My next meeting with Vincent couldn't come sooner. I was dying to know what he was thinking after having dinner with my family. I also wanted to know why he had been asking those questions about Darren. He must have had some theory or seen something that made Darren interesting to the case. I wanted to know what. I wanted to know how bad it was. 

Speaking of Darren, he texted me to let me know he wanted to meet up and go thrifting for some new work shirts. I had to remind him I had a meeting with my coworker. He took this news poorly, sending a sad face and asking if he could pick me up afterwards even if it was just to drop me off at home. It was not an odd thing for him to ask. Darren usually looked for any excuse to see me, not caring if the occasion lasted only a few minutes. It was what I found sweet about him when we first started going out.

However, I didn’t like the idea of Darren and Vincent’s paths crossing again. I didn’t like the idea of any of my family members crossing Vincents anymore. I wouldn't like it until I knew none of my family members were at risk of being incriminated. 

We sat across from each other at the waffle house Kimberly and I had taken him to weeks ago. He mentioned he had been thinking about the waffles he had there ever since so I suggested we go again. We had already exchanged greetings and fallen into silence. I kept perusing the menu even though I had already decided what I wanted to order and inhaled the smell of maple syrup. 

“I know you’ve been thinking about what I said after your birthday party,” he said, letting his menu drop to the table as he suddenly spoke. 

I kept mine up, the black font blurring in my vision from staring at it for so long. “I don’t know what you want me to do with the information you gave me.” 

“Nothing. It was probably nothing. I just have to check all my boxes.” 

I sat back into the cushion of the booth, the foam letting out a hiss against my weight. A server rushed past us and the silence between us was punctuated by the clattering of dishes and glass cups. 

Vincent reached over the table and lowered my menu for me. It was harder to stay distant and reserved when I was looking at him. His features were far too soft to distrust. 

“Is there anything you want to tell me that you think will help with the investigation?” he asked.  

I didn't want to be honest. In fact, maybe if he hadn't asked I would have been able to keep everything I had heard to myself and use the excuse of having forgotten. But now that he had asked, I couldn't withhold this from him. 

With my stomach twisting into knots, I replied, “My cousin Julio said he heard Darren’s name tossed around by the kids that deal drugs at his school.” 

Vincent didn't light up in glee at my admission, which made me feel a little better. Instead, he took out a notepad and prepared to jot down what I said. 

"In what context?” 

I shrugged. “I don’t know.” 

"Did Adonis and Darren ever fight?," he asked, taking the conversation down a path I didn't think it was heading. It sounded like he was trying to get at the two of them working together before. Now, he was getting at them fighting. Either way, he was linking Darren to the drug trafficking. 

I thought about the question, twirling my black strands of hair around my finger. 

There was only one memory I had of them where the tension between them was palpable. It could be cut through with a knife. 

A disagreement had broken out between our double date group. 

Earlier in the week, I had been arguing with my aunt and uncle about going on a trip. For months I had been planning this trip out. I wanted to go to a National Park in California to see the Giant Sequoia trees. I had my license and all I needed was to borrow one of the cars. My aunt and uncle didn't like the idea of me going across the country alone. They wanted at least one person to go with me but the two of them had work and so did Nancy. Darren couldn't take off because he had some super important meetings coming up. I thought that was all the more reason I should have just went on my own but everyone seemed to agree I had to reschedule the trip for a time where someone could accompany me. 

I never fought back against my family's wishes very hard before but this time I was livid. I was pointing out that I was an adult, that I didn't need their permission to go. I was referencing all the times I had been responsible and all the safety precautions I would be taking. This did nothing but spark anger in my relatives. So much so, that Nancy felt the need to bring up how absurd I was being days later in front of her boyfriend and mine. 

We were seated at the food court of a bowling alley. We were sharing a booth, eating cheesy fries and nachos. The sound of the bowling balls dropping onto the floor and rolling was loud in our ears competing against the generic pop music. 

"She's never taken a trip alone and the first one she wants to go on is cross country?" Nancy snickered, casting me a very sisterly scowl. "You ought to let it go. In a few months, we'll be able to plan something where we can go with you. It'll be more fun and safe that way." 

At that point in time, I had already fought so hard over the issue there was hardly an ounce of patience left inside of me. I had spent the whole week prior constructing well thought out arguments as to why they should lend me the car only to have them steam rolled by the same thoughtless phrases they had blasted out in the very beginning. They never gave a moment to truly listen. They were never going to give me a chance. 

The second Darren opened his mouth to speak I knew I was going to lose it. "Mickey's just being stubborn and irrational. She'll come around eventually." 

It was the name calling on top of talking like I wasn't sitting directly beside him that got to me. I felt like a volcano about to erupt. I was ready to scream right there in the middle of the bowling alley. I didn't know what to do besides take myself out of the situation before I exploded. 

Adonis sharply sucked in a breath, his head turning in my direction. He was already saying my name before I got up, like he knew what I was going to do ahead of time. 

I slipped out of the booth, bringing my arm to my chest so Darren couldn't grab a hold of me. As I made a beeline for the swinging glass doors, I heard Adonis tell Nancy and Darren to give me a few minutes. 

I sat on one of the tables outside. I let a few tears fall as I watched the drizzle of the evening roll down the wheelchair ramp. I took a few steadying deep breaths, closing my eyes shut when my heart beat thumped dangerously hard against my chest. 

I didn't know how long it had been when I started to walk back inside. I stopped short when I overheard a conversation coming from the booth the four of us had been seated at. 

"You're both acting ridiculous." The voice belonged to Adonis. He sounded dejected, tired and almost in disbelief. "Mickey is an adult and has been for years. She doesn't have to listen to a single thing the two of you say. She's not your baby alive doll!" He spat out the last part with a satisfying amount of venom. He was saying the things I didn't have the nerve to say. 

"No one said anything like that," Darren said and I could imagine his nose turning up. "We actually care about Mickey. We know what's best." 

"Sure." Adonis chuckled. "This is about Mickey." 

"What else would it be about?" Darren asked, sharply. 

I didn't hear Adonis reply. I could only assume they were having a stare down. Finally, Adonis spoke again. 

"I'm gonna go check on her." 

"No. She's my girlfriend. I'll go talk to her." 

The last thing I wanted at that moment was to talk to Darren. I darted back outside. Nancy's car was parked in the lot and with a rush of adrenaline I realized she put the keys in my crossbody purse to hold onto for her. Impulsively, I fished out the keys and ran for her car. Without looking back, I started the engine and drove off. 

It felt good. It felt defiant and powerful. 

Nancy never let me drive. Neither did my aunt or uncle. My license would stay in my wallet collecting dust if it was up to them. 

The others weren't stranded at the bowling alley. Darren and I rode in his car so they could always ride with him. I hoped that was what they did. I didn't want them to follow me. 

I took the car to the mall. I wandered the place aimlessly, reveling in the fact I was there by my own accord and by myself. I walked through stores without buying anything or even really seeing anything. It was like I was caught in a daze. 

Adonis found me first. He came up from behind me as I was leaning over the railings looking down at the lower levels of the mall. 

"How much more time do you want?" 

I jumped, turning my head to see him mirroring my posture on the railing. He was looking down at the people too. 

 "What?" 

"How much more time do you want on your own before I call Darren to suggest you might be at the mall?" 

I glanced around us. "They're not here with you?" 

"No. We split up to look for you." 

I wondered where Nancy had gone to look for me, probably home. And Darren? Where did he think I would go?

"Why suggest that I'm at the mall? You know I'm here." 

He shrugged. "To make Darren feel like the hero." 

"In order to make up for what you said to him at the bowling alley?" 

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "You heard?" 

I nodded. 

He sighed, his shoulders slumping. "We shared a few more words after you ran off. I said that he and Nancy were only going to drive you away. I said that if they keep treating you like this then one day they're going to wake up and you're going to be gone. I think he took that as a threat." 

My heart filled with warmth. I had heard Adonis defending me at the bowling alley but it didn't mean too much because he had a knack for playing devil's advocate in the name of being fair. Yet, those additional statements proved he was truly on my side.

"A threat?" 

"The ego on that guy." He laughed dryly and then caught himself. "Sorry." 

The mall was mostly empty, probably because the darkening sky was visible through the glass ceiling. The arcade across from us was at perfect capacity. It didn't look like we would have to wait around for any games to be open. 

I struck up a deal to save the dumpster fire of a day. "How about we play a few rounds of the zombie shooter in the arcade and then you can call him?" 

He smiled brightly, lifting his fist for a bump. "Alright." 

Darren found me sitting at the mall's water fountain looking pensive, not like I had just beat a high score in Zombie Apocalypse with Adonis, about an hour later. He apologized for how he was acting earlier and said he never should have treated me like a kid or ganged up on me with Nancy. 

I forgave him. 

Even so, I never went on the trip to see the giant sequoia trees. It didn't seem worth the hassle. 

I relayed a shortened version of this story to Vincent over coffee and an omelette. He listened attentively, his stone cold expression glitching into a grimace or amused grin accordingly. 

 "I don't want to overstep my boundaries here but from my position on the outside, it looks like your family has you on lock down." 

I opened my mouth to defend them but immediately shut it. They did. They had. Adonis and Kimberly had been telling me this for years. It was embarrassing to hear it a third time. It always felt like something I could never escape but why couldn't I? What was truly stopping me from separating myself from them? 

Vincent continued though he seemed far away, hidden somewhere deep inside his mind much like I was. "Even with this anonymous protection, they've been paid to keep tabs on you. Someone is incredibly desperate to keep you in their grasp." 

The sinister phrasing of his observation and the revived anger of the memory I had just described sparked something in me. It sparked a desperation to escape.

I thought of Kimberly's long standing offer to become roommates. Moving out on my own was financially daunting but moving in with her wouldn't be. Kimberly had never tried to tell me what to do. She never made me feel like a wounded animal needing to be nursed back to health. She knew me after all the trauma from my mother's death subsided. She knew me as capable as any other. 

When Vincent and I were paying for our meal  I sent her a text asking if we could meet up soon. I prayed I would actually go through it. 

I knew the way I'd have to do this. I couldn't mention moving to my family or they'd give me trouble like they did about taking the trip. 

This would have to come as a surprise to them. It'd have to be all settled by the time they found out so it'd be too late for them to do anything. 

Darren arrived ten minutes before the time I told him to pick me up. I spotted him through the windows of the waffle house. He was leaning against the hood of his car in the drizzling weather, arms crossed against his chest and lips pouted. He was wearing sunglasses though there was not a single ray of sunlight escaping through the clouds. 

Vincent and I exited the diner. Vincent had grabbed a newspaper from the stack outside the place. I gave him a strange look as he unfolded it and used it as an umbrella for himself. 

"It's not raining very hard," I said. 

His eyes darted down to me and then back to the sky. His cheeks tinted red. "I know but I hate the feeling of soggy clothes. My worst nightmare is stepping in a puddle and having my socks drenched in mud." 

He shivered, genuinely repulsed. 

"Doesn't everyone hate when that happens?" 

He shook his head. "You don't understand. I'd rather rip off my own fingernails.." 

"Really?"  

He shivered again and I sensed there was a riveting story behind his repulsion but before I could ask Darren spotted us. He crossed the lot to meet us and I tried not to be too disappointed that I'd never hear the traumatic event that ruined the rain for Vincent. 

"Hey," Darren said, nodding at Vincent. The two of us were standing on the elevated street of the restaurant so we towered over him. He pulled me into a side hug, taking me off guard when kissed me on the lips right in front of Vincent. 

"I was surprised when you sent me this address. This seems more like a hang out spot than a place to get work done in," Darren said. I wanted to pull off his glasses so I could see if he was being conversational or not. 

"We were having a meeting." 

"And the waffles here are really good," Vincent added, mouth practically watering though he just finished eating. 

"I'm sure they are." Darren's mouth flattened into a tight smile, the lines around his mouth wrinkling. He turned to me. "You ready to go?" 

"Yeah." I waved at Vincent who was watching Darren curiously. It took him a second to notice me walking away. "See you next time." 

In the car, Darren made no move to take off his sunglasses. I was becoming concerned about his ability to see while driving with them on. 

"What are you doing with those on?" I reached over to pull them off his face and he flinched away. "What's wrong?" 

"Nothing." 

I reached for the glasses again and this time he didn't pull away. Once I removed them, it was clear why he had them on. Purple and blue swirled around his eye. The skin was swollen.

"What happened?" 

He dropped his hands onto the steering wheel with a groan. "I was trying to hide it because I knew you would worry. You see, you're worrying!" 

"Of course, I'm worrying. You're my boyfriend and you're hurt. What happened?" 

“One of the guys at work brought one of those t-shirt guns they have at baseball games to work and we were messing around with it, yadda yadda, I got an office supply item to my face.” He swiftly pulled out of the parking lot, his hands at nine and three o’clock. I had never seen anyone drive as by the book as he did. “What can you do?” 

The explanation sounded enough like Darren. 

“Are you stupid?” I asked, rhetorically. His face was injured all because he was acting like a five year old at work. 

“Yes,” he replied with a big grin. “Stupid for you.” 

“Ha ha.” 

I didn’t know if it was Vincent rubbing off on me but I found myself wanting to take advantage of this time alone with Darren to ask some questions. Hopefully, like Vincent, I could come off as casual and conversational. I had no suspicion that Darren was someone I needed to worry about in relation to what happened at the wedding but that didn’t mean I wasn't curious. 

“Speaking of your company, remember when Ross Centino passed away? You were moody the days leading up to his death. Was he giving you a hard time at work before he died?” 

We stopped at a redlight. Darren’s expression didn’t change from the relaxed posture it had been before. “No. It wasn’t him. He was fine. He practically blended into the paint on the wall.” 

I tried not to cringe at how he spoke of the dead. At least I knew he was being honest. “It was something else then?”  

“Yeah. It was around the time my mother died. The holidays were coming up too. It brought up too many memories.” His expression changed then, his left eyebrow lingered higher than his right one, lines forming in the space between them. 

“Didn’t your mother die in a hit and run? Like Ross did?” 

“Yeah, that messed me up even more. It was all too close to home,” he said, his voice getting deep with emotion. The light turned green and we sped along the empty street. “They really should be more careful about who they give licenses to.” 

The car zig zagged roughly, sending me to the right and then rebounding me to the left. I choked on a breath and grabbed onto the overhead handle as my stomach squeezed. We had lost full control of the car. 

Darren just giggled. 

 I held my hand over my heart as the sudden dash of fear I felt slowly trickled out of my system. 

He had done it on purpose. 

“Sorry," he said. "Morbid sense of humor.”