The moon like before has the aura beyond normal. The cold air is lingering on my skin, the familiar breeze of the night has its own version, it’s fascinating to feel, the warmth from within keeps me in a neutral state.
How long has it been?
As I walk on the street of Paris, cars’ horns keeps on getting louder after the sudden accident nearby, causing heavy traffics on the street lane.
“I’m near.” I said when a friend of mine called me on my phone, her voice sounded tired and depressed. I always knew she’s in pain ever since, I’m always silent and let her open what she’s into.
Focusing on my destination, someone bumped me from behind. He has the smell that I haven’t encountered for years.
He turned back and looked in my nonsense presence. “I-I’m sorry.”
He’s panting, the smell of blood reached my nostrils. I wanted to ask my concern but he suddenly walked away with pain on his left feet.
Without minding his odd behavior, my destination caught me. The light coming from the nearby café blinded the street with beauty, flashing with different colors and form. The kind of enthusiast for the owner that I knew since I moved on the city.
“And here comes mi lady!” Always with his genuine smile, he’s not minding his hard work to feed, but his hard work to serve. Ben with his best.
“Come on, Ben. It’s Christmas! Why are you here?”
He smiled and handed me a small box, wrapped with care and artistry. It’s beautiful.
“My uniform says it all, I’m the guard here,” he smiled and I got infected. “It’s Christmas but Miss Denisse needs me more, she’s waiting inside.”
I accepted his fist bump, thanked him for the gift he gave. “I’ll be going, Ben.”
The ambiance felt familiarity, it has the same antique designs that made this café on its best. Paintings on the walls were titled by artists as their masterpieces, a gold collection of Denisse that blended on the decoration for Christmas relation.
The customers from a hundred percent dropped into zero, they have businesses on their own, celebrating the tradition as the essence caved in.
While admiring on the fullest like I’ve never been here, a woman on her 20s caught my attention. She gave me a simple and tired smile. She suddenly ran into my position.
Tears on her ocean eyes started falling, fear and surrender can be seen. With my instinct to comfort, I hugged her.
She’s sobbing, the tremble I’m feeling comes straight from her chest. With a split of minute, she let go of my arms. She looked at my eyes for a second, her gem pupils can’t make a direct contact that can last.
Observing what my best friend has to offer, her shaggy and dark persona defeated her usual. As I use my nose to feel, the smell of blood mixed in the air conditioned air is terrifying, but it’s not coming from here, the strong force of flow was directed near.
With her trembling hands that’s now covered in unforeseen sin lead me into the kitchen floor. Things are scattered without beauty, like a storm that sprouted few hours. Foods and stocks messed the tiled white colored floor.
With my lead and thinking perception on what’s really happening, I dashed my way on the corner, a place where my former place has disadvantage on seeing what’s here.
Lying on the cold floor was a guy on his age that was not too far from mine based from his body. The stranger’s face was covered with a pan. His white clothes was showered with the river of life, it’s bright red and hurting my sense.
“You should’ve reported this on me Denisse! What if he robbed your collections or something happened to yo—”
My critical and common sense worked right away. Her café has it’s own security. Ben will not let any strangers to enter on this special day.
Her café was filled with expensive belongings and collections, none of them were harmed. Collections of her are countable, no one is missing after my observation minutes ago. The scene was on the kitchen where there’s no thing to offer, I’m missing the part to adapt scenes.
To make sure things, I rapidly removed the cover on the stranger’s head and seeing the core of my understanding, I faced her with disbelief.
“Y-You...W-Why?”
Her breath rapidly rose, her heartbeat can offer a bomb. Countless tears started bursting out, raining nonstop, her fear became her center of expression.
She suddenly kneel and grabbed my hands with nervous overflowing, the nerves keeps cracking, the dauntless signature of Denisse completely shattered into pieces today.
“I a-accidentally killed him, De’mea! I’m s-sorry! I’m s-sorry!”
Guilt possesses my best friend. Tired of her life and apologizing without thoughts. She trusted me that’s why she called, she doesn’t know what to do and she needs my help.
Covered by massive disgrace for her action, I helped Denisse to get up. Her eyes from before were different, giving what she truly feels.
I hugged her tight, a deserved minimal action for a friend when they see their comrade suffer.
“It’s okay, don’t cry.”
Comforting her makes me at ease. I always knew she suffered in physical pain when I accidentally saw her bruises on her chest six months ago, with her odd behavior and actions, I figured out that somethings is going on.
Denisse is a human of patience and forgiveness, the reason why she did such thing was something I don’t want to judge nor criticize, she’s been hiding and in the closet of hell, there’s a thing that she needs to tell.
Denisse will not kill her husband because she’s in pain.
“I’m in hell two years after we got married,” she confessed without delay. “Seven months ago, he started throwing his fist on me after I brought my daughter home.”
The stories she told created an impact, the time where she has the strength to tell and stop being mute. It was her greatest fear to tell her husband that she had a daughter on her ex, she always feared the outcome that will soon embodied her usual.
I never knew she already did seven months ago.
“Physical pain was the narrowed reason for you, Denisse,” she looked at me with her teary eyes. “Why did you killed him?”
Instead of answering, her trembling hands handed me her phone. Blood stains were on it, the screen unlike the normal has cracks that smells a recent happening.
“W-When I brought my daughter home, I always monitor her using the security camera that I secretly planted on my house.”
As I watched the recent clip, her husband’s on the move of taking Denisse’s daughter. Patiently waiting on the flow of time, I couldn’t take the next scenes.
“He tried to rape my daughter, De’mea,” with the most brave smile with precious tears, Denisse spoke like a hero. “I saved her, I s-saved my daughter.”
The past traumatized Denisse within, and seeing how happy she is, it was the most memorable. She didn’t save herself from getting rape when she’s in her teen but with her best, she got to save her daughter.
Trembling with both fear and happiness, she’s smiling at me. “When I saw what’s happening, I called the police but he dashed his way here. My anger acted on its own and I found myself killing this bastard.”
“I saved her De’mea, I saved my daughter but I need your help.”
With my best friend’s situation, she’s in mess. I commanded her to pack the body. Ben on the other hand went somewhere for emergency purposes, leaving Denisse and I on pair.
With Giselle’s car keys on my hand, I went to fetch her car behind her café. The usual luxury faced me, like her other enthusiast, it was beguiling.
Her car may caught attention, instead of taking her Ferrari GTC4Lusso, I chose her delivery van that has no café name on it, it was a pure gray van that looks old and needs repair.
Using the cartwheel, she carried the lifeless body. With the weight she can’t take, I helped her on transferring. My nostrils are hurting on the smell and since Denisse has her mind away, I drove her van somewhere far.
Like before, the cold air lingers. People are on their dates, couples are holding their hands like they didn’t care. Family’s on their reunion of happiness and completion but for Denisse and I, the essence was not for us, it only belongs to those smile of people and not on our vain.
Denisse can’t find her focus, things are too much to take. The kindest person I know killed a person, change is inevitable and it already happened on my best friend.
Like things, it has their own expiry. And right now, it will be our friendship for years.
As Denisse saw the police station that I use to work, she was alarmed.
“D-De’mea,” she’s trembling like before. “W-what’s happenin—”
I faced her with sorry. “Y-You are under arrest for committing murder, Denisse. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense. If you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on the court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”
Without delay, I guided her into the station. She didn’t fought back and let me do my things. For the first time here in the city, a single tear flowed into my cheeks. “I’m s-sorry, but I had to.”
With the thought that she’ll cooperate until end, she suddenly snatched a gun on one of the officer’s belt, and with my very own eyes...she committed a suicide.
