Unusual Circumstances

Mayani slept in, as usual, not waking until after Annie and her kids had left. A few days later, after returning from a visit to her grandmother, Mayani hadn’t been settled in her room for more than ten minutes when the doorbell rang. She didn’t think much of it, remaining at her desk, checking her email. From down the hall, she heard an unfamiliar woman’s voice along with Kaylin’s, though she couldn’t make out what was being said. After a few minutes, footsteps sounded in the hallway. Mayani turned to see Kaylin accompanied by a uniformed policewoman she didn’t recognize. S. Kimball, her name tag read. Hesitantly, Kaylin began. “Mayani, I need you to gather your things and go with Officer Kimball.” Mayani’s heart lurched, a sinking sensation twisting in her stomach, almost making her nauseous. Trying to keep her voice steady, she asked, “What’s going on?” “The captain assigned me to an important surveillance job that’ll keep me gone a lot, so he thought you should be moved,” Kaylin said. “Moved?” Mayani’s panic rose. “But I don’t want to move! Why not just use the monitoring anklet?” “Mayani, please,” Kaylin pleaded, her eyes soft. “This isn’t my decision. I have no control. Just do as you’re told, and don’t make it harder than it is.” “Harder for who?” Mayani shot back, rising to gather her meager belongings. Kimball spoke up. “Being moved around is standard. It’s just the nature of this kind of house arrest.” Mayani studied the officer—short, stout, mean-looking, mid-thirties to early forties, bangs cut too short. “How nice of you to inform me now,” she snapped, then turned back to Kaylin. “If I’m such a burden, couldn’t you have at least warned me?” Kaylin’s expression hardened, serious and a little dubious. “Mayani, I found out about this at the same time you did. It’s out of my hands. Who’s she going to anyway?” she asked Kimball. “Delaney.” “Delaney?” Kimball nodded. “Will they move me back with you after the surveillance job?” “They don’t usually,” Kaylin said. Tears stung Mayani’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “Oh, the ID bracelet,” Kimball said, pulling a new bracelet from her pocket. “Got scissors so I can cut yours off?” Kaylin fetched a pair and handed them over. Mayani watched as Kimball removed the bracelet with Kaylin’s name. When it was off, Kimball went to pocket it. “I want that!” Mayani insisted, voice trembling. “Sorry. No can do.” Kimball snapped the new bracelet on roughly. Mayani glanced helplessly at Kaylin, who stood quietly, somber against the doorframe. “Okay, Nolen. Let’s go,” Kimball said. “My name is Mayani,” she corrected defensively. Kimball motioned her ahead. Once at the front door, Kaylin handed over a file folder. Wordlessly, the three moved to the driveway and the waiting squad car. “You can sit in the front,” Kimball said. “How kind of you,” Mayani muttered. “Come on. Officer Bennet says you’ve been excellent, no write-ups. You’ve barely a month left. You can do this.” “I’d rather stay here. How would you like being bounced from one stranger’s home to another?” “I wouldn’t. But just like you got to know Bennet, you’ll get to know Delaney. She’s a good person.” Mayani climbed into the front passenger seat as Kimball drove. Kaylin leaned down at the open window. “I don’t want to get to know good people,” Mayani said. “I want to stay here.” “But you can’t,” Kimball said firmly. Kaylin straightened and walked to Mayani’s window. “Hey, Mayani, I’m pissed too, but it’s not Kimball’s fault. Let’s not take it out on her, okay?” Reluctantly, Mayani nodded. Kaylin continued, “Delaney’s place still beats a jail cell. Just hang in there.” Tears rolled freely now as Mayani gazed at her. Did Kaylin mean anything by those words, or was it just encouragement? She longed to reach out but didn’t dare. Kaylin’s gaze seemed to pierce her thoughts. Mayani thought she saw a flicker of mist in those dark eyes. Kaylin patted the window rim, smiled weakly at Kimball, and walked away, leaving Mayani to wonder if she’d ever see her again. Officer Ellie Delaney, in her early twenties, was a full-time street cop in uniform. She looked and acted very different from Kaylin—blond, slender, average height, soft-spoken, and laid-back. She seemed more like an aerobics instructor than a police officer. Mayani didn’t find her especially attractive. Compared to the tall, thin, wiry, and muscular Kaylin, Delaney seemed softer, gentler, and less imposing. Kaylin. Oh, Kaylin, how I miss you so. Falling into a deep sadness, Mayani lay on the old couch in Delaney’s small two-bedroom apartment and cried herself to sleep. Footsteps, slamming doors, and faint music drifted through the thin walls, along with voices from the street below. The next morning, after Delaney fitted her monitoring anklet and left for work, Mayani called her grandmother. “Oh, that’s too bad, dear. Where are you?” Nana asked. Mayani gave her the street name. “My goodness, you’re way across town.” “I know, and I hate it, Nana. Be sure to stay in touch with Bella, okay?” “Sure, dear. How’s the officer? She’s not mean to you, is she?” “No, she’s not mean—but she’s not Kaylin either. She basically leaves me alone and has her boyfriend, Les, over a lot. I just hate this apartment building.” “Do you?” “Yes. The walls are paper-thin. I hear everything—coughs, sneezes, even a closet door closing shakes the building. Landscaping starts early; the blowers and mowers make it hard to sleep. The place comes alive at dawn.” “Is it large?” “No, a tiny two-bedroom. I’m sleeping on an old, uncomfortable couch.” “Be strong, sweetheart. Soon you’ll be home.” I’d rather be with Kaylin, Mayani thought. But she’d never had things her way. Why start now? She was just a leaf in the wind, destined to go wherever it blew. Putting on a brave front for her grandmother, she hung up and started her computer. Coffee was the only thing she had for breakfast. Sitting at the kitchen table, she tried to focus on the news—but her thoughts kept drifting to Kaylin.