Sometimes, when people are satisfied, a little light flashes in their eyes. It signifies the joy and delight of being so happy with what they're offered, and what they're getting. I see that light go off in Arjun's eyes when I say that I'm giving him 5 minutes to explain himself.

Honestly, I'm being extremely lenient with him. If it was Mason who he came up to, then he wouldn't give him any time whatsoever. Mason would've killed him right on the spot, not worrying about whether or not he'd be sent to jail for the rest of his life.

"Go," I say, pressing the start button for the timer to being counting down.

Without missing a beat, he says, "I need you to look through your mother's case one more time. I'm- I'm not as guilty as you think I am. Go through the circumstances, the evidence, the details. I'm relying on you to help me prove my innocence."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Why should I trust you? You left my mom when she was pregnant, and you left her to rot. If it wasn't for Mason, then she wouldn't have survived with me. You never did anything for her."

Arjun rolls his eyes a little bit in the back of his head, and he says, "You don't know the full story. Have you ever thought about the fact that what Mason is telling you may not be 100% true? Just because he's telling you all these stories doesn't mean that they're all true. Let me tell you this. Just because Mason helped your mom out when she was pregnant with you doesn't mean that he's perfect. I'm not perfect, and he definitely isn't either. Trust me, once you look at what he has done, then you'll get what I mean."

I squint at him. I already have the feeling that Mason is hiding something, but man, this takes it to the whole new level. If Arjun is really telling the truth, then what exactly would Mason have done to cause Arjun's anger in the whole situation? I don't know, and there's a nagging feeling inside of me to find out what it is.

This thirst is something that I can't swallow. I can't bury this, no matter how hard I try. I just need to find out what he's hiding, and what I could get out of this. Because to me, knowing the truth is vital in my existence. I hate being lied to.

"Ashmita, I need you to trust me."

"Easier said than done."

He presses his lips together, and I cross my arms. His hand digs into his pocket, and he fishes out a piece of paper. "Here's my email. It's a Yahoo email, because I'm old, and was in prison for the past 15 years, but it will work anyways. Once you get what I mean, then you can email me. I'll be here to talk to you about everything that you've found out," he says, as takes my hand and places the paper in it. I look up at him, and he gives me a slight smile.

Right then, the timer goes off, and I reach in to turn my phone off. I cross my arms, and he looks a little bit to the right. "Well, anyways, I'm off. I don't want Mason to slaughter both of us for talking to each other. Even though I've lived my life, and you should start living yours. Email me. I'm always here," he says, and with that, he disappears.

He runs off to the side, out of the neighborhood, and back to wherever he came from. Possibly even hell. I look at the piece of paper that he gave me, which displays the very creative, "[email protected]." I'm debating whether I should throw it away or keep it for later use. As Arjun said, not all people are as perfect as we think they are.

However, by that logic, I can't trust him based on his reasoning. If Mason isn't as perfect as he's portrayed, then neither is Arjun. I don't know how much I'm willing to trust him. But, let's just give it a shot. I take the piece of paper and place it inside my pocket, while continuing to check the mail.

******

"For the last time, do we really have to make it such a big deal?" I ask, as Mason turns off the gas stove.

"Yes, Ashmita, yes we do. You're turning 22, and you're getting closer and closer to finishing your education. This is a huge deal, considering you almost refused to study for math when you were younger. You said you would never need trigonometric functions later in life."

"And yet, over 5 years later, I still don't. Tell me this, where in computer science do I need to know a sine graph? That is about as pointless as Nathan trying to get rid of his acne with Pinterest tutorials."

Nathan looks up, and says, "That's cruel. You know how sensitive I am about my acne."

I roll my eyes, and say, "Dude, it's acne. Sarah isn't dying. Chill. It will go away."

Cole crosses his arms, and says, "Just like I hope Mason will go away."

Mason takes the cups, places them on the table, and say, "Everyone is against me today, huh? My twin best friends, my kids, life.... What's next, Sarah comes up to me and says she wants a divorce?"

Sarah, with her eyes glued to her phone, says, "Tempting, but I hate paperwork."

Mason rolls his eyes, as Cody wheels over to the counter to get his tea. "I agree with Sarah. Filing the lawsuit against the person who stabbed me was like trying to mow a lawn with safety scissors."

Cody takes a sip of his tea, while Sarah gets up to go get something from the pantry. Mason walks out of the kitchen, with his cups of tea, and he sets it down on the countertop.

"Thanks, Mason," I say, as I take it and sip.

Cole takes his tea, and he looks at me, with a smirk, and says, "Hey, Ashmita, isn't chai a huge stereotype in Indian culture?"

I set my cup down, and say, "It's just as big of a stereotype as rice is in Chinese culture, Cole."

Cole nods his head, and says, "You played that one well, Ashmita."

Cody wheels up to me, and says, "Smart mouth. Just like her mother." I playfully flip my hair, and everyone just chuckles. The next thing you know, Mason gets a call from his phone, and he runs over to get it.

He glances at the caller ID, and says, "Sorry, I gotta take this. Ah, Isha, how's it going?" He walks downstairs and out the door to take it, while I sneak a sly glance at Cole and Cody.

Cody sets his cup down and says, "If he isn't cursing in French by the end of this, then we know something is wrong."

We all snicker, and then, an idea pops into my head like a lightbulb. I don't know if I should ask Mason this, because he will definitely get suspicious, but Cole and Cody are really chill. If I ask them to not tell Mason, they won't.

They're my best bet. "Hey, can I ask you guys something?" I ask.

They raise an eyebrow at me, and look at each other. "You know the answer to that. What's up, Ashmita?"

I set the cup down on the table, and say, "What was my mom like?" Cody's jaw drops open, and he looks at Cole, who just shrugs. "You know what? Let's just sit down. I don't want to tell you this story standing up." Cole sits down in a chair next to me.

I pull out a chair to sit down in, and Cole places his hands on the table. I lean in a little bit to hear what he has to say. Cody wheels up closer to me to pitch in with the story. "Your mom is a lot like you, Ashmita. Sweet, strong, and a little bit fiery as well. She knew how to get what she wanted, and she knew her own mind no matter what. No matter what someone had done to her, she was able to find a way to remind herself that a certain persona wasn't hers."

I smile, and Cody says, "However, there was one thing that she had that may have been her downfall. She could be ruthless. When she wanted something, she didn't stop until she got it. And that often got her into some hot water. She was also orderly. She knew how to establish order and how to enforce it. Some would say borderline bossy, but I would call it the qualities of an upcoming leader. However, that led to her making some awful mistakes. And when she made mistakes, she buried it. She refused to acknowledge it, until the dust had settled and someone had figured it out for her. That was the one thing none of us liked. And sadly, we saw that a lot in her."

I frown a little bit, and I quickly try to change the topic. This is already making me sad. "What about when it came to me?" I ask.

Cody smiles a little bit, and says, "Oh, she loved you so much. I can't even describe it. She would do everything for you. She'd take you out to the park even when she had a long day. She'd take you to work whenever she could. All of her colleagues, including Mason, doted on you so much. They'd always ask when you were coming because they'd pamper you to death. Man, everyone loved you." I smile a little bit, and I continue to ask them questions about random topics, such as why I should never try mustard and pickles together.

********

"No way. He did not," Usha squeals over the phone, as I nod my head.

"Oh yes he did. If I wasn't more torn than I am right now, then I don't know what to say. Everything is so confusing," I tell her, as I roll around in my bed a little bit.

"Well, what do you think? Do you want to investigate the case again?"

I look back at my dresser, specifically at the drawer where it has all my mom's diaries that I found. I sigh a little bit, and say, "I'll think about it."

———————————————————————-
So it looks like Ashmita is starting to question her beliefs about the case! Should she believe Arjun? Let me know in the comments.

Hey everyone! How's it going? Are you all catching up on writing because of quarantine? I surely am. I'm also editing a bunch for my new novella. I also did a chapter layout for my thriller book, and now I think I can write smoother for it.

Well, that's all I got. Hope you guys liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! See you all next Sunday with a new chapter of TSOC! Have a great week!

Love you guys,

Shree