Q

  "Mom, I finished cleaning, is there anything else before I hop on the game?" I asked. "JaQuan Allens, if I want you to do anything only God can stop me from making you." Remember I brought you into this world-" "And you can take me out, yeah yeah I know, I heard it a thousand times." I said " Oh, so you wanna be smart," she said as she started running towards me. I ran to my room laughing then closed the door, ok mom love you goodnight. Finally peace, and the small whirring of the fans on my two PCs. I sit on my queen-size bed and look at my 3 monitors set up, surrounded by the warm, soft glow of red LEDs. I stretched a little bit, then began searching the web, 'Space Z set to go to Mars in 2026', 'Black Friday Best Sellers', uhhh boring I thought. I kept on scrolling till I saw something, Lakewright was busted for tax fraud, isn't that D's family's company?!?! I rush to the Fiscord where Terrance and Jo are having a heated discussion. "So what happened next?" Jo asked. "So her makeup is ruined, she comes up, asks for a large pizza, sits on the floor to eat it, and asks me to eat with her. At first, I said no, but she looked miserable (and pretty) so finally, we sat there and she started telling me everything about her family business-``''Forget all that!!" I said, interrupting Terrance. "Well fuc* you too," he said. "No, this is serious," I responded, "DL's Dad's company was hit with tax fraud charges, worst-case scenario his father may go to jail!!" 

 "BULLSH+T" JoJo immediately yelled, "D's dad is the most responsible, and law-abiding man that I know, he would never risk his lifestyle or his family for a couple of extra thousands at the end of the year!" "Yeah this has gotta be some kind of misunderstanding," Terrance chimed in. I started to doubt myself as well, maybe I read wrong, so I hopped back on the internet and started to dig deeper. Ever since I was very young I've been good with technology, first, it was fixing TVs or VCRs, and being good at video games, but then when my father gave me my very first PC I realized my true calling. Not to brag but I'm amazing at hacking, coding, and most importantly Rainbow 7 Siege. I'll always appreciate my father for putting me on my path, even after he passed serving the country during a "training exercise" He left enough money through both life insurance and savings for my mother and me to live comfortably all these years. But I supplement my income through website design/logo making, all in all, my life isn't too bad.

  Enough about me though, I've managed to pull up the ORS and police records, "What it says here is fraudulent inventory listing as well as an anonymous tip-off about malpractice and tax evasion." I said. "These are both from credible sources such as the ORS database and the XPD records." There was a somber silence in the voice channel. "So.. so.. what does that mean for D and his family?" Jo asked in a dry voice.

DL

  Until you take a moment to look, you never realize how grainy your ceiling is, with multiple tiny little bumps, dotting the eggshell-colored paint. Honestly, I don't even know why I'm thinking about that right now. I just don't want to consider what my father just told me.

7 Hours Ago

  I creep forward with the bat tightly clutched in my hand. I move as silently as I possibly can, keeping close to the wall to avoid the oak floorboards from creaking. As I move towards the sound I realize it's coming from my parent's room. My heart begins to race, I didn't think this through. What if it is a burglar? What if he has a gun? How many are there? How big are they? Can I handle them with just this bat? As my mind races and my heart gallops, I make it to my parent's door and put my ear close to hear what's happening.

  "Do you think I would do something like that!! Come on Deborah you know me, I've run the straight and narrow this whole time, this is a setup" My heart clenches, Deborah?? That's my mother's name, and that deep slow voice, I'd recognize anywhere, my father! Do what, what are they talking about? "But that's beside the point, setup or not, they've got you on the hook baby," my mom said with a shaky voice. "What are we gonna do? What about Damian? What about your two daughters? The ORS has frozen your funds, we only have enough in cash to last a few months, and that's if we don't fight this case in court. On top of that, you will be sent to prison if we don't fix this!" She cried. "I know… I know, but we will get through this I swe- WHO'S There!!" My dad said with a strong tone, as he strode forward and swung open the door.

  And there I was bat clenched to my chest, neck stuck out, and caught eavesdropping, red-handed. My dad and I stood there, frozen in place, staring at each other in awkward silence, for what seemed like an eternity. Until finally he heaved a heavy sigh, opened the door wide, and said to me come in, you're old enough to hear this.  

Present Time

  So apparently my father was set up, his importation of hair and face products from overseas was too profitable, and he wasn't sharing the pie. So his adversaries, whose names he refused to share with me, decided to get him out of the picture. This leads us to the present situation, where we will have to leave this house, with barely enough money to survive for half a year. My father will be facing 4-8 years of imprisonment, and my acceptance to the performing arts university has been revoked in light of "recent events" so… yeah the ceiling, the bumps on the ceiling. *Bzz*bzz*bzz*

My phone rings again for the 80th time, whether it's a call or a message I don't know, my friends have been ringing nonstop for the past few hours, I guess they heard about what happened. I'm not in the mood to talk to them right now though, I just want to sleep, I thought, as I closed my eyes. My mind began to wander as I slowly started to drift to sleep. A voice filled with charisma and hope-filled my head, the first nobles were once thieves and murderers, and the law was made to stop people from reaching their full potential, why should we be satisfied with our lot in life? Even if I don't deserve more, I STILL WANT IT!! How about you give it some thought, and hit me back later, this could change everything D, everything." My heart leaped into my throat as my mind swept away the fog of grogginess. I flipped over and scrambled to find my phone. Scrolling through the list on my contacts I press a name then hit call.

Stacy Hall

  "Girlfriend you need to leave him, how can you let him cheat on you and not do something about it?!" My friend yelled at me over the phone. "I know Tricia but what can I do? He has all the power and money, I'm just a trophy, and I have to think about my daughter too, what type of life will she live without me." I retorted,  there was silence on the other end before my friend of 10 years sighed, "I honestly don't know babe, but if you ever decide to leave, and you need a place to stay, my doors are always open to you." I almost choked up when she said that to me, but I managed to let out a thank you, before making an excuse to hang up. I got to the bathroom to do my morning routine, after which I checked myself twice over in the mirror. Making sure that I looked perfect, "Am I that repulsive?", I murmured to myself as I exited the bathroom and took the elevator to the dining area. I'm a 5'7 woman with hazel brown curly and flowing hair, an almost perfectly symmetrical face, and curves in all the right places. What makes me ugly? The fact that I'll be 40 this year? No there's nothing wrong with me, there's something wrong with him, I thought as I steeled myself while the elevator doors shuttered open.

  "Ohh look at Mrs. Loudmouth, how's the morning treating you, honey?" Sam said with condescension. "Don't start this shi+ this early Sam," I responded in a tired tone. "Well honey this "shi*" that you're talking about, it cost us 100 grand to keep my old friend's mouth shut, do you want to ruin us?!?!"  "Why don't you just have him off-ed as you've done to so many others?" I replied snappily. "What type of monster do you think I am," he responded, in what I assume is supposed to be a taken aback expression. Whatever I thought, I sat primly in my chair and picked up a piece of toast. "Can we just keep it together, at least until Margaret leaves the house for the day?" I asked with a sad expression. Whether he felt remorse for all the years of emotional abuse, or simply because he loves his daughter, Sam's face softened, before grunting in response and sitting down to eat. 

  Just as we agreed, Margaret flew out of the elevator, looking beautiful, with a gorgeous smile on her face. "Why are you so happy?" I asked, with a slight smile on my face. "Oh nothing much," Margaret responded, "I made a new friend yesterday, and I'm going to go meet him now," she said as she grabbed a piece of toast and blew both her father and me a kiss before running out the door. "Did she say HE!" Sam asked as he stood up to chase after her. "Oh let her live!" I said sharply "I'm only trying to protect her, men are wolves you know!" He griped. You're telling me, I thought, as I rolled my eyes.

Jojo

  "So basically his life's in shambles right now, and if I can try to help out, I will," I explained to my mom at breakfast. "Well you're a good friend, and a good man, just like your father." She said while smiling. There was a comfortable silence before I got up and had to head to work. 

  Load the truck, drive across town, unload the truck, get a signature, and drive back to the warehouse. Rinse, and repeat. Not the most exciting work but it's good money, and a consistent job, that's what I need most right now, I thought as I turned down a narrow road. Ohh fuc* this I thought, there's barely enough room for the truck to move without scraping the container against the brick walls. Luckily I've been doing this for years I murmured as I began to masterfully maneuver the truck down the road. As I was halfway down the narrow road a car screeched to a halt in front of me, feeling a sense of foreboding I began to back up, but another car pulled out behind me. Faster than I could think, 4 people hopped out 2 from each ca, and ran rapidly towards me. They all had black masks on, with the outline of a skeleton on them. One of them aimed a gun at my head and said, "Get the fuxk out unless you want to see your brain on the fuxking windshield." I'm ashamed to say I froze up, not knowing what to do I trembled and said, "Please, please don't kill me." "Ain't no one gonna kill you fool," one of them responded while laughing. "We only came here to lift some of the stuff you have in that truck of yours." "Yeah," another said. "It seemed a little heavy so we decided to lighten the load!" This got a round of laughter from the group of men, who didn't seem too much older than me. The one who originally pointed the gun at me, who I assume is the leader, said, "ok enough talk load u,p and roll out." "Yessir" they all responded, as they commandeered my keys, took as much of the inventory as they could fit in their car,s and began to set off. 

  Right before the leader left, he turned to me and threw back my keys as he said, "Don't feel too bad bro, a lot worse happens every day. Oh, and when you file the police report be sure to let them know this hit was the work of The G613." Then as soon as they came, they were gone. It seemed like forever but the whole process took less than 20 minutes. As soon as they were gone I called my boss, who chewed me out and blamed me, (to my outrage) before calling the police. I described the robbers to the best of my recollection and gave their name of choice to the officers. The worst part of the whole ordeal is that they think I may be connected to the crime! So I was also under investigation, or I would have been if my boss hadn't vouched for me. I thought it was out of goodwill, but he just needed me to work longer tomorrow. As I walk to the bus stop and prepare to go home, I try my best to hold it together. I can't show weakness. I have to be strong for my friends, and my family… but right now I just really, really want to cry.

Terrance

  As the saying goes there is always a silver lining to every tragedy, I think as I choose a seat at a local cafe. Although it is horrible and unfortunate that DL is going through such a predicament right now, if not for this situation would he have agreed to part-take in my little plan? "I'm waiting for someone," I said to the waiter who came to greet me. No, the answer is he wouldn't have. This is good, so good I almost feel bad for being so happy. Just with all the things that are happening from DL's family situation, to Jo getting robbed, and the group's natural skills and aptitudes this plan of mine is seeming more and more feasible! I recently had a small "adventure" myself and my adventure is the lynchpin to setting off the domino effect of this plan in my head. I don't know if in the story of the  life I will be significant or not, but in my book, I AM the main character, so begins my saga, I think as a smile spreads across my face and I stand to greet the person I've been waiting for, "Hey Margaret!"