ANOTHER KIND OF DIAMOND (9 page)

Now, very close to his destination, he could see people mingling on the street and he took extra care so as not to be seen at that point by anyone who might recognize him and ruin his plan even before he began to execute. Carissa or even Isabel could be among those outside on the street, who knows? And running into either of them by any chance could spoil everything, so he took some extra care.

With all the antics he could muster, Teri carefully maneuvered his way and finally stole into the party scene unspotted by familiar eyes as he thought. Once inside he moved fast. He is there for one purpose, which is teaching Isabel a lesson. The plan is to scare everyone at the party to spoil the damned show and put the bitch in shame before all her guests, that’s it! But he must be very careful not to hurt anyone, he reminded himself once again. Now, it’s his turn to show Isabel the kind of stuff he is really made of and he’s ready to play it real good. I mean put up such a show that after this day Isabel and even Carissa will learn to show respect to the man Teri. Suddenly, he pulled a gun out from where it was concealed in his Jens pocket, aimed towards the sky and began shooting.

Unknown to Teri, Isabel spotted him as soon as he walked into the scene and knew he must be up to no good so she herself quickly took to a corner on the floor and using guests as shields, she moved fast until she found herself tailing right behind him. Wallis who all night watched Isabel’s every move also noticed what was going on and trailed Isabel carefully.

As soon as the first volley of bullets flew out of Teri’s gun, Isabel quickly took out a gun from her bag and moving real fast, she got real close for a point blank and aimed pointedly at Teri. Wallis tried to prevent what he knew was coming because when Isabel took out the gun, he hurried to catch up with her so that as she lifted it, he was almost close enough but not quit in touch with her. All he could do then was stretch out his hand as much as he could in his effort to grab the gun or knock it off Isabel’s hands but again he was seconds too late when he heard it, bang! Bang! And in no time at all Teri hit so hard on the floor, halt the party for good and tumult took over. Guests scattered in all directions with every one running for dear life. Screaming and wailing from boys and girls alike could be heard by anyone within range. It was simply put, chaos and in a short time the scene completely deserted. “Someone call 911” A voice rang out of the confusion, but someone already did and the Police with the ambulance and all that it takes arrived as swiftly as the call was put out and the scene went aglow once again.

Gary Hanford bit the police by just a breath of air. He is the guy that worked with Isabel in the same store where a good friendship developed between them. They talked to each other a lot, went for lunch together and did a lot more together. But as it turned out, Gary already conceived the idea of taking their friendship to another level and because of that when Isabel invited him to this party he saw it as an opportunity to observe the ways of his dream babe to know if she is seeing anyone else and you know, see what chances he would have with her in a more serious relationship. Therefore like Wallis, his eyes also followed Isabel through the party. Apart from this, another thing very close to Gary’s heart is ambition to join the LAPD he nurtured since his days as a kid. Actually he was already on the way to realizing his dream since he was almost through his classes with the academy and has been doing a lot of practices on his own preparatory for his enlistment. And now that this Teri issue turned up on the scene, he found this an opportunity to act out some of the cop antics he has been practicing. The moment he heard the first gunshot his instinct was act in the manner of an Officer of the law. While others ran from the scene, Gary did not. Instead he laid low on a sport from where he could have a clear view of what was going on and at the same time looking for a chance to take down the gun man. He saw when Isabel took out a gun from her bag, he saw all the efforts made by Wallis to stop what was coming, and it did for a brief moment cross his mind to get out there right then and act at that moment like Wallis was doing but he also realized it would be of no use ‘cause Isabel was as swift as a fly. The best he thought he could do for all his civility at the moment Teri fell was dial 911 and he did.

“Isabel, come with me!” Those words came to Wallis instantly and she obeyed more by instinct than what she actually wanted to do. Without wasting a moment, they ran as fast as they could, across the street in search of Wallis car. Now they found it, jumped in, and Wallis hands and leg went for the ignition and pedals simultaneous and the car sped off. Isabel remained silent while the drive continued until at the point she regained her composure. Where are we heading? She asked.

To my cousin’s place! As Wallis spoke he sported a Police car coming their way and his eyes closed in fear.

Wallis! Isabel shouted! Jolted, the car swerved a little to his left.

What are you doing? She screamed.

I got this babe! Calm down! I can handle this! Wallis said, struggling to get control of the car.

You almost crashed us right now!

Don’t worry about it. That was one hell of a slip, okay? You see I’ve never been in this kind of a thing where someone has to die. And the last thing I wish for myself at this time is anything that has to do with the Police. Wallis said.

How do you know he is dead? She asked.

Okay? Don’t worry about it. Let’s just get to my Cousin’s first then we figure the rest, okay?

In this kind of shit you got to act normal. You got to be yourself and by that nobody is gonna be thinking you did any wrong, understand? But if you keep acting the way you are doing right now, we are not gonna get far, Isabel continued.

Ok! I can take care of this. Just relax babe!

When we get to your cousin’s, park the car on the street, understand? By that no one is gonna suspect a thing, get what I’m saying?

Oh yes babe! I already figured! Wallis said and continued driving until he got to his destination and did exactly as Isabel said.

But Carissa remained at the party end. In her own case she was more confused than anyone else. For one, she was not in touch with the events preceding the gun shots she heard nor could she say for sure who or what the shots were meant for. All she remembered was being at the middle of a dance with some guy when she heard gun shots and like everyone else she ran like a scared cat.

Her race was however some worth purposeful because she knew exactly where she was headed and that was into the laundry room. Crashing in, she hid herself behind a door. The Police must be everywhere in the building now, she though. Probably they are already searching their apartment right now so she dared not move. Instead she slumped on the floor, thoughtless for a moment, like her mind and body shot down on her for one brief moment.

The priority of the ambulance at the scene was to get Teri out for medical attention while the police focused on processing the crime scene. The gun man or any other person that saw anything of interest could still be hiding somewhere, so the police searched the entire place carefully like cops would. Some shoes left behind with one pair here, another there picked up. Some ladies bags too, wrest watches, bracelets and other items considered of interest. Also found were spent bullets and shells.

Among the Officers of LAPD lined out there was Thomas Jenkins, a meticulous man well known in the circles for the dexterity with which he processed any crime scene. It was Thomas who picked up the bullets and shells when everyone with him thought they could find none. It was him who found a tiny hair strand that got itself tangled on one of the shoes. He also found drops of blood elsewhere different from where the crime victim fell. All these he carefully stored for the forensic Lab.

Moving beyond the party scene, they made their way into the main building, searching the entire compound and now heading towards the Laundry room.

Carissa has overcome the initial fright and in anticipation of what could happen, she prepared for her next act. Just like she expected, there were clothes in both the washer and the dryer so she did a quick sorting among the items until she found the ones close to her size and changed into those. With water in the Washer, she cleaned off much of the make up on her face and waited. Soon after, she sensed it, the Police closing in on her and she prepared for the worse. Sensing the police presence much closer now she bent over the dryer pretending she was taking out some clothes so that when they came in, they found Carissa occupied. Patiently, the Officers waited until she was done and they approached. Officer Jenkins spoke with her.

Miss! Can I talk to you for a minute?

What do you wanna talk about?

Some incidence that happened here in this building tonight! My name is Thomas Jenkins. I’m an Officer of the LAPD, so are these gentlemen with me. What is your name?

Carissa!

Your last name please!

Stevens!

Even though Carissa was visibly shaken earlier, right now she was capable of managing the scene in a calmly manner.

Where you at the party that took place in this building to night?

Do I look like I was at any party tonight? Carissa asked in a convincing manner.

We are kind of curious, understand?

I can tell! She reacted.

Alright! Did you see anything or anybody you might wanna talk to us about concerning what happened here? Jenkins continued.

I didn’t see anything! I have nothing to do with anything that happened, okay? She said.

Are you sure about that ‘cause if you are lying to me, I’m gonna find out one way or another and if that happens it’s no good for your reputation miss Stevens. So, here is your chance to get it right and straight. It is up to you to choose to do right now. I’m telling you!

Damn! You ain’t got anything on me and you ain’t putting shit on me, okay? I’ve been right here all the time doing my Laundry and now you sound like I did some crime or some-n. Damn! Please if you may excuse me I’ll like to continue with what I’m doing, cause I ain’t got time for bullshit! Carissa bellowed.

Hey! Listen! Someone was shot here tonight and all we ask is your help in finding who did it. That’s all! Jenkins persisted.

Ok! But you are asking the wrong person, understand? Just leave me alone, please! She continued.

May be you’ll remember something sometime and if you do, don’t hesitate to give me a call. Jenkins said handing her his business card. Anything at all, no matter how trivial could make a huge difference in a case of this nature. So I hope you remember something soon! You have yourself a good day Miss Stevens. We shall probably meet again, who knows?

Carissa waited for the police to go afar off before she went into action again. From among the cloths in the dryer, she fished out all her stuff, changed again and dialed Isabel’s number. She listened as the phone rang at the other end and waited for a response but nobody picked up the line. After a while she tried again but this time the phone went straight to voice mail. That didn’t stop her from trying several times more before she gave up and started making her way back to the apartment. Although, she could see no one outside since the entire compound looked like a ghost land, yet she was certain some people were watching from inside of their homes. Once, she saw a window blind moved swiftly and her eyes moved with it. At another occasion, it was the crackling sound of a door being closed carefully that caught her attention and her eyes shifted in that direction also. There was even a time she actually thought she saw a face behind a window blind in old Miss Brighton’s apartment and she also struggled to pin it down to no avail. She ignored all that and continued walking towards her apartment.

As soon as she got into the house, her eyes quickly went for a clock on the wall and the time stood at 4: am on a Sunday morning. Then it hit her so suddenly, a unique kind of emptiness she had never experienced before now compelled her to take another look round this house she had shared with Isabel for some time, but nothing changed. Same gray painted walls staring back at her. In her frustration, she sat down on a chair and began crying. She cried for a very long time and since there was no one to comfort her, she decided at a point to calm down and wiped her tears with self-helped towels. She tried tracing the events of the entire night in her efforts to figure it all out but even her best efforts revealed nothing with exact picture of what brought about the shooting scene. One thing prevailed though, something very serious has happened and other things began to future in her mind. Who was it that got shot last night and who did it? Was it Isabel, Tasha or any of her other friends that took those bullets last night? The only life she could account for right now is her own. At this point she decided to try her roommate’s number once more but to her dismay, Isabel’s situation had not changed. Her mind darted to Tasha and she thought she will be particularly helpful because of a unique experience she had with her during their days on the street which suddenly came into remembrance. That day, a street bum staged a couple with a gun. She was walking with Tasha when it all started but she heard the sound of his miserable voice first. “Hand me your wallet!” The bum demanded and their eyes went in that direction. The couple had no wallet to hand over and tried to explain but the bum was not just the patient type so he fired and the man fell. He tried to get his companion too but she was very fast on her heels and the bum didn’t like that so he went into random shooting and acting out like crazy. Carissa remembered people trying to get away from the scene pretty much like what happened at the show last night. She remembered how confused she got and was almost running into the line of fire when Tasha snatched her hand and both of them ran. Tasha it was that saved her life in that event. So, if there is anybody she was sure would have some information about what happened last night, that person will be Tasha.