The Color Line

Bang Bang

Day 3 of Suspension.

"Ugh!" I exclaim as I desperately try to find something to watch on TV. I forgot that baby cartoons are always on early in the morning. Eve doesn't seem to mind though.

I turn the TV to Doc McStuffins and let Eve enjoy as I lay back on the couch, staring at the ceiling. The only thing running through my mind is my friends. They've been on my mind every single day since I got here, and it's killing me how much I miss them.

You know that feeling you get when you miss someone so much that it hurts? Your stomach churns and it seems like those happy butterflies you once had are all dying. You try to stop the tears, but they just keep flowing until you swear you have no tears left at all. Your brain goes crazy with memories, while your heart seems to break a little more each day.

That's exactly how I'm feeling at this moment. I know we'll be going back to Atlanta next year, but what if my only friends forget about me by then? Or something happens to me and my family in this town and I'm gone before I can see them again?

I lay down, closing my eyes and clutching my chest as my heart starts to ache again.

"Harmy?" I hear my little sister question with her soft voice. I sit up to see that Doc McStuffins has gone off and Eve is staring at me with those marble eyes, waiting for me to change the channel. I see that her bruises are going away and her lip is healing. Just as I pick up the remote to change the channel, I hear a loud knock on the door.

"Eve, stay right here. Don't move," I say, grabbing Jesse's baseball bat. I walk slowly towards the door and position my hand over the knob. I hold on more firmly to the bat as the loud knock sounds again. Taking a deep breath, I slowly turn the knob, revealing a police officer, dressed in an old style brown sheriff suit. Instead of feeling safe at the presence of the officer, I automatically feel threatened and grab onto the bat even tighter.

"Good morning little lady," he says with an obviously fake smile plastered on his face.

"Good morning," I say suspiciously. He tries his best to hold that fake smile, and I can see his eyes scanning the inside of my house. I clear my throat. "Is there a problem here officer?"

His eyes are on me again. "No ma'am. Just checking around, that's all."

"Okay... " I say awkwardly, with the bat still positioned behind my back. After a couple seconds, he tips his hat towards me and turns around, walking back to his old style police car.

I close the door. What was that all about? I go back to Eve who is staring curiously at the door. Eve opens her mouth to speak, but I put my hand up to silence her. "It was nothing." She nods in understanding. I don't want to tell her who the man was at the door because she's been afraid of police officers since last year when a cop shot our cousin Damien for no reason. Well there may have been a reason. Damien wasn't an angel and he'd gotten into trouble a couple times, but in this particular day, he wasn't doing anything except hanging with Eve and I. He was unarmed and he put his hands up as the officer instructed, but the officer still decided to shoot him down for reasons still unknown to me even today. Eve saw the whole thing and she's been afraid of cops ever since.

I hear another knock at the door.

"Ugh! What now?" I groan to myself as I lazily walk towards the door and turn the knob.

My mouth gapes open and I drop the baseball bat as I take in the appearance of the person standing in front of me. They have perfectly spiked hair, tons of tattoos lining their arms and neck, and designer shades sitting atop their nose.

"Tim!" I exclaim with tears threatening to escape from my eyes. He engulfs me into one of his signature hugs, and that's when the tears break free. He buries his face into my neck, his cold lip ring brushing past my ear.

"I missed you so much Harmony," Tim says into my ear. I squeeze him tighter and enjoy his familiar scent.

"I missed you too."

Tim puts me down, a huge grin on his face, and wipes my tears. But before I can collect myself, I spot another familiar face getting out of Tim's new car.

"Riley!" I scream like a starstruck fan. I run into his muscular arms and he just about squeezes the life out of me.

"I thought I would never see you again little one." I can hear the tears in his voice and it makes me cry even harder.

Riley is wearing his football jersey that he barely washes. God he stinks, but I endure the smell that I've always hated, but lately, oddly missed.

He frees me from his grip and I automatically look to the car again and frown. "Where's Rosy?"

"Her grandmother didn't want her to come to this town. She said it was dangerous or something," Riley tells me. I don't know about dangerous, but I do know that this town is coo coo bananas.

"We heard you got kicked out of school, trouble maker," Tim chuckles.

"For your information, I've only being suspended for a week."

Tim chuckles and focuses on my front door, smiling like an idiot. "What are you-"

"Tim!" Eve cuts me off while running full speed towards Tim, her hair bouncing crazily on top of her head. He swoops her up effortlessly and they both laugh.

I laugh too until I spot that police officer eyeing us from about twenty feet away. He's staring intensely at Riley and Tim. "Let's go inside you guys," I tell everyone and they follow me inside.

"Nice place," Riley compliments once we're all inside.

I thank him and plop down on the couch with a smile on my face. "I'm glad you guys are here."

"You know we had to come see you," Tim says. "It's not the same without you."

I let out a heartfelt "aww" and lead them to the living room.

We end up talking for hours. They tell me about everything that's happened since I left, and I tell them everything that has happened here. I start crying in the middle of my story, but Tim and Riley's presence makes me feel a little better. I can tell that Tim is angry after I told them everything. I can't read his eyes because he's wearing shades, but his jaw is clenched and his fists are balled tight at his sides.

"Tim?" I say in my voice that could make him do almost anything. He turns his head slightly towards me, trying not to blow up with rage.

His eyes scan Eve's face before turning completely towards me. "You don't need to be here Harmony."

"I know that, but there's nothing we can do. We won't be able to move until next year." He sighs and lays his head back on the sofa.

"Just promise us you'll be safe," Riley pleads.

"I will. Eve is being homeschooled and Jessie makes enough money now so that my mom doesn't have to work. Everything will be fine." Riley nods in understanding and we both look to Tim.

"I'll still come over as often as I can to make sure things are okay," Tim says. I scoot closer to him and hug him, making his body relax.

We talk for another thirty minutes and after, we watch a movie.

"I think we should be going," Riley says with a frown on his face. I pout and give them both a hug.

"We'll be back soon," Tim tries to lighten the mood. I walk with them towards the door and outside, holding Eve's hand.

We watch as Tim and Riley walk towards the car. They both turn around and smile back at us, but what happens next surely wipes all our smiles away...

Right as Tim and Riley reach for the car doors, I hear racial slurs from my right. I look over to see a group of people and immediately push Eve behind me. I can barely make out what they're saying, but I hear the word "nigger" a couple times and people who I assume are making fun of Tim by trying to speak like Chinese people.

The next thing I hear is loud and rings in my ears. After that I hear loud screaming and the whole world starts to spin.

It takes me a minute to realize that the screaming I heard was in fact my own screams followed by Eve's, and that loud noise was two blood chilling gun shots, aimed towards my best friends...