Norah came into the room, and Larry paused the recorder. She informed Sabrina that the tests they ran came back negative and that she will get discharged soon. Sabrina was not happy with the news. How could she go back to a murder scene? How will she ever call that place home again? Someone came into her home with a gun. Someone came into her safe zone intended to cause her fear, pain, or death. The life of that someone lingers there probably will haunt her even after death.
“Where will I go? I cannot go back there.” Sabrina rubbed her hands together as if lathering it with soap as she did when she was nervous. Then, she locked her fingers together and cradled her face like a mask. She tried to hide her consternation of being alone in that space.
“You should stay with your family or friends right now until your place gets cleaned up and you feel up to going back in there,” Larry responded. “Since you did not see the scene, it will be easier for you to go back to.”
Suddenly Sabrina thought about Jada. She looked about for her pocketbook but could not find it. “Where is my bag? I need my phone.”
“You did not come in with neither,” Norah answered. “You can use my phone.” She dug into her pocket and retrieved it. She looked at the phone to unlock it and passed it to Sabrina. Then, she left the room.
Sabrina called Jada, but there was no answer. She redialed the number, and this time Jada answered. Sabrina told Jada of the incident. Jada agreed to pick her up from the hospital and for Sabrina to stay with her. Sabrina wanted to call Carlos, but she could not remember his telephone number. She felt miserable and aggravated because she was not able to contact Carlos. She did not want him to feel like she had abandoned him after such a traumatic mess. A guest was supposed to be safe in your home. She placed the phone in her lap and turned to Larry. “Who came into my home? Who was it? Please tell me.” Her downcast eyes begged Larry to give her the answer. A tear rolled from her eye, down her cheeks, and to her gown.
Larry did not move or looked at her. He sat there with a concerned look on his face. The look Sabrina saw on her coach’s face when she regained consciousness after that faint spell. Larry looked genuinely bothered that the information he had would cause her more grief. He was now acting as a father and not a detective.
“Based on our investigation,” he paused. “We were able to identify him by his fingerprints saved in our database. He was one of us from another precinct.”
“I do not know any police officer that lives around here,” Sabrina said. “Why would a police officer be in my home? He probably made a mistake. He probably mistook my apartment for someone else’s; it happened at times. You remember in the news where police officer…., ” she looked up to the ceiling for the name to materialized into her consciousness.
“Amber Guyger,” Larry interjected.
“Yes, Amber Guyger. She went into 26-year-old Botham Jean’s apartment and killed him. She said it was a mistake; she thought it was her apartment.”
“I understand things like this do happen, Sabrina, but in your case, it was not a mistake. You knew this officer. His name is or was Trevor Lasko.”
“Who? Trevor!? My ex-husband? No!”
“Yes, it was your ex-husband.”
“No, not Trevor.”
Larry pressed record, “Do you know why he was there?”
“How the fuck would I know why he was there. We have been divorced for over two fucking years now. Oh, my God! What am I going to tell the children? How am I going to tell the children?” Her facial expression changed with the emotions she was going through as a chameleon did. Then, she started to scream loud and louder.
Larry stood up to console her, then in came Norah and two other nurses. Larry excused himself from the room to get back to her after the nurses left, but he got an emergency call and had to leave Sabrina.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Sabrina stayed at Jada’s house for a month before she decided to find another apartment. She could not tolerate sleeping there. Over time, the courts acquitted the case against Carlos based on self-defense. She tried numerous times to talk with Carlos, but he did not want to talk to her but would text her back.
“No more text,” Carlos wrote.
No more text…
“Do not shut me out and not give me a good reason,” Sabrina texted back.
She had apologized profusely about her ex-husband. She was in pain; she felt lonely and sad. She had not eaten much, thus losing weight. She was sleep-deprived. She needed to know where she stood. She needed some communication to help release her from the insanity in her head and free her mind so that she could be happy again.
“Give me some time,” Carlos texted back.
“How much time do you need?”
“Not long.”
It sounded promising. Sabrina’s whole being was off-balance, and she felt as if she could not make it through the day. The hours went by so slowly at work. She glanced at the clock on the computer as she counted the minutes to lunchtime.
Her phone rang, and she prayed that it was Carlos calling. She rummaged through her handbag and found it, answering it on the third ring.
“Hello,” she answered calmly as her heart raced. There was no response, so she said hello again.
“Is this Sabrina McCloskey?”
“Who is this?” Sabrina asked. She was not going to acknowledge her identity without knowing who was calling.
The phone went silent. Sabrina looked at the screen, and the line was still open. She did not recognize the voice, and she did not know the phone number. She was about to end the call when the caller said, “Carlos is no longer available to you. I am his wife. Stay away from my husband.”
The dial tone of an ended call filled her ear. Sabrina was confused. She never saw that coming. So much had happened in the few days she knew Carlos that would take possibly a lifetime to overcome. To start the process, she ended the call and deleted Carlos’s number from her phone to erase his existence as she began to heal.
Ok, I said it!
I enjoyed it!
Thanks for a beautiful short story!!!
Thank you for your support, Nadz!
Please continue to enjoy my stories and share them with your friends.