whedonist

1.2.2 White Riot

Darius followed Nikki into the police station. He watched as she stood tall and ripped into the front desk clerk. “Now, here I am, twenty-four hours later and my lov – my roommate still isn’t home.” Nikki placed her hand on her hip and growled, “I want to file that missing person’s report. And I want to do it now.”

The officer at the front desk meekly shuffled a few papers and placed a small stack in front of Nikki. Darius would’ve laughed if he wasn’t just as pissed off. They had scoured every place either could think of for his baby cousin yet hadn’t turned up anything. As a last ditch effort, 6 hours earlier, they had come to the police station to file a missing person’s report only to be turned away until Erica had officially been missing for twenty-four hours.

Exasperated by the attitude’s of the cops they had talked to, they’d set up camp at a café down the street and waited the six hours in thick silence. Darius scratched the back of his neck nervously as a cop eyed him from across the room. He missed when Nikki spun around and latched onto his arm. He felt himself stumbling backwards as Nikki pulled him to a set of chairs against the wall.

Unsure of what to do he placed a hand on Nikki’s knee as she filled out the paperwork. He watched as she pulled a photograph of Erica from her purse and softly ran finger over the image. Clipping it to the report she stalked back up to the clerk. He followed once again and heard Nikki say, “Are you going to let me talk to someone or not?”

Sighing the clerk picked up the phone and a few minutes later a detective came to usher them to an interview room down the hall. Darius held Nikki’s hand as they both told the officer as much as they knew. It was a scant thirty minutes later that they were released from the dingy, stuffy room and told that someone would contact them as soon as they had any information. The parting advice for them was to stick by the phone in case Erica happened to call.

Dejected they shuffled out of the police station. Darius guided Nikki through the dark streets and escorted her home. He wasn’t sure what his next moves were going to be but he needed to go ask around. The places he needed to go weren’t the places Nikki ever needed to see. In fact, when they finally found Erica and if she knew he even thought of taking Nikki to where he needed to go, he’d lose his hide. That much he was sure of.

Silently they entered the apartment. Dutifully he escorted his cousin’s lover to her bed, tucking her in with promises that he’d be back before she even knew he was gone. Watching her for a while, he left satisfied when he knew she’d finally fallen asleep.

He sighed into the cold December air. Thinking about his cousin and how much she’d changed since rooming with Nikki. He didn’t care that they were together. He didn’t care that Nikki was exactly from the type of background that he and Erica used to make fun of growing up. Nikki was unique in that way. She’d never let her money get in front of who she was. If nothing else about the girl had caused Darius to like and respect her that alone would have.

He looked up as his senses told him he was almost at his destination. While some areas of the city were quiet and sleepy, this neighborhood was not. It teamed with life, sick, decrepit life twenty-four hours a day. He walked into the rundown apartment building and up the rickety stairwell, by-passing three people passed out on the steps. The third floor landing contained the smell of stale piss and cigarette smoke.

A stereo playing indiscernible music caused the walls and door to thump softly as the bass seemed to be turned all the way up. Shaking his head, Darius didn’t even bother knocking as he entered Erica’s brothers, his cousin’s place. He could never reconcile how Erica ended up one way and Ozzie so drastically different. Where Erica was smart, poised and had her shit together, Ozzie was the polar opposite, his list of failures barely overshadowing his list of felonies.

Darius shook his head as he looked around. It may not have been a house, but the crack house still applied. Ignoring the looks he was getting, he followed his cousin’s voice into the kitchen. As he rounded the dingy corner into the small space, any hope he had of getting help abandoned him.

Nikki lingered on the edge of sleep. The rich aroma of coffee was persistent in forcing her eyes to open. Knowing Erica liked to surprise her some mornings with breakfast in bed, Nikki’s smile grew. She reached up, brushed hair from her eyes and sat up.

Her Erica was too good to her, she knew it, but couldn't resist her loves pampering even if she had wanted to. Turning to the other side of the bed undisturbed cold sheets caused Nikki’s face to fall in remembrance. Erica wasn’t here. She wasn’t home. She wasn’t anywhere. At least nowhere that Nikki had found. They had suffered through the Christmas holidays and New Year without Erica around.

Suppressing the tears that came automatically she stuffed herself into her robe and shuffled out to the kitchen. Darius’s small smile was her greeting as he offered her a cup of coffee. Mumbling her thanks, she sat down at the kitchen table.

“Where you wanna start lookin’ today, Nik?” he asked pulling out a chair next to her.

She sipped the hot beverage, shrugging. She didn’t know. They had looked high and low for the past two weeks. Hospitals, shelters and morgues. You name it and they had been there. They watched the shared bank account of Nikki and Erica and no charges anywhere, no credit card transactions. It was as if her lover had disappeared.

The most infuriating had been the complete lack of assistance from the local police department. It seemed as though no one was willing to help. The detective assigned to the case took one look at Darius and then at her and rolled his eyes. It wasn’t until she introduced herself and her last name registered that he had even wanted to entertain the idea of investigating the disappearance.

“Nicollette,” Darius got her attention by the full use of her name and continued, “We ain’t gonna stop lookin’. I’ve known Rica since her and I were runnin’ around in diapers. She wouldn’t have just up and took off.”

Biting back the tears, Nikki shook her head. “That’s just it, Dar. I know too.” Her jaw clenched as a tear slipped fear and tracked down her left cheek. She let it fall into her coffee. She watched it drop and ripple the beverage. A sob escaped and the rest of the tears she’d been fighting off since she sat down fell.

Darius moved from his seat and pulled Nikki to her feet, wrapping her up in his arms. He held her as she shook. The tears soaking through the thin t-shirt he wore. His heart tore as he cursed whoever was responsible for Erica’s disappearance and Nikki’s pain. He rubbed her back as the tears subsided, providing the only comfort he could.

They stood in the kitchen holding each other. Neither knowing what to do or say. The shrill ring of the telephone caused both to tense and wince. Absently, Darius reached behind him and plucked the receiver from the wall.

“Yeah?” he answered.

“Hello, this is Detective Doucet with the N.O.P.D. I’m looking for Ms. Beaumont,” the voice on the other end of the phone sounding gruff and tired.

“Hang on.” Darius covered the mouth piece with his hand and motioned for Nikki. He whispered, “Doucet’s on the phone. He wants to talkatcha.”

Nodding, she took the receiver and said, “This is Nikki.”

“Ms. Beaumont, this is Detective Doucet. It seems there’s been a break in your roommate’s case. Can you meet me at the Second District precinct?”

Nikki nodded numbly then realized he couldn’t see her. Absently she said, “Yes, we’ll be down as soon as possible.”

Hanging up the phone, she turned to Darius. A small smile graced the corner of his lips and she turned to get ready to leave. Darius finished up in the kitchen and went to the living room to make his ‘bed’. Since Erica’s disappearance, he had taken to spending the night at Nikki’s. It wasn’t a permanent thing, but it was comforting in its own way.

Nikki came out of the bedroom a few minutes later, once again wearing a t-shirt of Erica’s, this time it was a Los Angeles Lakers shirt. Slightly worn, but Darius recognized it as the one he’d bought for her four years ago for her birthday. Nikki grabbed her purse, keys and jacket while Darius followed her out into the clear January morning.

It didn’t take them long to reach the precinct off Magazine Street. The apartment the girls shared was on the East side of Tulane’s campus off Benjamin Street. Even in traffic they were there in fifteen minutes. The precinct wasn’t as busy as the last time they’d been there. But the festive holiday decorations were down, it was a small comfort as Nikki walked to the front desk. Giving the woman her name the clerk announced her presence to Detective Doucet. It was a few minutes later that the detective escorted them back to an interview room.

As she took in her surroundings Nikki realized that this was the room where they had first put in the missing persons report. It was the same drab cream colored walls that looked like they were washed with a layer of gray. The room held only a cheap metal table with three equally uncomfortable metal chairs with thin green vinyl seats.

She watched Remy Doucet walk into the room and take a seat opposite to Darius and herself. She tried to read his features, to look for any tell that would indicate good news or bad news. The only thing she realized is that he looked tired. Warring with herself she fidgeted. She wasn’t sure what to expect. While her heart hoped and wished for one, her head spoke another.

The detective ran his hands over thinning black hair as he sat back in his chair. Lacing his fingers on top of a manila folder he leaned forward and said, “Ms. Beaumont, Mr. Jamison, thanks for coming down.”

Nikki’s hand was firmly planted in Darius’ under the table. Mutely she nodded and waited for him to continue.

“Last night,” the detective started in, “there was a raid on a house in the Eighth Ward. There were a few people arrested. There were also two bodies found after the raid was finished. I was called in to identify the body on your friend’s M.P.R..” He sighed and watched the faces of the two in front of him fall. “I’m sorry,” he said, standing. He pushed the file across the table and offered, “Here are the details that I can offer. It’s still an open case. I’ll leave you two for a bit.”

Not offering anything further, he turned and slipped quietly from the room. Numbly, Nikki stared at the folder in front of her. She knew what she was coming down here for. Her head did at least. The rest of her wasn’t prepared to deal with the implications. Releasing her cramped hand from Darius she thumbed the edge of the folder unsure of what she should do.

Darius made the decision for her and slid it in front of him. He opened the folder to a clean headshot of his cousin’s lifeless body laid against the bright steel of a morgue table. His jaw clenched and his teeth ached. Of any of his family, his cousin wasn’t supposed to end up like this. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep the tears from spilling over. Lifting up the photo he memorized the information of where she was found. Where the house was and in what condition her body was found.

There was no information on who was arrested, but that didn’t matter he had ways of finding out.

He would find out.

It felt like hours as the two sat there staring at the last photograph of Erica that would ever be taken. Detective Doucet came back in caring a tray of coffee cups. He smiled sheepishly as he set the tray down. He passed out two of the cups and kept one for himself. Gathering the folder, he sipped his coffee and flipped to the back page. He looked up and said, “I know this is hard for you, but I need to ask some questions.”

Nikki picked at the skin around her left thumb. It was already cracked and bleeding, but it was a distraction. She heard herself say, “Go ahead.”

Remy watched Darius nod, then asked, “Ms. Beaumont, how long did your roommate have a drug problem?”

Nikki’s head whipped up at the accusation. “Excuse me?”

Detective Doucet repeated, “The girl’s drug problem, how long or didn’t you know?”

Heat burned in Nikki’s chest as she glanced over to Darius who shook his head. “Why,” Nikki ground out, “do you think she had a drug problem?”

The detective scratched the back of his neck and sighed. Apparently neither knew. “Where she was found. How she went missing. The state of her finances. Women just don’t end up in a crack house for the beignet’s, Ms. Beaumont.”

“Our finances are linked. That money is as much hers as mine.” Her eyes burned as her mind began to link the things the detective before her wasn’t saying. While it hadn’t been the first time, this was certainly the most offensive time that someone had jumped to conclusions. “I assume you know who her brother is?”

Remy nodded and said, “I’ve had a look.”

Nikki held her hand up and ticked off the list, “She’s black, she came from a poor family, she’s a woman.” Her rage burned a bit brighter as she spat, “Her family’s all but dead, except for Darius, her grandmother and her good-for-nothing-crackhead brother. Obviously she must be a dealer, addict or whore.”

Remy held up his hands to try and stop the attack. Nikki stood, placing her hands, palm flat against the cool steel table. “You went and wrote her off.” She leaned over and poked a finger at the detective’s chest. “I haven’t. I already know the rest of your questions and I’m not answering them. She was a good woman – “her voice broke and she breathed in to control the tears, “she was the best person I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.”

Darius gently placed a hand on Nikki’s upper arm and whispered, “Nik.”

She shrugged his arm off and stared at the detective in front of her.

“Ms. Beaumont,” Remy tried, “the facts of the case are just that. Everything I have gives me all the information I need. You best just sit and calm down.” His teeth ground themselves together.

“When are you going to release her body?” Nikki interrupted him.

Remy shrugged.

Nikki reached in to her purse and grabbed a card. She tossed it on top of the folder. “Call them when she’s ready to be picked up. I’d like to have it done soon.” She motioned Darius up. They moved to the front of the door and Darius held it open.

As Nikki was about to leave, Remy’s voice stopped her, “You know sugar, slumming it the way you are, I’d be careful.”

Nikki turned on heel and stood in front of the smirking detective. “Come again?”

A sneer passed over Doucet’s features as he repeated, “You keep slummin’ with that over there, you gonna end up the same way one day.”

A hard crack echoed in the room as Nikki spat, “Fuck you, detective.” She shook her stinging hand and nearly ran out of the room. Darius stood there, rooted. Surprised at the turn of events.

Remy rubbed his cheek, sure that there was a hand print on his face. “I’d go get your meal ticket, boy. Wouldn’t want her runnin’ off now would ya?”

Darius looked the man over realizing that he wasn’t worth much of his time. He opened his mouth to say as much, but stopped. Instead he said, “You’re lucky that’s all you gonna get.” With that he spat at the detective’s feet and followed his friend out, hoping to catch up with her.

“Cher, you know this is crazy,” Darius pleaded with Nikki. Her only response was an eye roll as she went back to staring at the contents of her closet. Finding what she was looking for, she snatched at the hangers and tossed the clothes at the bed.

Darius could only shake his head. It had been three weeks since Erica’s funeral, five weeks since her disappearance. They had knocked on every crack house and drug dealer’s door that Darius could dig up. Unsurprisingly, they had turned up nothing.

Darius was about to say something when a knock at the door drew his attention. Leaving Nikki in the room, he approached the front door and asked, “Who’s there?”

“It’s Arthur, Darius,” The reply came.

Smiling, Darius opened the door and eagerly shook the offered hand. Arthur glanced around the apartment and shook his head. By the boxes and the packing supplies strewn about the room, he knew his little girl was in rare form. He understood that the death of her roommate had hurt her deeply. It had affected him as well as he had liked Erica and came to respect her in ways that he hadn’t ever had when it came to his daughter’s friends.

Darius spun, ready to walk towards the bedroom and back to Nikki when Arthur’s hand clamped around his upper arm. “Darius,” he whispered, “how is she really?” His eyes roamed over the living room and he shook his head.

The younger man shrugged and answered, “She’s Nikki, Mr. Beaumont. And what she’s getting’ ready to do is pure craziness.”

Arthur nodded and released his hold on his daughter’s friend. “It may not be a bad thing. I’ve been able to keep Erica’s death and Nikki’s involvement out of the papers. Maybe getting away for a spell will give her time to heal.”

Nikki came out just then loaded down with suitcases. Her face lit up as she saw her father and Darius talking. Dropping the suitcases, she rushed to her father and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tight.

“Daddy,” she breathed. She buried her face further into his suit, inhaling the comforting scent of his aftershave.

“Heya there, little one.” He pulled her off him and wrapped his hands around her upper arms, scrutinizing her appearance. “You about ready to go?”

She nodded and looked behind her at the bags in the hallway. Darius had already started picking one of them up when Arthur said, “I’ve got a driver here to do that young man.”

“It’s really no…” Darius’ protest was lost as Arthur shushed him again.

“Put the bags down. Why don’t you two go on down and tell the driver that I need some help up here.” He shooed the two young adults out of the room and watched as they scurried down the steps.

Nikki came out of the apartment complex and saw the car waiting at the curb, she waved at the driver and said, “Daddy could use some help upstairs.” She watched as the tall broad-shouldered man tipped his hat and took off in the direction of her apartment.

Darius leaned against the black Cadillac and opened his arms. Nikki wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest. “You know,” Darius whispered into Nikki’s hair and rested his chin on top of her head, “You don’t have to go.”

Nikki nodded and said, “And you could come with me. I wish you would.”

“You know I can’t, kouzin. I wish you’d stay,” he replied honestly.

Nikki pulled back and looked up at Darius. She shook her head. “I can’t. We’ve spent weeks looking for anything and everything. I’d spend the rest of my life if I knew it would yield something.” Her throat grew tight and she coughed to clear it. “With no help from that racist, pig of a cop, to coming home to an empty bed…” She looked away and swiped at the tear that leaked from the corner of her eye. She swiped it away and sighed.

“Darius, I need to get away before I…I can’t be here right now,” she pleaded with him, hoping he’d understand.

His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. Looking down at her, he saw the truth to her words and could only nod. Afraid that if he spoke his voice would crack and he’d lose it. Nikki had offered to take him with her. She said that half the money that was Erica’s now belonged to him, that he could afford the trip, but he couldn’t leave. His maw-maw needed him here. Nikki was really his last tie to his cousin. It would be hard not see her almost every day.

He watched as Arthur and the driver climbed down the steps of the apartment building loaded down with bags. He laughed a little and said, “I can’t. You know that.” Hooking a finger under chin, he met her eyes. “I’ll be here when you get back t’ough.”

He pressed the phone to his ear and listened, “Darius, you said you was gonna come with me today. Where are you?”

Sighing, he rolled his eyes. “Tia, I would, but I forgot about the test today. I’m sorry.”

“What test?” the woman on the other end asked confused.

“Nikki has her test today. I promised her first. She needs me here more than you need me to take you to the mall.” Darius fidgeted on the hard wood of the bench. He’d been sitting for nearly an hour and only had few more minutes to go, but Tia had been whining in his ear for the last five minutes. He hadn’t meant to break the promise to her. It couldn’t be helped.

“You know, Darius,” Tia snickered, “Ever since she came back, you been chasin’ her around.”

Darius teeth ground and he said a silent prayer that she wasn’t gonna make a fool of herself. He really did like her, but…

“She’s a snooty, white bitch, tryin’ to piss daddy off runnin’ around with your black ass. She ain’t ever gonna give you what you want from her.”
“It. Ain’t. Like. That,” he said as calmly as possible.

“D’hell it ain’t. She’s got you wrapped around her finger like the good little negro you are.” Tia sneered, “Go and give her what she needs. I ain’t gonna be here when you realize she’s playin’ you for a fool.”

“Lose my number, Tia.” Darius slammed the phone down and banged his head off the booth wall. He knew it was going to end this way. Tia had been jealous of Nikki since his kouzin came back to town.

Three months ago he’d picked her up from her eight month get-a-way and he’d never been happier to see another person in his life. Tia had their relationship pegged wrong from the jump. He didn’t dote after Nikki, he watched out for her like he used to watch out for Erica. He would continue to do so until Nikki told him to get lost.

He also knew that would never happen. In the wake of his cousin’s death, Nikki and Darius had forged a bond stronger than family. She had insisted on burying Erica in the Beaumont Family Cemetery, much to Arthur Beaumont’s protestation, but Nikki insisted and what Nikki wanted, her father usually acquiesced to.

So three months after her return, Darius sat in the parish court house, waiting on Nikki to finish up her entrance exam to the New Orleans Police Academy. It had to be the craziest idea he’d ever heard spill from the girl’s lips, but she was insistent, had told him that it “felt right” to try and make some changes.

When he went with her to fill out the paperwork she’d laughed and said, “I was sittin’ on this beach in Puerto Rico and it was so peaceful. Didn’t matter any, ‘cause all I could think about was her. The way she fought, her passion. Someone needs to make sure that doesn’t die. I can’t be a lawyer. Too bookish. I can be a cop.” She stared at him as a tear tracked down her cheek and he brushed it away with the pad of his thumb.

“Dar, I can make sure that someone doesn’t have to go through what we did. I need to.” She smiled at him and it was then that he saw a small spark of life in the big, brown eyes of her’s. The way he figured if this crazy idea gave her that life back she’d been missing since Erica’s death, he’d do whatever she wanted.

He looked up as the doors to the exam room opened, a few people spilling in to the hall. One of the guys looked like he just found out he had terminal cancer, another guy looked green. Following the two, Nikki was all teeth and bounce. She launched herself at Darius as soon as she saw him, ignoring the looks from the two men that came out before her.

“Gah! I’m so glad that’s over!” She squeezed him tight and then pulled him down the hall towards the exit. She strode out into the afternoon sunlight and slipped her sunglasses on. They walked briskly to a café across the street. Sitting in a booth towards the back, Darius let Nikki’s infectious mood sweep him away.

“That was really pretty easy. The test wasn’t bad, but Dar, it felt right, ya know?” She was practically bouncing in her seat as she sipped the café au lait.

“So you think you passed?” he asked, a smirk peaking at the corner of his mouth.

She nodded enthusiastically and he just smiled. She was coming back to life and he couldn’t be happier.

Darius just nodded. He grabbed her hand and said, “Look out Nawlins. This city ain’t gonna know what hit ‘em when you get out on the streets.”

She smiled brightly and lifted her coffee mug, “To our Erica.”

He raised his own and they clinked softly together. “May she be happy and at peace.”

Nikki nodded and squeezed his hand. This wasn’t where she thought she’d end up, but it was definitely a place she could live with.