7
Everyone at the station watched my mom, stunned by her
revelation–her daughter was dead.
Charlie’s face was tense as he tried to console her, “Captain Cooper, my condolences. We can’t bring the dead back. Let’s focus on catching the killer.”
Mom’s expression flickered wildly, and she crumpled the report in her hand..
Suddenly, she burst into laughter and hurled the crumpled paper to the floor. “I see now. You’re all playing a joke on me, right? Teaming up with that brat to fool me, aren’t you?
Where is she, then?”
Charlie sighed deeply, his forehead creased with concern as he watched Mom swing between tears and laughter.
He said, “Captain Cooper, the body’s still in the morgue. Maybe you should take a look yourself.
You’re her mother. Even if her face was disfigured, you’d recognize
her.”
“Mom, I’d like to see if you could recognize me,” I thought.
Mom staggered into the morgue, staring at the body under the harsh. white lights.
Every scar on my body, a testament to my suffering, was now under the touch of my mother’s shaking hands. Her fingers traced down to my spine, pausing at the shoulder blades.
Hidden beneath the scars was a heart–shaped birthmark, present from birth. Dad had once said, “Our daughter was born with love. We must cherish her.”
Mom stroked the birthmark, whispering, “How could this be?”
She stepped back, her gaze locked on my body. A thought seemed to strike her, and she suddenly grabbed Charlie by the collar. “Where’s
that smashed cake? The box it was in, where is it?”
The veins stood out on my mom’s forehead. Charlie looked at her, hist voice shaky as he spoke, “It’s in… in the evidence room. But…”
Before he could finish, Mom dashed to the evidence room. She started tossing items around frantically until she found an empty box with a stained ribbon that read “Happy Birthday.”
Mom stopped dead, staring at the ribbon, her face turning ghostly pale. “Right, that day… it was her birthday.”
“Yes, it was my twentieth birthday, a lonely, hellish birthday. The day my life ended,” I thought.
Mom just stood there, hair a mess, tears streaking her face.
After a long silence, she sniffled and murmured, “Why would anyone kill her? She was just a student.”
The others shared the confusion. “Exactly, we investigated a similar case out of state, which involved someone the victim knew. But you’d know your daughter’s circle. She didn’t have many friends…”
Everyone was baffled by the motive.
I didn’t understand it either. That day, after class, I had bought myself a birthday cake since I knew no one else would.
On my way home, Kelly suddenly texted me to pick up a textbook from a bookstore on the west side of town.
1 hesitated but agreed, fearing that refusing Kelly might upset Mom. But I had no idea that was the start of my nightmare.
“Maybe…” Mom’s voice grew louder, her eyes lighting up. “Maybe Yasmin got mixed up with some bad people. Otherwise, why wouldn’t she even drop me a message now and then?”
The room fell into an awkward silence. As Mom cooled down, she muttered, “That bitch must have gotten herself into some trouble.”
