little bird. [oscar diaz]

06. a game of constellations.

july, twenty-twelve.

"AT THE END OF AUGUST, you, Oscar and Dominique attended a school field trip to Las Vegas, is that right, Miss Bishop?" Mathew asked, walking slowly up to me as I sat at the podium once again.

I nodded, "Yes, that's right."

"And can you tell the court what happened at this field trip?" Samuel prompted.

I thought about it for a moment. So much happened. So much I couldn't say. "I would say that's where Oscar and I first began our relationship," I fessed up. "Romantic relationship, I mean."

"Can you explain what that means?" Samuel asked.

"We kissed."

"And that's all you did?"

"Yes," I answered, honestly. "That's it."

Samuel nodded, a small smile on his lips. He flipped through his notepad, settling on a page before looking back up at me. "During this trip you guys stayed at the Grand Isle Motel located just a few minutes outside of the city, correct?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's the one. It was right off the highway."

"There's a front desk worker and tenant there that goes by the name Jesse McCormick," he said and I froze. I could see Dominique and Oscar slightly tense just as I did. Samuel held up a photo of him. "Does he look familiar to you?"

"Um, yeah," I nodded. "He was working the night we got there. He lived on the same floor that Dominique and I stayed on."

"Funny," Samuel noted, bringing the picture down. "How would you know that, Delilah?"

Oh, fuck.

"I-I saw him go in the second night we were there," I tried to save. "When Oscar and I were by the pool."

"Hm, interesting. Well, how would you describe this man?" Samuel asked.

"He seemed a bit weird," I answered, honestly. "Kind of dorky. The dungeons and dragons type, if you know what I mean. But he was nice."

"He ever seem a bit jumpy at times?" Samuel questioned.

"Well," I paused, thinking about it for a moment, "Now that you mention it, yeah, a bit."

"I'm not surprised," Samuel chuckled, "Most men dealing in the work of counterfeit government documents tend to act that way. Jesse had a record for selling and distributing counterfeit bills, IDs, social security numbers and birth certificates out of his room. Did you know that, Delilah?"

"Oh my God," I feigned surprise, shaking my head. "No, I had no idea. The most I ever talked to him was when he switched out Dominique and I's room key. He had given our teacher the wrong one."