And It All Came Falling Down

Chapter 3: 'Did she do it or not?'

We arrive at the Professor's firm. A redheaded woman opened the door for us. Full lips. Pale skin. Long wavy hair. A little on the short side. Some would call her fun size. She wore red heels and a black bodysuit that complemented the shape of her body. 

        " You all must be the five students Kennedy choose. Follow me," she said, turning around and leading us into a living room space. She told us that she would go get Professor Belle, so we sat around waiting. Admiring the firm. The soft lavender linen curtains. The long grey sectional in the corner of the room next to a filled bookshelf. The chandelier dangling nicely above a brown coffee table and the greyish-brownish fluffy rug that laid underneath. The sunshine shines just between the curtains, so perfectly it creates a movie-like atmosphere. Kaleb walked up beside me and pinched me.

        " Ouch! What was that for?", I whispered rubbing the spot he pinched. 

        " It's not a dream"

        " How did you-?"

        " It's written all over your face...like your examining the room in its greatness. Seems almost too good to be true but here we are. It's true", he said. He smiled and walked to the couch and sat with the others. I took my heels off (man my feet were killing me already) and I sat on the fluffy rug. I ran my hands through it as if I was brushing my hand over a small pup. There is a knock on the door and the redheaded when goes to open it. It's Kaitlyn Marie. 

        " Alright. Ms. Marie is our client here to tell her story. You all will need to listen and afterwards we will get down to business....Everly", said Professor Belle busting from the brown glass doors down the hall. The redheaded woman, Everly then pulled out chairs for Professor to sit in as well as Ms.Marie.

        " Ms. Marie, I need you to tell us everything and spare no details", Professor Belle said to her. She nodded her head in understanding and took a deep breath. 

        " When I was 22, I got knocked up by some guy I had meet in a bar. I was pregnant with 2 twin boys. After the boys were born, my parents kicked me out because they didn't have room for the three of us anymore. We lived on the streets for a while until Sammie found out and we stayed with him. He got me back up on my feet. I got a job working as an assistant early mornings and we found an all round nanny that would help with the boys while Sammie and I were gone at work. I didn't want to burden him with having to keep his little sister in the house with him. So I booked to start dancing some nights for a few months. It was fast money and I was good at it. When Sammie found out that not only I was dancing but I was dancing under in his business, he banned me from it. That day, we had an argument about it at home. He pleaded for me to stay but I didn't wanna be in debt to him forever for what he did for me. He didn't understand my reason for dancing. We yelled and screamed around the house. I grabbed my kids and I left without saying goodbye right then and there..." Ms.Marie started to cry, ending her sentence. 

Her last words to her brother ended in an argument. No time to say goodbye. Nothing. I wonder what she would've changed if she knew that it was going to be her last conversation with him. A few minutes later, Ms.Marie leaves and Professor Belle remains in her chair looking at us. 

        " What do you think? Did she do it or not", she said with a stern look in her eyes. I looked at the rest of the bunch. None looked like they wanted to say anything.

        " I think it could be either. Ms. Marie certainly does have the motive so that would be hard to combat. But if the neighbors could testify to what happened during the night of argument and if we could find someone else with a possible motive to want Sammie dead, we could prove her not guilty of the murder of her brother. However, what's bothering me is the nanny. She hasn't testified for or against Kaitlyn meaning..."

        "...there's more to the story that we don't know about", Kaleb says finishing my thought. Professor Belle nods her head in approval and gets up to grab a box full of files. 

        " Kaleb and Diamonte, I want you both to go interview the nanny. The rest of you look for anything that could tie someone else to the crime. Motives. Intent. All of it", she said walking away. Evelyn grabbed a file and handed it to me. I looked up at Kaleb and we made our way outside. 

I took a minute to look at the files. The nanny's name was Maria Gonzalez. Forty years old. A mother of two: one girl and one boy. She came here when she was younger but she wasn't documented. I grab the back of Kaleb's shirt. We stopped walking and he looked back at me with a concerned look on his face.

        " I think I just found out the reason why she's been so quiet....Maria and her children are undocumented immigrants. If I'm right and Sammie was protecting then, she doesn't wanna testify because they all risk being deported back to their home country", I looked at him with saddened eyes as I spoke. 

        " That would make sense. Let's go find out, okay? " he said as he pushed my hair behind my ear. I fake a smiled and nodded. Living in constant fear. Of what they would do to you. It's a scary way to live. Wondering everyday if your children will come home to you. I hate it. 

Kaleb drove us to Marie's address. My heart feels likes it's pounding out of my chest. Before we got out of the car, Kaleb placed his fingers on my chin and gently turned my head. 

        " You're shaking...it's going to be okay. Di, breathe", he said. There was a calmness in his voice. A soft touch. Something gentle. He dropped his fingers and turned to open the car door. I took a deep breathe as I opened the door and stepped out of the car. Here, we are.