Blaze

“Mom, wake up. Mom! Quick, look! That’s Brandon, right?”

“Where?!” Mrs. Lockwood sat upright and groggily looked around at all the passersby. Then she looked in the direction Scarlett was pointing. It indeed was him! It was her Brandon!

She quickly got off the pavement and ran towards him, “Brandon! Brandonnn! Brannnndonnnn!”

He heard a voice calling his name. It was his former name and it was a voice he hadn’t heard in years. He closed his eyes as he cringed internally.

He didn’t want to turn around. He had forgotten she existed. He increased his pace but she caught up to him.

“Oh Brandon, it really is you!” Tears were streaming down her face as she pulled him into a tight hug. He just stood there, stunned.

Mrs. Lockwood seized that opportunity to drag him to where Scarlett was. She wasn’t as happy as her mom to see her brother.

“Scarlett, I can’t believe it’s really Brandon!”

“Um, I go by Blaze now”, he said, without meeting their eyes.

“Wow. You really don’t want anything to do with us, huh? To the extent that you even changed your name!” Scarlett spat.

Blaze let out a hollow laugh, “All of you were the reason I moved out and cut ties completely. I wanted a fresh start, away from all the toxicity, narcissism, and gaslighting. I don’t want to be part of this family anymore and I don’t need any reminders of you either.”

Scarlett hadn’t heard a word of what he said as she was looking for more things to blame on him, “You changed your number too! And we don’t even know your new address! Dad died, you know that?!”

This news shocked Blaze but he recovered from it fast. Dad was already dead to me when I moved out.

“How did he die?”

“WHAT DO YOU CARE HOW HE DIED?!”

“Scarlett please, we’re not in a position to have a fight now”, Mrs. Lockwood pleaded with Scarlett before turning to Blaze, “Heart attack. It was a few days after we lost our house and started living on the streets.”

Blaze looked past his mom and sister. Behind them was a small camping tent with their belongings scattered around.

“Brandon, I know—” He glared at her. “—sorry, Blaze it is. Blaze, I know this is too much to ask, especially after everything that we did to you, but could you find a place for your sister and me to stay?”

Blaze was dumbfounded by her audacity. After all the psychological, emotional, and mental abuse, his mom still thought he would do this for them?

“How would you pay the rent?” He sure as hell wasn’t going to pay for them.

“Well, both of us lost our jobs, but…but we do have some savings that we could get by on.”

He pretended to look around to buy some time and then shifted his gaze back to his mom. She was looking at him earnestly, hoping he would say yes.

He sighed, “I’ll make sure you have a place to stay.”

“Oh dear Lord! Thank you, thank you so much!”

He didn’t say anything. He turned around and walked away, eager to get away from them.

~~~~~

“But Detective, it wasn’t us! I don’t know what else to say. Is this what you do, try to frame the homeless for crimes that you couldn’t solve?” Mrs. Lockwood looked both indignantly and helplessly at Detective Torres and her lawyer, Ms. Robbins.

Ms. Robbins rubbed her temples as everything was against Mrs. Lockwood and Scarlett. Chances of her proving their innocence were very slim.

“Mrs. Lockwood, I’ve already showed you, your daughter, and your lawyer all the evidence that places you at the scene of the crime, where the murder took place.” Detective Torres pointed at the case file on the table in between them. “It’s wise you and your daughter come clean.”

“Scarlett, I just remembered! Wasn’t that the day we saw Brandon? He could be our alibi because this murder took place around an hour after we met him and we couldn’t possibly have been there within an hour by foot.”

Scarlett’s eyes widened at her mom’s epiphany.

“I’m sorry, but who is Brandon?” Ms. Robbins questioned sharply.

“Unbelievable! You didn’t inform your lawyer about a potential alibi?!" Detective Torres asked exasperatedly. “So, who is this Brandon?”

“Oh, he’s my son. Well his name is not Brandon anymore. He changed it to Blaze. I’m not sure if he changed his last name too. We don’t know his number or where he is staying.”

Ms. Robbins looked as if she was going to say “Well, that’s helpful” but instead she said, “It’s okay, leave it to me to contact him. I want both of you to understand that he is your only hope now. But even if he provides you an alibi, it doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t be convicted because the evidence that they have against you is too stro—”

“So no matter what, we would end up in prison? Blaze providing an alibi wouldn’t make any difference? Then what’s the point of trying to get him to do this for us?” Scarlett interrupted.

“I wasn’t finished. Even if he provides an alibi, yes you would be convicted but the investigation wouldn’t be closed until the real perpetrator is caught. You would be locked up until then but once they are caught, you’d be cleared of all charges.”

“Please try to find Blaze.”

“I will try my best, Mrs. Lockwood.”

~~~~~

“Please wait here, sir. I’ll let them know that they have a visitor,” said the correctional officer.

Mrs. Lockwood and Scarlett were not expecting any visitors, least of all for it to be Blaze. After Ms. Robbins failed to find him, they never thought they’d see him again.

“Oh, so you show up now, months after we’re convicted?!” Scarlett hissed.

“Bran—sorry, Blaze, please, now that you’re here, would you please be our alibi? It may not be enough to get me and Scarlett out of prison but it would be enough to reopen the investigation. Someone framed us and I have no idea why”, his mom stated.

Blaze looked at them pointedly and cocked his head to the side. He then uttered a simple “No”, and stood up to leave.

His mom was flabbergasted and his sister was furious.

“What do you mean ‘No’?! Can’t you see? We’re in prison!” his mom cried.

“I know. I mean, I did say that I’ll make sure you have a place to stay, didn’t I?”
__________________________________________

Thank you so much for reading this! 🥰 If you liked my writing, please leave a comment, click the heart and subscribe for free!