The new thing in my house was that Gabi was the culprit to April going missing. Just because of her past drug use and charged. But I did truly believe Gabi when she told me she had nothing to do with April's disappearance and I didn't think it was right of anyone to think differently because of her past. We all have a past.
I kept that I met with Gabi for 2 days. I decided to call Amira that second day after. It was now mid-December, getting toward Christmas. I called her in the afternoon.
"Hey, Josephine." she answered.
"Hey." I said, "Gabrielle isn't your girl."
"What?" Amira asked, slightly taken aback.
"Gabi had nothing to do with April disappearing. I promise you." I said. I was sitting on my bed.
"And how do you know that?" Amira sounded slightly amused.
"I talked to her."
"You what? Josephine, what is wrong with you?" Amira said sharply.
"I had to stop at April's apartment. Get something."
"Now me and you both know that's a damn lie. Talking to her is something you need to let us handle."
"Why? She wasn't dangerous. And when she said she had nothing to do with April, I believed her." I said.
"I don't want you being naive. But at the same time- I am actually on that side as well." Amira admitted.
"You are?"
"Yes. You didn't hear this from me. Officer Timo seems to just want to pin it on her to have answers. But he doesn't know anything either. It's just a theory because she has a criminal record." Amira said in a low voice.
"Gotcha." I said, "That's what I thought. I do have something interesting to tell you though."
"And what is that?"
"Candace and Kenny are living together."
"I'm sorry, what?" Amira sounded shocked.
"Gabi told me that Candace moved in with Kenny 3 weeks after April went missing."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Amira said. She sounded pissed off. "This is your friend saying this, forget I'm a cop for a moment. Those two are pissing me the fuck off."
"Tell me about it. Just thought you should know."
"You're right. I should know. Thank you." Amira said.
I thought about how Amira said she was telling me something as a friend. I guess we were friends now. Her and I didn't have any kind of bad break-up. She just didn't want to date anyone while she was getting her Associate's degree and then going to the Police Academy. I didn't blame her. We did have a good relationship overall- but we are very alike. Both confrontational. Firey. Sometimes that clashed.
Ava was better suited for me, I think. Her sweet side balanced out my fire. Even though my confrontational, sometimes aggressive nature was just to cover up my emotions half the time. I was more emotional than I'd like to admit sometimes. And even though Ava was very sweet, she actually wasn't as emotionally charged and sensitive as me.
I always seemed to want to see her. It also seemed like everyone was at my house nowadays. My brother was coming around more often, and of course Candace and Kenny were always over. Much to my dismay. I still wasn't sure what to do with the information that they weren't just together- but living together.
On this particular night we were having a dinner- again. I think my mom was coping by cooking. The occasion tonight was that Katie was done with semester and was going to be home for a month.
I was in my room when I heard a knock. "Come in." I said.
It was Katie who opened the door. "Hey." she smiled at me.
I got up, walked over and gave her a hug. "I'm glad you're home." I said. Katie was one of those people that just gave me a sense of comfort when I saw her.
"I am and I'm not." she chuckled. "I'm not surprised mom is cooking dinner. It seems to be her way of coping."
"At least the food is good."
"True. Is Ava coming tonight?" Katie asked me. She looked pretty tonight- her blonde hair was curled and she had on a wine colored sweater.
"She is." I said, trying to not smile.
"I like you and her together, a lot." Katie said, "I think your personalities balance each other out well."
"I agree."
"Better than how you and Amira were." Katie said, "You and her clashed. I didn't like her as much."
"Hey, she's helping us try to find out sister though."
"I know. And she could be doing a better job of it." Katie insisted.
"She's doing the best she can with what they've got." I said, not sure where the Amira hate was coming from. "Let's go downstairs. Ava just texted she will be here in a minute."
My mom made quite a few pasta dishes- pasta is Katie's favorite food.
"Great, I am about to be so bloated after this." Ava mumbled to me.
"That'll make two of us." I said back to her.
"April would have skipped out on this dinner." Scott chuckled, "Too many carbs."
"Right, she was always going on some kind of diet. Though she never, ever needed to." Candace said. And just the sound of her voice annoyed me.
"She definitely didn't." Kenny agreed, and I noticed Candace stiffen slightly, still smiling. Wonder how that felt. To have her best friends boyfriend, who now was dating her, compliment her best friend. What a fucking mess.
"I'm sure she is still eating her chicken Cesar salads." Katie said, spooning some baked ziti onto her plate.
I really fucking hoped so. More than anything. It had always upset me how April would put herself on one diet after the other. She was so beyond gorgeous- and it seemed like everyone was able to see that except for her.
We were all eating, getting along fine when Gabi got brought up. Scott innocently asked if there were any updates on her. My mom said the cops were still looking into it.
"What is it like living with her?" Kylie asked Candace.
Hm. Yeah. What was it like?
"I honestly don't talk to her much." Candace said, flipping her long, blonde hair.
I'm sure you don't.
"But does it seem like she could have something to do with April going missing?" Scott asked Candace.
"Honestly yes. I mean...she's had a rough past from what I know. Lots of drugs. I think I've seen her do a few drug deals outside." Candace blatantly lied.
"Well, next time you see that happening you need to call the police." my mom said.
"Believe me, I will. If she's guilty in any way, I'm going to make sure she gets caught." Candace said.
I was getting sick of her lies. And this false hope that my family had about Gabi having something to do with April going missing.
Candace was still going on about Gabi when my big mouth blurted out, "Gabi has nothing to do with April going missing."
Everyone turned to look at me.
"And how do you know that, Josephine?" Candace raised her eyebrows at me.
"I talked to her." I said. Should I revealing this? Probably not.
"Josephine, you better be lying." my mom said to me and at the same time my dad said, "Now why the hell would you do that?"
"As I said, I talked to Gabi. She has nothing to do with April missing. Just trust me on this." I said.
"Please, she probably just flirted her way out of the conversation with you." Candace said. And that's when I could feel Ava's eyes searing into me. Fuck. I hadn't told her about talking to Gabi. Fuck.
"No, she didn't actually." I said, looking at Candace. "But she did tell me something interesting."
I saw fear flicker into Candace and Kenny's eyes.
"Guys...let's switch gears." Scott said. "Celebrate why we are here- Katie."
I nodded. But wasn't about to let this go. And when I saw the expression on Ava's face- she wasn't about to either.