Chapter 37
GINA
I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it; I don’t want to believe it.
They’ve just shot my fucking girlfriend, and this couple of lazy white cis-straight lowlife bums are trying to get me to calm down? I bet they wouldn’t find this so funny if their you-know-what was the thing getting chopped up into little pieces, huh?
Oh, my goodness.
I don’t evenwant to imagine that.
Okay, Eloise wasn’tchoppedup. Shot up, that’s it. At least, the only nice person in this office (a woman, because it’s always a woman) has told me that Elo is fine. I take a breath and let the air out of my lungs little by little, as if I want to vanish with it everything that’s in front of me. Poof, gone.
If I called my mother, I’m sure she’d make it all disappear. But she would make me disappear first.
I dismiss the thought.
I already know what happened to Eloise, so maybe, just maybe, for the sake of my chakras and not for the sake of these two-bit cops, I should try to calm down.
I sit down in the plastic chair and squeeze the glass of water I’ve been given. It’s warm. It must be close to nine o’clock, and I’m famished. What I wouldn’t give for a shawarma…
That reminds me, they haven’t let me see Vera yet. I don’t know what’s going on. I gave a statement, which didn’t do much good, as the culprit testified soon after. (Norman! NOR-MAN! I swear he seemed nor-mal when I spoke to him. His aura was a bit off, but I put it down to the weather.) Still, they won’t let me leave, and I have to go back to testify. What do you think of Vera? What do you know about Enzo? How long have you known them? And Eloise? And Bastian?
The whole department must have had a hell of a time hearing my side of the story. I don’t know what Vera told them, but we tend to see people very differently. For her, everything is either black or white. She either hates Bastian or she loves him (although I don’t know if she’s realised that just yet). She is either obsessed with Enzo or chooses to ignore him. She says that I am the intense one.
She sees me that way because she is the one who is. I don’t think that’s a flaw, but once again, not everyone thinks as I do.
Chapter 38
VERA
André has just informed me that the police have decided Enzo will be tried alongside Garros. He’s up against the same charges as our former client, but there’s a silver lining: the authorities are giving him some leeway. I get it. It was Enzo who brought the case to light.
With everything now laid out, it’s time for me to leave this place.
“You’ll need to give another statement later this week,”Officer Alonso tells me as he hands over my belongings.
I sling the backpack that has been with me all weekend over my shoulder and try not to grimace.
“Lo siento, Vera,”he says.
“I know,” I reply. “Me too.”
They won’t let me forget that I’m not off the hook just yet. I’m facing my own charges and will have my own trial. Who would have thought I’d end up in the defendant’s chair before I ever made it to the defence one?
“Take care,” the officer says, his tone almost mechanical.
I’m free to go.
André walks me to the exit, and Officer Horseface accompanies us both. I should really learn her name by now. I’m about to ask her, but she speaks before I get the chance.
“What a mess, huh?” she says, giving me a pat on the shoulder. Then she leans in closer, as if what she’s about to say is a secret. “Try not to make us look so bad next time, okay?”
I look at her with wide eyes, not quite sure how to respond. The woman starts to laugh.
“Come on! It would have been fun to see a man in your situation. But a woman… I can’t laugh at that. You know what I mean?”
I nod, but the words don’t stick.
