When To Put Trust On The Line

Part 23

My visit with Kenny left a positive mark on me the next following days, but I grew impatient as I heard nothing from Derrick. I felt agitated as I had no leads to focus on while he was working on something. In the meantime, Adele was nothing to worry about as she was acting rather regular – well as regular as that word could get for her - and focussing on work. My patience wearing thin, I texted Derrick at the beginning of the week, saying, Any leads? Anything I can maybe do?

All I got back was, Workin on it. Focus on ur grades or something. I finally had enough and decided to skip my last period gym class on Wednesday to head to the garage instead. As I walked down the sidewalk that afternoon, I ran the plan through my head. Derrick was dealing with his boss Stephen. So I figured maybe I could try and get something out of Kenny's boss. Big D, was it? I mentally ran the plan through a second time, realizing that I'd be risking coming across Wess, especially since I didn't know his work schedule. I wondered how things would be if we ran into each other again, considering how our last encounter had gone due to Derrick's involvement.

I ran the plan through my head a third time, deciding it didn't matter if I saw Wess or not as this needed to be done. If anything, I knew I could always improvise. I had no idea how bad things could get, but the risk seemed important to me. More important than sitting at home doing nothing. I walked the rest of the way to the garage in confidence, only slowing down once I neared it, as I started to get nervous. From where I was standing – almost near the curb, where a single car was parked - I could see the open garage door which exposed noise and many young workers inside.

Right outside, in front of the entrance, a woman was craning her neck, talking to a tall man. As I slowly got closer, I could tell that she was middle-aged and blonde - which you didn't really see in this predominantly Afro-Latino neighbourhood. The tall man was bald, light-skinned, and dressed formally. The same man I had bumped into the first time I had come by the garage to speak to Wess and retrieve evidence. Big D? Before I reached them, I heard the woman say, "Okay. Thank you," before she turned and headed to the lone grey car parked by the curb. I watched her walk away.

"May I help you?"

The deep voice that spoke startled me. I turned around and looked up at the bald man's welcoming face. "Um..." Despite how friendly he came off, I still felt super nervous and managed to forget what I wanted to say.

He squinted down at me. "I've seen you here before, haven't I?" He nodded his head before I could answer. "You came here lookin' for Wess this one time. Yeah, I remember." This surprised me as I could imagine the amount of faces he saw every day, but yet he still remembered me. Well, logically, maybe it wasn't that hard, being that green-eyed Caucasians weren't found on the regular in this area. "If you're here to see Wess again, I'm sorry to inform you that he's not at work today. Do you need to leave him a message?"

I felt relieved that Wess wasn't around as his absence would help me focus more on my plan and make things less awkward. I cleared my throat and found my voice. "Um, no. Actually, I wanted to speak with you..."

He seemed a little surprised. "With me? Are you- are you interested in a car?"

I shook my head. "No, not exactly. Um..." I looked around, not even sure what I wanted to start off by saying.

"Alright, how 'bout we go into my office and see if I could help you with what you need," he offered in a friendly manner. "What's your name by the way?"

"Um, Susan."

"Nice to officially meet you Susan, I'm Darell." Right, Darell. He extended his hand and I shook it before he led me into the busy garage.