Killer

Chapter 36: Family Ties and Troubles

Tre and I sat outside a cute coffee shop that was sort of vintage somewhere in downtown Detriot on a sunny, cold Saturday morning. The two of us were slowly sipping on our hot chocolates that were in large coffee cups, contemplating our plans for today.

Yesterday, Tre ordered some Mexican takeout for us as we stayed inside our motel room. It was splendid for us to have a chill, lazy day of not doing anything. I also called and left a message for my mom that I was staying another night with a friend. I felt stupid for trying to have some relationship with a careless parent of mine, but it was what it was.

"It's such a good morning." Tre smiled as I nodded in agreement.

I looked around our surroundings to see a wide street and some people walking around. The morning was windy, but the bright sun made it much better. All of a sudden, I heard a car backfire so loudly from a nearby parking lot. I whipped my head to the sound as my gaze was on a small black car idling in front of the cafe. A tall, slender woman came out of the car as I closely stared at her face. She had some features that oddly looked similar to someone I knew. Her wild, curly hair was dark brown with a set of eyes the color of earth.

"Excuse me!" I boldly called out for her, hoping to get her attention.

The woman turned her head and said, "Yes? Do I know you?"

I stood up from the bench I was sitting on with Tre, slowly approaching the strange woman, who looked a lot like Jace if he were a female. "I'm so sorry; this will sound completely weird and all. But you look like this guy I know. What's your name?"

"Bianca, I bet he's brillant. Who is he?" She slowly replied.

I sighed. "Jace...Walnut."

When I said that name to Bianca, I watched as her light eyes widened as far as they could go. Her hands trembled so uncontrollably that I was starting to put the pieces together. I didn't have to say anything, as she took the words right out of my mouth. "Yes, I know him. He's my...son."

I didn't believe it, not at all, that I was standing and talking to Jace's mother. When I first met Jace more than a month ago, he rarely told me too much about his mother other than the fact she gave up on him when he was so little and had to live with his grandmother, who supposedly raised him up until now. This was my only and once chance to ask her a lot about why she left her son like that, which made him so cold and emotionally detached from everything. It had to begin with her.

"Oh my god, what happened? Why did you abandon your son when he needed you?" I angrily asked and took a huge step toward her.

Jace's mother, Bianca, looked taken back and firmly answered. "I didn't abandon him. He had issues."

And just like that, I watched as Bianca scrambled back into her car. I couldn't believe she was about to leave without giving me a solid explanation. I felt a surge of energy that compelled me to stop her and find out what she meant when she mentioned Jace had issues.

Khruangbin and Maribou State — 'Feel Good

And her eyes—those eyes. Jace and I stood in his old bathroom on a school morning one day when I suddenly thought about how much I told him his eyes were his greatest feature. They were just like his mother's, so deep and gem-like.

Her face flushed in total disturbance as she roared her car to life, peeling away from me. I didn't realize that I dropped my hot chocolate cup, which splashed onto the concrete pavement. The lid flew off, causing the brown liquid to stain all over my already dirty white shoes. But I didn't care enough.

"Sunny!" Tre called out my name, but I could barely hear him from behind.

"Please, Bianca. I know your son. He's a great friend of mine!" I cried out and leapt to her car, but she was already backing out. "I would like to know what kind of issues he had."