Kim had known she was adopted since she knew the difference between black and white. It was easy to tell that her parents, the ones who raised her, did not give birth to her. They had two other children but all were treated equally. Kim however didn’t feel like she really belonged as part of the family. Sure she was happy to have them, they were nice people who loved her dearly. Except there was that empty feeling inside of her. That feeling where a large whole exists but nothing will ever be able to fill it. That’s what it was like for her.

Once she turned twenty-three she told her parents she wanted to transfer colleges. It took some convincing because they wanted her close to home in Iowa, but she told them her reasoning. She let them know she was determined to find out who her parents were. They of course knew that this day would come so they agreed to allow her to transfer for her last year in school. They bought her an apartment on the upper-class side of the city and even made sure her white Bentley Continental was polished in security guarded parking garage nearby.

Yes she’d grown up with the good things in life but those things didn’t matter to her. Even though she wore designer clothes and always seemed a bit too prim and proper. Some where deep down in her she felt this urge to be wild and crazy, to just have fun. Yet she was stuck inside the cage she’d built in order to fit what her family was. Being in L.A. she hoped that it would help her open up some more. She’d been there for a week now, trying to locate her parents whereabouts.

She’d found out on her sixth day that her father had left the country and there was no way of contacting him or even finding out if he was still alive. Wasn’t that oh so wonderful for her? She was left at that dead end, so she went down the road to find her mother. Now on day eight she was sitting in small coffee shop with a warn cup set between her hands. She watched the door diligently for the person she was to meet there at two o’clock. It was now three o’clock. She was not giving up that easily, she’d wait until she couldn’t wait any longer.

Sighing to herself as she thought of all the reasons she could be there. She was scammed by someone who liked to pray on young women like herself. She was given the wrong information or the person had seen her and decided they no longer wanted to speak to her. They knew she would be wearing her hair up in a messy bun with a red rose pinned to her hair. Glancing up she noticed an older gentleman walk in, he looked to be in his late forties or so with graying hair. She watched as he looked around before his eyes landed on her. He smiled as he walked toward her, this was it.

Sitting up a bit straighter she clasped the cup in her hands a bit tighter. The man looked a little scruffy, as if he hadn’t showered in a few days. When he sat down, she found that to be a fact. In order to not be rude she did her best to smile pleasantly. “Carl Jackson?” She asked hopeful. He nodded as if it were no big deal while rubbing his coffee colored cheek. “You look like your mama.” His voice was deep and husky which made her heart jump slightly, she hadn’t expected such a commanding voice to come from him.

“My mom? Really? Do you know where she is?” She was impatient to get her answers which caused him to chuckle. “Slow down Miss. You want your answers and I’ll give them to you, however they may not be what you want them to be. So do you really want them?” His eyes narrowed as he leaned forward making her lean back slightly. “O-of course. That’s what I came here for. I want to find out who my mother is. I want to meet her at least once.” Her voice had quivered but surely gained strength again.

Nodding his head slowly he reached into his pocket producing a tattered wallet. Opening it up he flicked through a few things before pulling out a rectangle with obvious folds. He slid it toward her with the picture face up. There in the picture was a woman appearing to be in her mid twenties leaning against what looked like a Hot Wheels car blown up. Kim noticed the woman had a swollen belly underneath her overalls. As she studied the face that resembled hers in more ways than one she felt her eyes begin to sting.

“Wh-when can I meet her?” She asked looking up at the man who now had a grave look on his face. “You can keep the picture.” His voice was nearly a whisper now, “It’s all I have of her. She was a good woman. She wanted to keep you. Everyone was excited to see the little baby someone as beautiful as her could create. She had a picture of you and her in the hospital, but I don’t know where that went. You were one of the pretties babies I’ve ever seen. She felt the same.”

Kim’s eyebrows furrowed as she listened to him speak. He was saying ‘was’ and ‘had’, what did that mean exactly? What was he trying to say to her? Picking up the picture and waving it she spoke in a low but urgent voice, “Where is she? I need to know. She’s the only person that can help me understand who I am. I grew up with people that aren’t even my real family, they’re just imitations. They took care of me, but what I needed was her. Where is she?”

Carl reached out placing his hand on hers to calm her down. He shook his head slowly, “I’m sorry hon, she’s not with us anymore. About five years ago, her life was taken. I can give you the address to the cemetery but that’s the most I can do for you. I’m sorry.” Kim felt tighten as he patted the back of her hand.

This couldn’t be happening. Surely it couldn’t be. Her mother had been dead since she was eighteen and she’d never get the chance to know the woman that had given birth to her. She covered for a moment as she held back her tears. “What happened to her?” She asked quietly unable to meet the man’s gaze any longer. She heard him shift in his seat as the chair scraped on the floor slightly.

“Her car crashed. They said it was an accident, a freak accident. Except those closest to her, those like myself, don’t believe that. For the past five years we’ve been trying to get enough evidence to prove that it wasn’t an accident but we haven’t been able to.” Kim looked up to see that he was staring down at the table top. It was clear her mothers death still made him upset. “What can I do to help?”

His head snapped up and he looked rather irritated now, “No!” Everyone turned to look at them and she smiled apologetically. Once no one was really staring at them she looked back at the man who sat across from her. Lowering his voice several notches he leaned in just a little, “I’m sorry but you can’t do that. If you get involved you’re only going to end up hurt. I’m not going to let that happen. Just keep your nose out of it. I have to go.” Kim tried to protest but he ignored her as he stormed out of the coffee shop.

Standing up grinding her teeth, Kim really did her best to try and put things together. How could he not want her to help? She was sure that she could get the information needed one way or another. Just because she was a woman didn’t mean anything. her lips, Kim left the coffee shop with the picture of her mother in her hand. She was going to make sure it was put some where safe once she got home.

After the incident at the coffee shop, Kim couldn’t sit by idly and wait to find out what may or may not happen. She had to become apart of the search for what happened to her mother. She needed to know more about her and the only ones who could tell her that, were those closest to her. How exactly would she find out who they were though? Carl didn’t want her apart of that world but of course she needed to be apart of it. With some searching on the internet she came across the news articles involving her mother.

There were pictures showing the accident of a twisted metal heap that was once a car. It had rolled so many times that people lost count. The articles said the car had malfunctioned and the cops practically blamed her mother for the accident along with other people. They had said it was the racers fault for being a racer. Looking a little more into the racer information, she found out her mother was part of some illegal racing ring. In fact, several people around her had been arrested more than once for racing.

Rubbing her temples after hours staring at the screen, Kim felt hopeless. Everything seemed to have no real answers for her. When she was ready to close everything down, the picture caught her attention on the article. It was the picture of a body shop called Classic Song Auto Body. It was a rather cheesy sounding name for a shop but she figured she could start there.

It took a while for Kim to find the building she was looking for since she still didn’t know L.A. well at all. She had to ask directions several times which made her search linger on late into the day. The sun was starting to set making the sky turn oranges and purples. Biting her lip she hoped that the shop would still be open and someone could help her there. If not, she had no idea where else to possibly go.

Turning down a road she looked at the buildings she passed. Her eyes finally found the sign she was looking for. A little thrill ran to her as she parked in one of the three empty spaces in front of the shop. It wasn’t in the greatest neighborhood, but there were other shops around with people inside buying various things. Taking a deep breath she grabbed her purse as she stepped out of the car.

She noticed that the garage doors were open, so that meant someone was inside. Her heels clicked against the pavement as she walked toward the openings hoping to see someone. A glow from some light source was just visible through a car window with its hood up. There was still enough natural light for the lights in the garage to be off but plenty of shadows were casted about to create a rather gloomy feeling there.

Rubbing her arms she walked inside looking around her at the various tools and equipment. “You’re definitely not in Iowa…” She murmured while stepping over something laying in the middle of the floor. “Hello?” She called out waiting for an answer. Nothing came her way. “Hello? Is anyone in he-” something clanked behind her making her jump and whip around so that a strand of hair caught to her glossed lip.

A figure of a man stood not too far from her, but his face was covered in shadows and he looked rather intimidating like that. Kim smiled as she took cautions steps backward. “Uhm, hi… I’m, uh, Kim. Kimberly Kings. I was just, uh, wanting to know something. I-I wasn’t sure if maybe you cou- ahh!” She squealed as she fell backwards  right onto her backside. She groaned while the male figure laughed at her expense.

Lights clicked on finally chasing the shadows away. She looked to see what had tripped her and it was a car jack. Of course it would be her luck to trip in a place like this. “Take my hand.” The voice brought her attention up to the face that was now well lit. He was particularly good looking, even with black smudges on his face as if he had wiped his had across it several times. “Eh?” She’d been confused by his looks for a moment before finally smiling at him and nodding.

With his help she stood up and dusted herself off. “Looks like your skirt is ruined.” He commented as he walked past her to stand in front of the car with the light attached to its open hood. “So what brings you here?” She was trying to wipe off her skirt but was failing miserably at it, “I just wanted to see if the person who was here five years ago is still here.”

When she looked up from rubbing at her skirt he was standing a foot from her which caused her heart to skip a few beats. “W-was that you?” She hoped he said yes because it would make things easier for her. He nodded in response as he wiped at his hands with a towel that looked to have been used more times than it should have been. “Ah, well, I just wanted to know if you knew my mother. Sophia Sandiago?” She watched as his body tensed.

“What about her?” He’d become wary of her and she could tell. “Uhm, well I just wanna know who she was. She was my mother after all. Carl, I’m not sure if you know him, said I look a lot like her.” She was hopeful that would pry some information out of him. Well he did start to eye her carefully after she spoke which must be a good thing.

He scoffed, “You’re Sophia’s daughter?” He shook his head while turning around to shove the jack to the side with his foot. Watching it roll across the floor she nodded slowly, “Yes. She gave me up for adoption.” The hood of a car slamming made her head jerk up to look at him with his hands pressed against the one that had been open earlier.

“I knew her, but I don’t believe you so I’m not going to tell you anything. Besides, I heard her daughter was beautiful as a baby and should have grown up that way as well. You,” his hand moved up and down in her direction, “I don’t see it. Sorry.”

Geez, wasn’t he a giant stick in the mud. She rolled her eyes pursing her lips as he moved away from the car to fold his arms across his chest. “Anything else? If not I have to get back to work.” Kim felt like slapping him but she maintained herself like a lady. Smiling sweetly she nodded, “There’s plenty more. I don’t know what proof you need that I’m Sophia’s daughter, but I am. I don’t know why you have to be so rude when I just met you but understand this, I’m simply trying to find out the truth about who I’m suppose to be. So please, whatever it is, tell me what you know about her. I need to know.”

his lips he looked her over again before speaking, “You’re a rich girl right?” She was confused by this and opened to question him but he held up a hand to stop her. “I don’t care what you have to say. If you want to know about her, hire someone. I’m not here for you to question like a criminal. Now you can leave. Goodbye.”

She felt her eyes burn with tears but she didn’t let them spill over. “What is wrong with you? I just want to know what kind of person she was and you act like I’m trying to steal her from you. She was my mother! I have the right to know what color she liked, what her favorite food was, or what the hell made her smile. I never got the chance to know her and I never will. So stop being an and tell me what I need to know!”

He looked unimpressed by her words but she’d be damned if she was going to let some jerk stop her from getting the information she so desperately needed. He walked toward her which made her tense up while a deep breath. He stood but a few inches from her now and she had to look up at him.

She realized his chocolate brown hair was pulled back into a some sort of odd ponytail that showed off his rather large ears and squared off jaw. He bent down so he could look at her better and tilted his head to the side. “I’ll talk to you when you’re not dressed like an actress out to show off for the cameras. Dress like a normal person and then come back. Make sure you ask for Mason. Got it?”

That wasn’t what she expected but it was promising. Nodding slowly he smirked and backed away from her. “Again, goodbye.” He turned away from her walking toward a door to the right. It must have been connected to the office she parked in front of. It took her a moment to unglue herself from where she stood. Once she was back in her car she squeezed the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. This day had not turned out the way she was hoping.

She was left with more questions than answers. She was left feeling more alone than she ever had before. Not only that, but she had to deal with quite possibly the biggest jerk she ever met. Whatever it took she would get her answers. She had to know if the accident was really just that or if what Carl had begin lead to was true. Could it be that someone had wanted to hurt her mother? Why? What was it that Sophia had given her daughter away to protect her from?