Zero Degrees Part 1 - By Leo Sullivan Page 0,1

to be in his late twenties or early thirties. His green eyes darted around the room as if he expected someone to jump out at him. The entire time he kept his hand on his gun holster.

“Yeah, I killed my mom’s boyfriend. His body’s in the kitchen under the sink, leaking like that busted pipe. I got tired of watching him feed my mother lies, alcohol and drugs. He would beat her constantly and he couldn’t keep his hands off me.”

Officer Greyson and his partner exchanged puzzled expressions of disbelief. Then Officer Stephens took off for the kitchen in a hurry.

The older, black cop stared at me with sympathetic eyes as he stepped further inside the house. I guess he expected for me to cry or show some compassion, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. How could I show an emotion that I never felt for Goody; an emotion that he’d never felt for me? It actually felt good to kill him. Fuck crying. What did that shit solve anyway? Besides, I’d cried for too long. From that moment on it was all about action.

“How old are you young lady and what is your full name?” Officer Greyson asked. Again I thought I detected some sympathy in his voice; something no man had ever shown me, except my dad. At that moment I thought about my father. I missed him dearly as I gazed at the silver bracelet on my arm. Inside a heart shaped pendent was a picture of him in his uniform with a big smile decorating his handsome face. I looked up at the cop and finally answered.

“I’m fourteen and my name’s Zeaira Rowe. No middle name.”

He looked at me like he was stunned and mumbled something under his breath as he shook his head solemnly. I didn’t really look much older than that. It was just my demeanor that made people think I was an adult at times. Standing at 5’2, puberty had already started to set in. My body was starting to blossom in ways that made men take notice. I weighed an already shapely 125 lbs., but my baby face should’ve told the truth. Everybody I knew told me that I had an old soul in a young body. Well at fourteen, I felt old, but I didn’t look it. My skin was a creamy tone of caramel, with a few freckles that splashed across my nose. My light brown eyes hid behind long, curly lashes that women often wished for. My hair was long, dark brown and naturally curly. I wore it stylishly combed over my left shoulder, or I would let it cascade down my back. My mom would sometimes straighten it once a week with a pressing comb. All the boys at school thought I was fine, but I wasn’t into them. The girls didn’t really like me and I didn’t care because the feeling was mutual. My only friend was a dude named Buff.

The younger cop walked back into the room after inspecting Goody’s dead body. His face had paled when he said, “The victim is dead and she shot him several times, including in the groin area. The floor is cluttered with spent nine millimeter shells.”

“Damn,” Officer Greyson grunted and furrowed his brow with a deep crease and asked, “Where’s your mother?” He did a visual sweep of the room. I could sense his cop’s mind churning. He reached into his pocket, took out some latex-gloves, slid them on and picked up the gun I had sat on the table.

“Probably on her way here from work. She works at the BP on Cliffdale.”

That is when I noticed more cops enter the apartment, bringing with them the chaos of police madness. A Forensics Team walked in followed by the paramedics. Suddenly an elderly man who was ghostly white entered the house. On his suit coat read, “Corners Office”.

Officer Greyson looked at his partner and nodded toward the elderly man. “That’s the medical examiner. Fill him in as best you can while I talk with the girl.”

Stephens nodded and walked off.

That was a waste of time and money since I’d already told them I did it. They didn’t need to collect any evidence. My confession was all they needed. Officer Greyson cleared his throat as the other officers went about their business securing the crime scene.

“So, tell us exactly what happened here Zeaira. Since you’re a minor I won’t put this in the report. I can’t use anything unless a parent or