011

SOLANGE

I grabbed whatever clothes I could and threw it into my camo bag.

I had half a mind to just leave it all behind but I wouldn't have enough time to stop over for a while; the chase would be hot for at least a week; *Gomez* wouldn't give up so easily.

I knew how everything looked and I knew I had to run when all my calls to Lane went straight to voicemail for the past two days, *the kid's only friend is that damn phone and she was his current bank, he wouldn't avoid her calls..unless* and she knew; the fool had sold her out.

I snarled and slung the bag across my shoulders then shoved her swiss army knife into her back pocket.

She didn't carry a gun but her dad taught her and Hallé how to defend themselves well enough with a sharp knife. *The world is becoming a scary place especially for girls like you*.

Now she was afraid he'd see her as becoming the monster he sought to protect them from and *Hallé*, she knew they'd never believe her.

She pulled down her hoodie and slipped on her sunglasses. *She'd explain everything but right now the best decision was to run, hide and gather evidence*

She nodded towards her reflection in the bathroom mirror, before stomping out and down the stairs towards the front door.

Then she heard them, pounding down hard against the door- "Solange! Its Detective Gomez DAPD! Open up!". *Hell no, she was not about to be another black girl in prison for a crime she didn't commit.*

She scrambled towards the back door as quietly as she could; Thankfully she'd had her other car- a black 2018 Honda civic parked at the back, just in case.

She jumped into the car and floored it when she noticed two officers slinking towards the car from her side view mirror.

She didn't intend on causing harm to anyone but she knew her chances of her proving her innocence worked better if she was out of sight. Someone was working hard to create a disaster for her family and she'd become the unwilling scapegoat.

She didn't look back, just pushed forward until she reached the gate of her home and caught a glimpse of Luiz out of the side of her eye. His face was bright red and he seemed to have been shouting instructions into his walkie talkie before taking out his gun to begin shooting at her.

*Freaking hell* She slammed her boot down on the accelerator hard and pulling the gear forward rather forcefully, she hated to admit it but she was really scared; all this because she wanted something she shouldn't have.

She swerved the steering, making a harsh right turn towards a shortcut out of her estate and she felt the sting of tears threatening to roll down her cheeks at the fear of being caught or *worse*.

She couldn't stop, not now; she was so close, all she had to do was get on that damn highway.

As she came towards the end of the shortcut, she could almost see the light at the end of the tunnel; only to discover they were actual lights, *police lights*. No, no, no!

She swerved her head towards the back, put the gear into reverse and began to backtrack her movements when she saw Luiz pulling up behind her.

*How the fuck did they know?* Then her flip phone rang providing her the exact answer - *Hallé*. In her haste, she'd forgotten that her sister knew the estate she lives in well and She, herself had shown her this shortcut exit.

She struggled between answering the call and just saying fuck it, backing the car up into Luiz's and trying her luck; but after watching the phone flash on for the third time, she decided to go for the former. Hallé must have already known by now anyways; Luiz must have been instructing the officers on getting her up to speed.

I shakily pressed the phone up to my ear, "Hallé, I- I'm so sorry"

I broke completely when I heard her voice "Its okay, you made a mistake but..you..you can fix it; just stop, stop running"

I nodded my head through the tears stinging at my eyes though she couldn't possibly see.

Then I unlocked the door and slowly opened it, gliding past the door carefully with my hands up in the air to show I meant no harm and immediately I felt an officer come up behind me and pull my hands into handcuffs.

I sighed and looked up, just to catch a glimpse of my sister coming out of Gomez's squad car. I stared at her as the officer pulled me towards his car simply trying to communicate that *I didn't mean for it to end this way*

..............................

SOLANGE

I twisted my wrists around in the cold steel handcuffs, feeling incredibly uncomfortable in the deafening silence of the interrogation room.

*I couldn't even imagine what they must think of me*

As if as a response to my self loathing, the door was pushed open and in walked an eerily calm Luiz.

He took the seat in front of me, clearing his throat before finally speaking "Sorry to keep you waiting but I had to clear my head, take a breath and calm down so I could take a more objective approach with this interrogation"

I nodded *ah, he had to calm himself from simply just strangling me, save the law part*

He responded to my nod with a thin lipped smile "Good, I'll just go straight to the point. Miss Solange tell me why you killed Michael"

I looked directly at him and told him the truth "I didn't"

He nodded "Alright fine, you want to do it this way. You didn't kill Michael; fine. Then tell me why you bribed Lane and why you threatened Pastor Brown"

"It's complicated, I made some mistakes but I didn't kill him".

"Well I've got time"

I sighed "Yes I admit I did pay off the kid and *encouraged* Josh; But not for what you're thinking. I loved Michael I'd never hurt him, its part of the reason why I did all this. I mean I knew if anyone heard about my *relationship* with him and the fact that I was at the house on that day made it no better. That's why I paid off the kid and why I asked the Pastor to continue keeping my secret....which obviously didn't work".

He scoffed, *I could tell his patience was thinning* "Yeah and I'm sure that had nothing to do with you not wanting to lose Michael or your illicit baby.

I gritted my teeth "Everything I've done is for this baby, I would have taken the chance of Prison by coming clean and seeing how this plays out in court but I'm going to be a mother. I couldn't imagine watching my pregnancy period go by in prison or leave the ability to watch my child grow up to chance. I'm not stupid, I know I didn't do it but I also know I'd be the only one who looked guilty; Hallé was a suspect but there isn't any scratch of evidence and then there's really no one else. So I took matters into my own hands, obviously that didn't work; Call me whatever you want but I am not a murderer"

He shook his head "So we're back to that and now you're calling out your sister. It's actually a talent how callous you are, considering the fact that you just admitted to sleeping with the husband of your sister, someone who considered you not only a sister but a best friend, lying to law enforcement agents,bribing and threatening. Not to mention you hid the fact that Michael even fathered a child knowing that your sister due to the abuse she suffered couldn't reproduce and all that she ever wanted was to give Michael a child. You know she'd do anything for that baby in your womb".

I hung my head in shame "I know, don't think I'm proud. I made a mistake".

He laughed "Really or maybe this was your greatest form of revenge, maybe despite how strong and confident you act, you're nothing but an insecure and bitter woman living in the shadow of *little sister* and that's why you did it. Maybe you got tired of hearing her name get chanted while you only laid in her wake helping her get more powerful. I mean she was your parent's baby, they'd do anything for her; anyone who met her seemed to fall under her spell. You chased that acclaim in Law, looking for the same adoration she got offered on a silver platter. You must have thought they'd stop singing her songs and start praising you but...you were barely acknowledged".

I shook my head, feeling tears stinging at my eyes "Stop"

"And it didn't make any sense. You were their actual child, she was adopted, abused, *broken*. You were perfect; but Hallé was always the golden light of the family, with the voice of an angel; I mean sure you could hold a tune but it barely held a candle to hers. So when she got Michael it truly broke you, there you are in the shadows, sad, bitter and utterly lonely from alienating all friends or romantic prospects in your one sided competition with Hallé and she goes and gets herself whom could possibly be the best man in the whole world; you couldn't stand it, you wanted him and you wanted to hit her where it hurts"

I was positively shaking now "STOP"

"This time you had something she'd never have and it was finally useful- *a working uterus*. You'd use it to get a child and surely Michael would follow; your parents would be upset but Michael siding with you would make things easier; they'd realise *it just happened*. Besides she had basically handed him over to you by asking you to care for him while she travelled around the world; she clearly wasn't wife material. But when Michael told you he only wanted the child, that he loved Hallé more than anything and that you were just a drunken mistake, that must have put a hitch in your plans. I mean he was going to tell her everything and just go with whatever decision she made and if Hallé knew so would your parents and with Michael willing to just cater for the child as long as she was okay with it, you'd already lost him. Then your parents would definitely side with them, they'd fight against her and somehow she would have been forced to give up her parental rights entirely, you'd lose everything"

I laughed bitterly "No"

"So you decided to kill him and planned it out for days, you assumed everyone in town would be at Hallé's concert or celebrating the mayor but Lane was the anomaly. You had access to Hallé's wardrobe hence the belt and her keys hence no sign of a break in and he'd be groggy, sleep ridden and shocked, making it easier"

I slammed my hands down on the table "You're wrong"

He laughed bitterly "Oh? Then tell me why were you at the house at that time"

"I wanted to talk to him, convince him that we should at least wait before telling her; so I texted him,he agreed that we could talk but he had his mind set on telling her but maybe we could go over how it would go; I couldn't meet him on the time we'd agreed on the day before because of Hallé's concert and I wanted to be sure I wouldn't be followed or spotted; I went assuming that I could somehow convince him, I never went in"

"Why?"

I sighed "Because I didn't tell him I was coming, so I thought he probably assumed I wasn't and just held off because he didn't want Hallé distracted on the day of the concert, and really I just talked myself out of it. I was already worried my sister would somehow wake up and find me and her house key missing and decide to come running or that someone somewhere would see me and someone did *Lane*. I spent about thirty minutes or more panicking before I decided to take off, I actually made it to the front door but I was just too nervous. I decided to just deal with the consequences but of course that all changed when he died"

"Assuming I believe you and I don't, this doesn't explain why you took a bag on a drive unless you were trying to conceal a weapon, *the belt*"

I laughed "That was just honestly a force of habit. I'm used to just having my bag around me"

He tilted his head "You must think you're talking to a child because that's honestly your most unbelievable lie yet. Now even if I even accept a shred of anything you've been saying as the truth, where's your proof. I mean you just admitted to being at the crime scene during the time period he was murdered, we have video evidence putting you there, we have key witnesses and you have motive and we also checked your phone, there are no such texts between you and Michael"

I opened my mouth to argue, to defend myself but I realized he was right. I had no evidence; Michael and I texted using "snapchat" because he didn't want to risk forgetting delete chats or voice messages and the app did it for you immediately after they're read. There were no other suspects or leads; all the evidence was stacked against me. I wouldn't win this argument...at least not now.

Michael raised an eyebrow at my silence "What, no more stories?"

I simply smiled and responded "I think I'd like that mandatory phone call now"