rather than out in the field.

However, he did perk up a bit when he noticed that Erika had come in.  "Yes?  Do you have a report you'd like to make?" the officer asked, not seeming put-off that she was a child.

He was probably just excited for something to do.  Erika felt a little guilty that she didn't actually have anything.

"Ah... no.  I'm Erika Gaul... I'm here looking for Danisha.  My mom," Erika replied with a shrug.  The officer sighed but didn't seem too disappointed.

"I'm sorry to tell you that she's not here.  She's out on patrol with her partner.  You can wait for her here if you like, or I can tell her you stopped by," he offered.

"I'll wait for a little bit, then," Erika replied.

With that said, Erika turned to look out at the rest of the station.  She somehow expected something... more.  Something fancier from the police station for such a large city.  But she was rather underwhelmed.  Most of the officers seemed to be out at the moment.  The only other person in the room was a woman who was more than likely the partner of the guy manning the front.

The woman ignored her as she wandered around the room.  She easily found her mother's desk by the name plate on it... but there was nothing interesting there so she kept moving.  She didn't see any desk with the name 'Rake' on it.  That was the name on the letters that sent money every month.  The letters that her mother proceeded to 'return to sender'.  She'd taken a look at one before her mother had sent it back once and that's when she learned that they came from her father.

She wondered what he was like, and wondered if perhaps finding some sign of him in this place was the real reason she'd come here.  Not that it really mattered.  It's not like her life would magically become better if she met the guy or learned anything about him.

As she got to the farthest desk in the corner she noticed something surprising.  There was a gun just lying out on the desk.  Who would leave their gun just sitting out like this?  She didn't recognize the name Atkins...

As she looked at the device she felt a strange desire overcome her.  She glanced around the room, but the woman had disappeared somewhere else and the man at the front desk wasn't looking at her.

She couldn't really describe what she was feeling as she picked up the weapon.  It was too big for her small hands, but she was able to tuck it under her shirt.  Anyone looking for it would probably see it, but from the outside it could be anything.

Whoever the gun belonged to would probably get into a lot of trouble when they discovered it missing, but since it wasn't her mother she didn't really care.  There was always the risk of being discovered from security cameras, but something in her made her willing to take that risk.  A perfect opportunity like this wasn't likely to come up again...  Not that she had any idea what she might use a gun for.

"I think I'm going to head home after all.  Let my mom know I stopped by for me, please," Erika asked the officer at the front as she left.  He agreed without looking at her and Erika felt herself feel a sensation of accomplishment as she got out without being stopped.

Looking out over the city in the dimming light she felt more hope for it.  The darkness covered up the imperfections and it looked more beautiful than ever.  At night, it would probably look perfect.

"Darkness makes the city perfect," she murmured, coming to a sudden realization with those few words.

Not wanting to encounter anyone else, Erika hurried toward home.  Once there she quickly looked around the apartment before stashing the gun behind the bookcase where she hoped neither her mother or Nielson would find it.

She then grabbed a snack to eat and tried to focus on her homework and not what she'd just done.  She was still working when Nielson finally made his way home.

"Is mom home?" he asked, going into the kitchen to get some food.

"You seriously think she'd be home at this hour?" Erika replied, glancing up at him from her homework.  Nielson shrugged and then sat down at the table to eat his dinner.

"Need any help with that?" he offered absently.

"No," she replied curtly.

Although Erika had planned on staying up to hear if her mother had learned of her theft that afternoon, she fell asleep fairly early on.  And the next morning she needed to go to school before her mother got up.  Hopefully, though, if her mother had discovered it she would have woken Erika up so the fact that Danisha hadn't bothered her was a good sign.

Nielson, meanwhile, was happy to avoid his mother.  Although his anger over getting scolded had faded.  He understood why his mother was upset and he did feel guilty for what he'd done.  But that didn't mean he still didn't have some lingering resentment.

For that reason, he didn't tell either Danisha or Erika about the debate championship he was participating in.  He'd enrolled in the debate club at the start of his high school career and his dedication had paid off leading to him becoming president of the debate club.  Which mean he had a star role during the final debate.  He went home long enough to change into nicer clothes before returning to school for the event.

It would have given him a lot more satisfaction upon concluding the event if he'd had family members to cheer him on like his fellow classmates.  But Danisha was busy and Erika likely wouldn't have come even if he'd asked.  So he had no one but himself to share his victory with.

Once again, he found himself not wanting to go home right away, and ended up doing his homework outside of the school.  No one else was interested in hanging around so he only had himself for company again.  He was tempted to call Belisama for some company, even if he'd just have her on the phone to talk to, but he didn't know when she got off of work now and didn't want to risk disturbing her or getting her into trouble.

But he was getting more and more anxious about becoming an adult so he could be with Belisama as often as possible.  At least she seemed to appreciate his company...

But as the sun went down, Nielson no longer had the light to work and made his way home.  Erika was already home and seemed rather jumpy.  He left her alone and retreated into his room, hopping onto the computer to find someone to chat with.

Erika was still nervous over not having any idea if she'd been discovered or not.  So when her mother finally arrived home she nearly jumped when she immediately called her name.

"Look, Erika.  I got a promotion!" Danisha announced cheerfully.  She'd finally entered the field she'd always wanted to get into.  Although she still had a ways to go before reaching the top.

Erika congratulated her mother.  And Danisha didn't need to know that a good portion of her happiness was the fact that she had perfectly gotten away with her imperfect crime.


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This chapter was originally going to be a lot shorter.  I ended up going back and adding the scene with Erika at the police station.  I was going to wait on that until she was a teenager but decided it didn't really matter if that happened a bit earlier.  Why does she need a gun?  Well, you'll just have to find out later.  For now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  Sorry it took so long.