Nayely's feet pounded the sidewalk as she tried her best to not run in the direction of the house she had spent the entire evening in search of.

It had been years since Mark Rowdy had updated his website, but if the address he had listed for fan mail and other inquiries was accurate, then Nayely had reached his personal home.

Who puts their actual address online? Obviously, someone who isn't afraid to be known.

Looking around, Nayely knew that the neighborhood had seen better days. As she peeked around the corner of a worn fence, her eyes focused on the yard with a large tin contraption built in front of it. If she wasn't mistaken, it looked like a naked Santa made from old soup cans. Seeing the ‘for sale' signs at the homes that sandwiched the peculiar one, something told her that this was indeed where Mark possibly lived.

Rubbing her hands on her pants, Nayely knew that she was cutting things close. She had only an hour until curfew kicked in and it would take at least that long for her to get back to her side of town. There was no way she would be spending the night in the girl's home she never felt she fit into.

Before she could contemplate on what she would do next, she could feel an object jab her in her lower back. Tensing up, Nayely caught the heavy scent of rosemary wafting from the person who held her captive.

"Let's make this easy, kid. Do what I say, and we'll be cool. Everything will be cool."

Nodding her head, Nayely shuffled her feet as her face heated from fear. Not knowing what awaited her, she instantly regretted making the impromptu trip. When she realized that the unknown man was leading her towards the naked Santa, she cursed herself. What made her think this Mark guy would be safe or sane enough to approach by herself?

"L-Look. I don't know what's going on, but I think you've got the wrong person." Nayely stuttered as she tried to find the easiest way out.

"Oh, I know exactly what's going on here. You staking me out?" Giving her a slight push, Nayely had to twist to avoid falling into the yard display. She had her tetanus shot, yet that thing looked like it could get her good.

With a sudden show of athleticism, Nayely was able to put distance between her and the mysterious man. Turning around, she was confused to see Mark wielding a banana in his hand.

With a grin that stretched from ear to ear, Mark pulled the rosemary branch from his mouth, offering it to Nayely.

"Want some?"

Dusting off her hands, she shook her head.

"Nah, I'm good." From head to toe, Mark looked the exact way she imagined he would. A thin middle-aged man dressed as if he was from another dimension.  In the hot California heat, he donned a black trench coat worn over a torn band t-shirt, and long cargo shorts. She watched as he scratched his long hair that was covered by a thick winter beanie that served no purpose where they lived. Sniffing his finger, Mark flinched at whatever assaulted his nose.

Nayely grimaced.

"Suit yourself. This stuff is good for your brain, you know? Gets the blood flowing and thinking juices going! It's good stuff!" Jabbing his thumb over his shoulder, Mark moved closer to share a secret.

"Plus, its free, thanks to mother nature." A high-pitched giggle filled the awkward air. Gripping the straps to her bookbag closer, Nayely shook her head.

"I-I'm sorry maybe I shouldn't have come here."

As she tried to walk past him, Mark pulled her back with a tempting offer.

"As you can see, I don't get many visitors-but when I do-it's because you want to find out some sick shit that no one else has the balls to talk about. Tell me what you want to know."

Nayely sat atop an old oil drum in Mark's messy living room. The place looked like someone had dropped a bomb only on his house, yet somehow, Mark moved along the mess with ease.

"Jerry Ritchie, huh? You're the first person to ever come looking for answers for him." Opening an old file cabinet, Mark twirled his fingers in the air as he looked for what he needed. A bright smile filled his face as he dug into the papers, pulling out a large scratch book.

"I do things in style, you see." Mark explained when he saw Nayely's eyebrows raise at the sight of the pink book.

"Is that a baby book?"

"Listen, each of these stories have their own life. Once I get something good, I must raise it into the exposé it was born to be. Sadly, not many of these have survived the first stages of puberty."

Knotting his brows together, Mark frowned when the front cover of the book slid off in his hands. Tossing it to the side, he took his place on an old barstool by Nayely.

Tucking the book close to his stomach, Mark cleared his throat.

"I've got what I got. Now tell me what you got."

Realizing that this wasn't going to be a simple handover of information, Nayely thought of what she had of value.

"I don't have any money." She shrugged.

"Doesn't have to be money." When Mark's eyes traveled to the keychain that dangled from her bag, Nayely quickly hid it.

"Look, I can see you like junk, but this isn't something that you can have." She said with finality.

"Don't worry! I'm not asking for something material." Whipping out a long bendy straw, Mark poked Nayely in the head. "What you got up here is worth much, much more."

"You want information for information?"

"Precisely."

"I don't really follow celebrities that much-"

"Oh no! I'm a pro at doing that. What I want to know is what has pushed you to come find out about ol' Jerry boy here? He's been dead and gone for years. What would you have to do with him?"

Nayely watched as he flipped through the pages temptingly.
"I just need to find some things out. That's all." She tried to assure him.

"Why?"

"Because it's important."

"Why?"

"I'm curious about him."

"Why?"

"Because I need to find out about the woman who died the same night as him! That's why!" Kicking the oil drum in frustration, a dull ringing sound vibrated throughout the room.

"Now, that's more like it." Squinting his eyes in approval, Mark opened the book, looking through the information there. Pushing the book into her face, Nayely stared into the eyes of beautiful woman. The more Nayely stared, the more she realized that her headshot reminded her of MJ.

"I've never been able to put a name to her. She was never listed in any official statement from that night. I had to harass agencies around town before someone could throw me a picture of who she possibly was. I still don't know if this was actually the lady."

Nayely shook her head as she studied the features that were so familiar to her.

"That's her." Pulling the book back, Mark's eyes burned with curiosity.

"How do you know?" He asked suspiciously.

Nayely didn't know she had spoken out loud. Clearing her throat, she shrugged her shoulders." I just do."

"As far as I know, she went by EJ. No one could give me more info than that. Sad to say barely any of the productions she was even a part of didn't even list her name in the credits. It's almost as if this picture is all that she left behind."

She left much more than that.

Nayely bit back her words, making sure she didn't reveal too much.

"C-can I have the picture, please?" Snapping the book shut, Mark wiggled his finger.

"Now why would I do that? Do you know how many years I hyper fixated on this case with barely a bone thrown my way? This picture here was one of my biggest discoveries. I'm very proud of it." Mark stated matter-of-factly.

"Do you know who killed them?" Nayely took a chance. She didn't yet have solid proof, but she knew her father was linked to this tragedy. It seemed that he just couldn't get enough that night.

"What, like you do?" He scoffed.

"Do you think I came here by chance? By accident?" Nayely tried to play her hidden card, seeing the intrigue that warred with Mark's stubbornness play out on his face. She had to get that picture from him.

Mark gritted his teeth in the silence, unable to pass up the chance to hear what Nayely had to say. Opening the book, He flipped to a page that had been dog eared.

"When I spoke to the witness back in the day, I managed to get something even the police didn't have. To them, this turned into a cold case rather fast, but I on the other hand have been keeping it warm all this time."

Nayely's breath hitched in her throat when she saw the faces that stared back at her. There was no mistaking who she was looking at. The pencil smudges had managed to capture her father's face to a T.

"How did you get this?" She asked breathlessly.

"I know a guy who knows a guy and-let's just say I've got my ways. Any who, when the witness gave me her testimony, I was able to convince her to meet with a friend of mine who sketched out the murderers from that night." Pointing the straw to the more intimidating image on the left, Mark spoke again." This here is the OT guy she remembered seeing. When I tried to ask around about him, everyone was tight lipped. They looked at me like they had no idea what I was talking about."

"And what about the other guy?" She asked carefully.

"That's what bugs me the most! I could never get a name for him either. Sometimes I wonder if it had been too long since the incident for the witness to give an accurate description of who was there that night."

Suddenly, it became hard to breathe.

"It's probably better you don't know any more than what you already do." Nayely's voice shook as she closed her eyes, wanting to desperately forget the look of her father's face on that page. She had come for confirmation, and that's exactly what she had gotten.

Only then did she realize she wasn't ready to face it.

To face MJ after this.

"So, you do know? Don't tell me you're trying to pull one over on me."

"I'm not."

"Then spill! Who is the mystery guy?"

"You don't want to know!"

"Uh, yes I do!"

"Just give me the picture. This whole story is over so just put this all away. No one cares anymore!"

"But you do." Mark noted.

Sucking in a breath of air, Nayely let it out in a staggered sigh.

"If I tell you who he is, you'll only want to know more and that's going to get you into trouble." In that moment, Nayely realized that she was truly born of a monster. If it wasn't for the years of beatings her mother endured, this had convinced her.

"I think I can handle myself, kid." Mark laughed. "I've made it this long and have survived countless crazies! This is nothing new."

"I-I just can't tell you. Please just give me that picture. It's important to me."

"Obviously not important enough." Exasperated, Mark stood from his seat, prepared to lock the book away for good. "Look, I think we're done here."

"Please! Having that picture means a lot to me, you don't understand!"

"Oh no, no, no. That much is very clear. What you don't understand is that I need to have that name. It's been over a decade since this case has seen the light of day. Everyone just wrote it off as another Hollywood sob story without finding all of the facts. How could you not get all of the facts?" Mark raised his arms in the air." It's been driving me crazy for years!"

"There are so many other celebrities to get dirt on, go find out those stories!"

"This is the only case I haven't been able to close the book on. I always get to the end of my stories." Pointing his finger at Nayely, Mark breathed heavily. "And you could help me. If you just. Give. Me. The Name."

"If I do, you have to give me the picture."

"What if you give me some bogus name?"

"You can always investigate. If you survive, I lied. If you end up getting killed, then you know it was the truth."

"Hmm, that sounds very eerie. Like 1692 eerie-but I can dig it." Tapping his finger against his chin, Mark reached back to the book, and pulled the picture free from its plastic entrapment. Walking forward, Nayely held her palm close to the edge of the photo. Gulping, she looked to Mark, trying to read him for any possible tricks.

"Don't pull any games, kid." He warned, placing the picture into her palm. With a tip grip still on the edge of the picture, Mark waited in anticipation.

"What's his name?"

For a moment, Nayely wondered if she was betraying her father in some way. What would he do if he found out she had ratted him out?

"You have to promise to not make any mentions as to who I am if you decide to write about this. No descriptions. Nothing. Got it?" She couldn't go through with this if he didn't promise. If need be, Nayely was ready to take off and snatch the photo before he could stop her.

"I'm a man of my word. My work is honest, through and through." For whatever reason, Nayely trusted his declaration.

"Damien. Damien Polite is his name." She spoke the name as if it were a curse. A chill traveled up her spine, which took everything inside Nayely to not shutter. "It was him and OT who were there that night. Do with that what you want, but never forget that I did warn you."

Releasing the picture, Mark chose to believe what the girl had told him.

"You my dear, may have just changed history!" Rubbing his hands across his face, Mark excitedly bounced on his feet.

Palming the picture in her hand, Nayely looked down at the image of MJ's mother.

"Thank you. Thank you for this." Nayely sighed.

"No, thank you!" Mark exclaimed.

Nayely made her way to his front door, not wanting to get wrapped up into whatever was brewing in Mark's brain.

"Hey, wait! How did you know who he was?" He ran after her, catching the closing door just as she walked past the naked Santa.

Turning on her heels, Nayely stopped briefly, looking at the ground.

"Because. I'm someone he hurt, too."

MJ looked across the football field, seeing that Nayely was still nowhere to be found.

"Yo, man. You don't think anything happened to her, right? Even her cell is off." Kahlil snapped his cell phone shut as he tried to reach Nayely once again.

"Is everyone in the correct lines? Make sure you're alphabetical before we leave the tunnel!" The teachers walked between the lines of students, trying their best to organize them in the last moments before the graduation.

"I even asked the girl who lives with her. She said Nayely never came home before curfew." MJ's frustration began to show. That was one thing he hated about the group homes. They touted off every day about wanting to protect the children they housed yet were quick to literally lock the children out until the next day if they were even a minute late for curfew. If Nayely never made it home, then that meant she would have been wondering the streets all night.

MJ silently hoped that she had at least made it to The Rose House. He never liked for her to go by herself, but in this instance, he would have been relieved to find out she had spent the night there at least.

"This isn't some shit Nayely would do, man. Do you think we should tell someone?" Kahlil spoke lowly, as he and MJ eyed the crowd.

"No. No way man. We're still technically not on our own. I don't want to do anything that could get Nayely sent somewhere." Pulling his own phone from his pocket, MJ sighed seeing that he hadn't gotten any responses to his texts.

"Still nothing?" Kahlil asked. MJ shoved the phone back down, finally coming to a decision.

"I'm going to go find her."

"What? You'll miss graduation though."

"I don't care. She's missing graduation." MJ snapped back. Closing his eyes, he calmed himself down. "You just stay here in case she shows up, and text me if she does. If nothing else, you can walk for all three of us." Gripping Kahlil's shoulder, MJ knew that his friend understood why finding Nayely was so important.

"You two are always getting caught up in something crazy." Shaking his head, Kahlil dapped MJ up.

"Kahlil, I know you stayed with us an extra year, but surely you know you're in the wrong line." Called a teacher. Rolling his eyes, Kahlil turned to make his way to his proper spot. MJ waited until the eyes of the adults were trained elsewhere so that he could sneak out from the line.

"15 minutes everyone! Get ready!"

Inching closer to the heavy door that led outside, MJ was surprised to see a familiar face come rushing in.

In a knee length floral dress, Nayely came rushing through. The sandals on her feet made it easy for her to run the four miles to the school after she had finally made it in to the group home. She had gotten chewed out but was still able to make it just in time.

"What the hell!" MJ shouted, bringing attention to them.

Nayely looked more startled than normal as she looked around nervously.

"MJ! Where-where are you going? Graduation is this way." She tried to sound lighthearted, but the deep scowl on MJ's face made it difficult.

"Are you serious right now? Where's your phone at? We've been calling and texting you all morning!"

"What for? I was just a little late, that's all." She tried to explain. Walking past MJ, Nayely wanted to escape his prying eyes. Lifting her gown, Nayely pushed her arms through the sleeve, falling into place with the rest of her classmates.

"Hold on, we gotta talk about this, Yely." Running in front of her, MJ halted any further movement. "You're never late, yet you're suddenly changing up. You were late last night, weren't you?"

"What do you mean?" MJ scrunched up his face in confusion, realizing that his best friend was going to play dumb with him. Since when did they do this kind of stuff?

"What do you mean, what do I mean? I already asked the chick  who stays at the girl's house too. She said that you didn't even make it in for curfew. Where were you to miss curfew?"

"MJ, you're overreacting. I was late to curfew, and a little late this morning, so what? I'm here and I'm alive, so there's no need to worry."

"You didn't answer any of our calls, Yely! Anything could have happened to you and you're acting like everything is cool." Nayely blinked her eyes rapidly, now understanding just how angry MJ was with her. If not answering a few phone calls made him this upset, then what would finding out that her dad-

"Relax, MJ. Soon, we'll be far away from each other, You'll be out living your life and finding new people who will take up your time and then you won't have to worry about where I am or what I'm doing. It won't even cross your mind."

"What are you talking about, Yely?"

"I'm saying one day you won't need me and one day you won't care. So, don't worry so much now. It's pointless, okay?"

"Park and Polite, what are you doing? Get to your places we're walking out right now!"

"What are you talking about?"

Slapping her thigh at the outburst, Nayely turned away. "Nothing! Nothing. Let's just get this over with, can we please do that?"

"No, Nayely, why would you say something like that?" MJ didn't care if he held up the entire graduation. Nayely wasn't making any sense. This all seemed to come from out of the blue, and he needed to know what was going on with her.

Walking away, Nayely left MJ with no choice but to follow behind her. Dodging his hand, she crept to the end of the line as the caboose.

"Park, you're up!" As the first person in line, MJ was pushed by the varsity football coach so that he could take his place. Falling in step, MJ constantly looked over his shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of the girl who hid herself among the sea of students.

"Bro, are we going or what?" Kahlil checked himself in the mirror for the umpteenth time. After getting a fresh line up for the graduation, he had been feeling himself lately. "Maybe she's having one of her ‘woman' days. Just leave Nayely alone, let her chill, and then maybe she'll finally talk."

"Nayely doesn't have ‘woman' days, Kahlil. Something was up with her and you know it. What if something happened and she's too embarrassed to tell us?"

"Something like what?" When Kahlil read MJ's face, his head rolled to the side. "You think something that bad happened to her? Did she say so?"

"No. She didn't say much of anything other than basically telling me to mind my business." Grabbing the foam basketball that sat on their desk, Kahlil was at a loss for words.

"Well, she said she was going to the party tonight, right?"

"Yeah, but who knows now. She may try to go ghost again."

"Nah, she made a promise with you, right? Those shits are bond between you two-that I know for sure. She'll be there, and when she you see her, see what's up with your girl."

"I don't know man." MJ shook his head in uncertainty.

"Trust her, man! Y'all have been riding for the longest, there's nothing that you can hide from each other. Maybe Nayely just isn't ready to tell you whatever it is that has her acting funny. Give her time." Spritzing cologne, Kahlil rubbed his hands together as he admired himself one final time.

"I say let's get to this party, set it off one final time, and give Nayely some time. She'll come around when she's ready."

MJ sat sandwiched between two girls. One brunette, and the other a red head. He had lost count on how many times they had slapped him in the face with their hair. He was sure they had learned of the trick from some teen magazine, but they must have missed the part about being inconspicuous.

"When do you leave, MJ? I'll be at Brown, which is like, an easy drive when you think about it. We could hang out every once in a while, what do you think?" MJ didn't miss the way her lips journeyed dangerously close to his own. He wondered if it was painful for her to bite her thin bottom lip as she eyed him, waiting for a response. In that moment, his thoughts drifted to Nayely as he remembered the healthy pink color her full lips held all of the time.

"I don't know... who knows what the gas prices are like on the east coast." He deflected. Sitting forward, he was able to slightly free himself from their confines.

Rap music beat throughout the house, so loud he could barely even make out the lyrics. Looking to the large glass doors that led to the bonfire outside, MJ saw Kahlil tonguing some curly haired chick down like there was no tomorrow. He was almost embarrassed to watch his friend grind into the girl like this was their last night on earth.

With the slightest chuckle, he finally rose from his seat. Shaking his red cup, he saw that he had ran low on the sprite he had earlier. Knowing that he had barely managed to snag the soda before it was poured into the enormous bowl of jungle juice that sat in the kitchen, MJ tossed the cup out. If he could avoid going to the restroom for the rest of the night, then he would be good. Thinking of the vomit he had stepped in earlier was enough to deter him.

Rubbing his neck, MJ couldn't keep his mind from wandering back to the strange fight he'd had with Nayely at graduation.

Was fight the right word to use? Maybe, argument or confrontation fit better.

Whatever it was, it had kept MJ from being able to find her once the ceremony was over. She had left as soon as possible, missing out on taking any photos for their memories. Despite what had gone down between them, the last thing he had wanted was for her to avoid him.

Looking at his phone, MJ saw that the party had been going on for hours, and Nayely was still a no show.

"This is bullshit." He mumbled to himself.

"Damn. I forgot how fine she is off the track."

"She finally shows her face at our last party looking like that? She should have come more often."

MJ hadn't paid any attention to the shocked approvals of the random guys at the party as Nayely made her way to the brooding teen. Keeping her eyes on his wide frame, Nayely felt her stomach flutter as she stood just inches away. In a tight pair of jeans and simple halter top, she had caught the eyes of those around her, but none of that mattered. With her hair parted down the middle, her coils fanned out to the side, showing the glow that replaced the misery she had walked around with all day the moment she saw MJ.

"MJ." She called out so softly, she didn't think he would hear her over the sounds of the crowd. Even so, Nayely knew the instant that his shoulders straightened, that he had heard her.

When MJ turned to her with a flushed expression on his face, she saw it quickly replaced with relief and happiness.

How could she have ever doubted if he heard her? MJ had always been the one to hear her quiet calls when no one else could. He had been the only person who truly understood her.

Now she feared that soon, that comfort would be no more. Knowing what she did, Nayely didn't know if she could look him in the eyes without feeling guilty for accepting his love and friendship after all these years. If he only knew-

"I don't like when you're like this." MJ said from the top of her head as he pulled her close to his chest. Naturally, her arms floated up, resting at the small of his back where her hands clasped together tightly, not wanting to ever let him go.

When others began to whisper at the intimae moment, Nayely blocked them out, focusing on the rhythm of his chest against her cheek.

"Have your hugs always felt this good?" She asked into his shirt.

"You're the only person who would know." MJ didn't want to pull away from that moment. "What's wrong, Yely? You've got to give me something. I'm losing my mind trying to figure it all out." Leaning back slightly, MJ could feel her hold tighten around him as she shook her head from side to side.

"No. We have to stay together, remember? I don't want us to fall apart." Nayely all but pleaded as she repeated those words she had trusted in for all these years.

"We'd never fall apart, Yely. I don't know what I'd do without you." Easing her hold, Nayley gave MJ just enough room to look down into her eyes. "Is that what has you acting this way? Are you afraid we'll fall apart once the fall comes?"

To MJ, the fall meant the start of their college courses, but to Nayely, it held a much deeper meaning.

"The fall..."

Looking around, MJ realized that this wasn't the best place talk. Grabbing her hand, he maneuvered between the partygoers until he reached the front door. He had forgotten whose  house they were at exactly, but he was thankful that they were loaded enough to have a gazebo off to the side of the home. Leading Nayely there, he sat her on the wooden seat as he kneeled before her.

"Why haven't you mentioned any of this before? I knew that this would be difficult to deal with, but I didn't think it would happen so soon." Rocking their hands from side to side, MJ gripped hers tightly. "I'm sorry for not thinking more about what this would all mean. For both of us. But you know nothing could break what we have, Yely. Don't you believe that?"

"Nothing we've ever imagined before. But what happens if something wild and unexpected gnaws away at us?" She couldn't stop the words from falling out of her mouth. Wanting to clean up the confusion on his face, Nayely thought fast. "I mean, it's college, right? Things move fast. Time moves fast. We'll be 3300 miles away from each other. That's a long way."

"Yeah, it is." MJ admitted. "But the good thing is you and I can be the first and last mile whenever we want to see each other. Everything else in between doesn't really matter."

"The end and the beginning." Nayely smiled from her heart. The sadness that weighed on her could not go unnoticed.

"MJ-"

"Hey! Nayely! Girl, you've had my man tripping all day long, what's up with you?"

Any courage that she had was gone in an instant. She would be a liar if she said Kahlil and his interruption wasn't perfect timing.

"I'm good, really. I'm just a bit tired from last night. I was just stopping by to make sure everything was cool with us."

It wasn't a complete lie.

Maybe the words that had been left unsaid didn't need to have life breathed into them.

"We're cool." MJ reassured her as he stood to his feet, still grasping her hand.

"Don't tell me you're about to leave already. I just found you. MJ, why didn't you say something when she showed up?"

With a sly grin, MJ shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know I figured the cutie with the booty had you a little preoccupied."

"Hey, man, don't call her the cutie with the booty, alright? She's the shorty with the fat ass!" With a swift slap to the back of his head, Nayely shut Kahlil and his cackling up.

"Yeah, it's time for me to go."

"Come on, Nayely. You haven't even gotten a true feel for the night."

"I think I've gotten enough." Nayely smiled, happy to see that Kahlil wouldn't press the issue too much further. She still remembered him as the kid who had vied for her attention and forgiveness and knew that he understood when she had made her mind up.

"Kahlil, do you have the rubber or what?" From the front door, a voice called out unashamed. With a shit eating grin, Kahlil waved a golden wrapper before his friends.

"I'm about to get me more than enough, if you know what I mean?" He snorted.

Saying his goodbyes, Kahlil jogged back to the house. "Coming, baby girl!"

"Please tell me he didn't save that from the senior prank announcement board?" Nayely shook her head as he ran off.

"Let's hope not. I told him that if it was pinned to the board, he might not want to use it. Let's give it nine months." Sharing a look, Nayely and MJ laughed with one another.

"I know this isn't your thing, but can we meet up afterwards? We haven't really sat down together and soaked this all in. I don't think I'll be here for long."

"Sure, I'll see you at your window?" Thinking for a second, MJ shook his head no.

"How about I meet you at your place this time?"

"MJ it's not that serious-"

"That was rhetorical, Yely." MJ interrupted her before she could weasel out of this. "I'll hit you up beforehand, okay?"

"Whatever you say, boss." Scrunching up her nose, Nayely didn't put up a fight. Mirroring her face, MJ wrapped his arm around her neck.

"Come on, I'll walk you to the bus stop."

An hour and one transfer later, Nayely stood on the darkened street corner she visited just the night before. Looking at her phone, she checked to make sure there hadn't been any messages or missed calls from MJ.

Good.

If she was lucky, he would be at the party long enough for her to get this out of her system.

Nayely had spent nearly every waking moment pondering over the information she had learned from Mark Rowdy.

For years, she had managed to pack away detailed memories of everything that took place that night. The pain the laid dormant and the few remnants that managed to break through against her will were already too much to handle. Nayely had learned to keep her recollections and understanding of what had happen short and concise.

Her mother and brother were dead, and she was not.

Sometimes she wondered if she should thank her father or curse him for not finishing what he had started.

As a child, Nayely was shielded from information concerning what followed her family's slaying. She never ventured far enough in the city crime records or the internet to find out more and had resigned herself to living blissfully in ignorance.

When Mark pulled out the scratch book that revealed the beauty that was MJ's mother, she couldn't fight against the intrusive thoughts of her father once again.

The pain and reality of loss was easier to ignore when it came to her-but MJ? MJ wasn't her. MJ was the one person who made it easy to live in the now. Before everything had changed, Nayely had been the one who adopted him as her best friend during their Tae Kwon Do classes. When they met in the hospital, the roles had been quickly reversed. The first one to take a step towards her was MJ.

He had carried her all this way.

Taking in deep breaths, Nayely tried to process everything that had been thrown her way. For some reason, she felt dirtied by the revelation of her father's bloody deeds. If she could, she'd scrub right out of her skin if it meant separating herself from him and his sins.

That wish had brought her to Mark's street once again. If she couldn't get rid of the DNA that bound her to her father, then maybe she could find another way.

As Nayely had read through the account of the sole eyewitness to the night of Jerry and MJ's mother's death, she checked for any inconsistencies. If they were hyped up on drugs that night, then maybe there was something that was missing or exaggerated in the witness's story.

I'm not clearing his name. I'm not.

She promised herself as she began her slow walk towards Mark's. In her mind, she wasn't trying to cape for her father, to absolve him of his evil. That was something she knew could never be explained away. What she needed to know was that she could still look MJ in the eye without feeling responsible for the death of his mother. The more that she thought about it, the more her anxious thoughts told her she had no right to stand by him.

If he knew the truth, what would he do?

All she needed was to get an address, phone number, something from this witness. She had to check to make sure that everything she said was true. At that moment, it felt like her only chance of protecting her bond with the only person who mattered to her.

A hand ghosted to her neck, tracing the smooth scar down to her chest.

Nayely was not going to allow her father's actions to take her from anyone else ever again.

As Nayely walked past the naked Santa in Mark's yard, she felt a force pull her eyes to the bottle caps that served as his own. The vibration of her cellphone could be felt against her hip. Tucking it further down into the pocket, she made sure to silence it. Shifting her eyes up to the porch, she realized the area seemed darker than it did the night before. With no neighbors around and only one lone street light dozens of feet away, Nayely braved herself as she stepped to the door. When she raised her hand to knock, she realized that it was ajar enough for her to see inside the home. Against her better judgement, she pushed her fingertips against the warm wood.

Nayely could feel the thump of her pulse in the base of her ears as she took a step inside. She felt overcome by the sight before her. The further Nayely tried to move inside of the house, she heavier her feet became. Trudging through the madness that laid before her, Nayely covered her mouth as she looked at what remained of Mark Rowdy.

Lodged in his thighs were three pencils that led to his bare groin. Gazing at the man in such a naked and vulnerable stage was the least of Nayely's worries. It was the mesh of flesh, blood, and the unthinkable that spilled from his face that was truly concerning.

Nayely's knees nearly buckled as she could only imagine that she had something to do with this.

The moment that Mark had gained the name of the second assailant in Jerry's murder, he had taken to the streets, intent on gathering as much information as possible. Throughout his years of sleuthing for gossip and inside information, Mark had made his connections in the highest and lowest places throughout the city.

When he went asking about OT, there was no alarm as those who knew him figured Mark was looking for a nice high. It was when his questions continued to get more personal that alarms began to sound off throughout the community OT's reputation held captive. Mark parsed no words when he asked if OT often killed his buyers.

"I'm sure in this line of work, annoying customers can get the best of you! "

As he drafted up his next blog update, feeling invincible to the world he so often dabbled in, Mark was met by visitors more than happy to hear out his questions.

However, the answers they had were far from what he would have ever wanted.

The men that had come into his home demanded to know what had brought Mark putting his nose in business that had nothing to do with him. Under his duress, he was unable to give a name as he had no name of the teen who had shown up in his neighborhood unannounced. Before he could describe Nayely, he had been shot as he cried in a blubbering mess.

The floor was littered with torn paper, as Mark's visitors had emptied out his file cabinets, shredding as much paper as they could. On the work desk Mark had spent countless hours typing away at, she saw that his laptop had a single bullet hole in its black screen.

As Nayely looked around, she realized that she had been in the house longer than necessary. Tears caught in her throat as she backed up, suddenly tumbling into the pile of trash at her feet. The sound of her cell phone ringing dulled in her ears as she was only focused on escaping the house. Attempting to scramble to her feet, Nayely's hand slipped from beneath her, sending her rolling on her back. Catching her breath, Nayely realized that before her was the pink scrapbook that had held all the information for Jerry's case.

Peeking from the edge of the book as the now smudged drawing of OT and her father. Snatching it quickly, Nayely threw herself towards the front door.