THE BLACK CROW

“What do you mean by manipulating her thoughts?

Kenya gazed at her reflection in the glass before her and makes a quick grin as she takes a sip of water with her handcuffed hands before leaning in,

 “What I mean detective, is that the longer you stay here with me, your pile of unsolved cases will continue to riseeeee”.

Lifting her hands in a visual calculation of his failures.

“You think this is a joke!”

           “Duuuude, you need to chill before you bust that vein in that big ass forehead.”

 Detective Taylor slaps the cup of water from the table, he leans in calmly, with eyes as if they can see through Kenya’s soul as he gets closer to her ear making a rustic whisper.

           “You must feel really proud, sitting here, wasting our time while your half breed is loose on the streets being hunted like a wild dog by New York’s finest”.

Kenya’s grin fades into a glare of contempt as the door opens with a loud screech.

“Detective, take a walk” commanded the Sergeant.

Detective Taylor takes a final look at a fuming Kenya, her face held a frame of shame that her pride wouldn’t allow her to admit. It lasted as long as it took Detective Taylor to exit the room.

           “I apologize for my colleague; I am Sergeant Zane”.

Kenya stares at the clock resting on the wall above his head of curls.

           “How long have you been living in New York Kenya; can I call you Kenya?”-

Kenya’s eyes remain locked at the ticking clock. Detective Zane flips through the pages of the crime scene report.

“Brutal”-

“Gruesome”-

“Now this one is just darn-gone madness.”

Kenya exits the room, leaving her body to keep Detective Zane occupied.

           “Kenya, look at them.”

Detective Zane holds the captured frame of a decapitated white male.

“Mr. Chisolm is, well was, the owner of one of the largest franchises in the United States; he was a father and a husband”-

           “Husband?” – the silence was finally broken.

Detective Zane retrieves some other photographs from the docket on the table. Kenya becomes intrigued by a photograph of a blonde hair, blue eyed lady.

           “That’s Claire, Chisolm’s wife”. 

Kenya examines another photograph.

           “That is Brian, Mr. Chisolm’s younger brother.”

“Don’t you think this family deserves to know what happened?”

Kenya scoffs.

“To own the world and yet so easily snared by a black crow”.

“Black crow? What the f –

“Sergeant!” shouted Detective Taylor from the intercom, “you have to see this!”

“We’re not done here Kenya.”

The sergeant exits and is greeted by concerned faces along the hallway. He traces their eyes towards the television screen.

           “Another body has been found in the Orchard Guest House, witnesses say the unidentified white male who appeared to be in his late 40s, was found handcuffed to the bed with his mouth gagged. The cause of death is to be determined, however, following the deaths of Dean Clarke, Denzil White, Patrick Boyd and Roy Chisolm, this makes the fifth mysterious death case in the city of New York”-

“Serge, I think we may have a serial killer on our hands.”

 “Agreed, let’s get out there”.

The team of six officers’ heads for the crime scene across town. 

Meanwhile, from the station, Corporal Henry makes a call about Kenya. 

           “What should I do with her Serge?”

           “Keep her there Corporal, I will be back shortly.”

           “Roger that sir”.

Corporal Henry enters the interrogation room offering Kenya some coffee, she politely accepts and asks if he knew when Sergeant Zane would return. 

           “Why did he leave so sudden?”

           “Something urgent came up mam.”

           “What you meant to say is they found a body”.

The eye of the Corporal meets an intense gaze from Kenya, suddenly the room felt colder than it ever was since his eight months on the force.

On route to the scene, Sergeant Zane tackles Detective Taylor about earlier.

           “What was that Detective?”

           “I am sorry Serge. I lost my cool for a moment” –

           “I know but that’s a mistake that could’ve cost us the one person that may be able to help us put an end to this thing.”

           “I know sir.”

“Listen, I can’t blame you, something is just not right about all this shit, and I’ve been doing this for twenty-five years.”

           “Man, tell me about it”.

           “It’s something she said as she was staring at one of the photos, looking at a headless man, she didn’t even flinch or turn away, she just said some crap about a black crow.”

           “A black crow? Is that supposed to mean something?”

           “I don’t know but the way she said it, sounded strange”.

           “Hey Siri, what is black crow?”

An automated response is given by the phone:

           “In literature crows and ravens are a bad omen and are associated with witches. Most people believe they steal, eat other birds’ eggs, and reduce the populations of other birds…They are also considered to be effective predators of reducing the populations of their prey”.

           ‘Well then, says Detective Taylor, that was worth a shot”.

Sergeant Zane retrieves his phone from his pocket and makes a call.

           “Corporal, I need you to find out from Kenya if she ever called her daughter a black crow”.

           “A black crow?”

           “Just do it, be creative.”

           “Ok sir.”

Corporal Henry listens to the gush of air emitting from the phone.

           “Sir? are you still there?"

           “Of course, I am still here you idiot! I am waiting on you!

           “Oh, you meant to ask her right now?

Detective Taylor conceals a smirk from an annoyed Sergeant. Zane ends the call and tosses the phone to Taylor before hissing his teeth. Seconds later, Taylor’s hand begins to buzz.

            “I think you are getting a call.”

           “Who is it?”

           “No name.”

Taylor hands the phone to Zane and he places the cell to his ear.

           “Sergeant Zane, a birdie tells me you’ve been looking for me.’

           “Who is this?”

Taylor knits his brows with concern for Sergeant Zane but is only able to make out a muffled voice.

“Wait a minute, it’s you, you have caused quite a stir in my city.”

           “Allegedly”

           “Are you sure about that black crow?”

The call abruptly ends. Sergeant Zane attempts to redial but is unsuccessful.

           “Was that really her?”

           “Yes, but she hung up as I said that”.

           “How the hell did she get your straight-line Serge?”

           “Now that’s a damn good question”.

At the station, Corporal Henry tries to get answers from Kenya. 

           “You need to answer Kenya, I am not going to ask again, why do you call your daughter a black crow?”

           “Can I tell you a story Corporal?”

           “Mam, please” –

           “It is a story about my family”, Kenya continues, “a story about a legacy passed on religiously by my people”.

           “Miss Kenya, if you could just answer the question so that I can report to my Sergeant, I promise that I will come back and listen to your stories” pleaded the Corporal.

           “Do you even know you what you are?”

           “Yes mam”, he replies in frustration.

           “Oh yea? Well humor me”

“I am African American.”

           “Hahahahahaha!” Kenya erupts in laughter.

           “What is so funny?”

           “You are black!” Kenya snapped. “Do you think your white colleagues look at you and see ‘African American’? 

A look of disappointment appears on Corporal Henry’s face.

“I pity you” he remarks, that is a sad way to live mam and a very sad way to look at the world”.

Kenya takes a deep breath as she stares into the eyes of the Corporal. She examines him as he talks about his family and shares images from his wallet.

“Can I see the photo of your children again?”

As the Corporal pulls the photo from his wallet, Kenya draws closer to examine the image, she leans forward before striking his head with the coffee mug. The wounded Corporal falls to the floor and before gathering himself, Kenya pulls his service pistol from his waist and aims it at him.

           “Do you want to know how the story ends?”.