Autumn was close. The leaves danced around to the rhythm of the wind and created a lively painting.

The painting was beautiful indeed. Leaves of different shapes and sizes had been justified by the browns and maroons on their surfaces.

Orange, red and green flew about with no direction. Still the brightness of the day was darkened by the black on every human in Nathaniel Williams' funeral.

The presence of certain individuals baffled me. 

I had never seen a good number of them. 

Family, friends, colleagues and neighbours all gathered round a coffin with either tears creeping out their eyes or just a stone cold face. 

I held Tina closely. The little girl's eyes had been drenched in tears. 

She looked sick and I did all I could to comfort her. Even I knew it was going to take a miracle.

The child had seen the worse. Her mother had taken her for therapy when she complained about seeing Nathaniel in her dreams. After a while she was taken to a church nearby to be 'cleansed'. 

Only God could help the damsel.

Nathan was a fine man. I did not love him, but I was sure I liked him. 

 I took a glance at everything around me. I was tired of attending funerals. I wondered what mine would look like.

The priest went on and on with holy words. In my boredom, I stared at Nathan's coffin.

It was beautiful. It was solid black and had inscriptions and designs all over it. I thought of the amazing craft about to be buried. The body in it was going to rot anyways. 

I wondered what Nathan would look like. 

I had thoughts. Stupid thoughts.

The funeral took place in Nathaniel Williams' large home and not the tiny apartment his mother, Mrs Beckley lived in. 

The living room in Nathaniel's home was covered in luxury.

White and gold danced about the large living room. Two chandeliers hung lazily at the far ends of the room. The couches were dressed to suit the white aura. 

There was all I could remember of Nathaniel. Pictures here and there. Awards he boasted of the night we had dinner together and even a picture of the blonde boy taken in high school was somewhere around the corner. 

I laughed at his past. I took a closer look at the framed picture of pleasant history.

Tina perched beside me. Her once tired eyes were widened by curiosity in an instant.

"Who's that? No way it can't be... Is that... " Tina picked up a picture of Nathan in the ninth grade. 

"That's right. It's Nathan." I told the little one.

Tina glanced at me and for the first time in days she smiled "He must have had a breakthrough or something. All I see is a short, fat, blonde kid."

"You're right. It's a great transformation. A miracle in fact. This was so not the guy I had a date with."

"I'm gonna miss him Ramona."

I hugged the red-haired angel before she burst into tears.

"I'm going to miss him too." I said.

"Excuse me. Are you Ramona Taylor?" A voice asked from just a step away. 

It was an old lady. A classy old lady. Her silver hair was parked properly to form a neat bun which she had decorated with a flowery hair clip. Her black dress was lace and silk. Her necklace and bracelets told more than a word. A string of diamonds clustered with gold charms and pendants were what she wore for adornments. She wore black leather gloves and her stiletto heels shone like black marble.

"Yes. I am." I replied the lady.

"Hi. I've heard so much about you. I'm Nathaniel's mother."

I was shocked. How could a man have two mothers?

"I'm sorry. I don't get it. I thought Mrs Beckley..."

"Right Mrs Beckley. She's more like his caretaker. She's his god mother if you will. I was away for seven years and Mrs Beckley, what an angel she was, took my son in. I'm his biological mother. I know it was wrong for me to abandon my fifteen year old son. But he was grown up already and I was a business woman. I'm still a business woman by the way. I had to travel. I never got to stay in a country for more than a month or two. I got tired of seeing Nathaniel change schools. 
I wanted him to become a better person than I was. I had to leave him behind and so I found Mrs Beckley."

She sipped clear liquid from the wine glasses she held and continued. 

"You see it's quite fascinating actually. When I met her she had just moved to Los Angeles, although she didn't say where she was from originally. That's not important. Anyways, I was working in Los Angeles when I met her and in a few months we became good friends. She helped me with a lot of things and then one day, while I was sharing some of my difficulties with her, she offered to help me take care of my boy. People said I was stupid for leaving my child in the hands of someone I barely knew, but what choice did I have? I was a forty year old woman with a lot on her plate. If I'd placed my job before Nathan, he'd have hated me for moving him from one place to another. He would have been a lonely soul with no place to go. I had a good feeling about Mrs Beckley. I felt that she was meant to be a better mother than I ever was. She was a teacher at a high school, when I met her, so I had a certain conviction that she was a guru in all aspects involving children. So I left my son with her. Now everyone calls her Nathan's mom. Mph!"

I was not interested in a number of things she said but there was nothing I could do. I just stood there and listened. Her accent did make me believe she was Nathan's mother. It sounded just like his.

The white-haired diva took another gulp of the crystal clear wine and sadly continued. 

"Beckley deserves to be called Nathan's mother,you know? But I provided everything. Feeding, clothing, a good education, you name it. All that, old hag ever did was put a roof over my son's head. I'm the mother! I gave him life and now he's gone and it's all her fault!"

Soon the old lady was in tears.

After a while, I told Tina to find her mom while I tried to comfort the elderly lady. We sat on one of the couches nearby.

In a few minutes, a pretty tall brunette walked in on us. Her blue eyes pierced the soul and her lips were so red I only took a glance at her.

I recognized her but to my surprise, so did Nathan's newly discovered mother.

"Suzy? Suzy is that you?! Oh my goodness. It's been such a long time. How are you doing?"

Daisy took the hands of the old lady and smiled after she had given me a brief and somewhat cold greeting. 

For a moment, the aura around us changed and I had to break the silence.

"So, you two know each other?" I asked.

Though I directed the question to Daisy, the old woman answered in excitement.

"Yes. Yes. We do. This pretty young lady used to date my son. That was about six years ago. I'm not sure anymore. It might have been five or was it four...Nathan and Suzy was such a lovely couple though they were just teens. I thought they were going to end up getting married. Sadly they didn't."

After a long string of silence the old lady rubbed my palms.

"But sweetie I am glad that you got to meet my Nathan." She said.

"Sure. I'm glad I did too." I replied in confusion.

I turned to Daisy McQueen as she sat quietly with a glass of wine and the worried look of a thief that had been caught red-handed.

"So...Daisy, you didn't tell me about your relationship with Nathan and besides Suzy? What's the origin of that name?"

"Um...Well Ramona, I didn't want you to get all worked up with my past...I wanted to give you a chance with Nathan. You know? Besides I thought you and Nathan were perfect for each other. And Suzy is a name I was called a long time ago before I moved to L.A. It's my middle name actually. My middle name's Susan. You're not mad at me are you? No hard feelings yeah?" The slick brunette asked with a smile on her face.

"Nah! I'm cool. Hey, everyone has got a past right? No problem girl, we're cool." I said with a smile on my face, while my heart was being squished by the green-eyed monster.

Just then the rich silver-haired lady bumped in our conversation.

"But Suzy, you and Nathan did meet in L.A. Your high school...I always thought you lived in L.A a long time before you met my son and when was your name ever Daisy? I mean, when you and I met, you said your name was..."

"That's...um...That's a story for another time Jane. Bye."

In confusion, Daisy McQueen escaped the moment of interrogation and disappeared into the crowd in black. 

The old lady was lost in thought but soon reached planet earth after a few minutes. She looked at me and smiled.

"You know, you're as beautiful as he described. Skin like caramel, hazel coloured eyes...just beautiful! I always told Nathaniel that true beauty was in a person's character and not their features. I guess he listened to me for the first time. He never listens to me. Ever since I left him it was like he had replaced me with Beckley.  I hope he had forgiven me before he passed on. I'm sorry for the endless tales. I'm Mrs Jane Williams by the way. You can call me Jane."

"It's nice to meet you." I told her.

Her name was one of the few important things that were worth listening to. I wondered why she had not started our conversation with it.

I stared at her.

She was the total opposite of sturdy.

Maybe sorrow over her son's death had caused her talkativeness and somewhat reckless behaviour. Her eyes were a lighter shade of brown which was different from Nathan's blue eyes. Maybe Nathan's father had blue eyes.

"Dear I need you to do me a favour. I need you to keep an eye on Mrs Beckley. Nathaniel always said she was strange." She said.

"Strange? In what way?" I asked.

"Nathaniel didn't say. But he always kept yelling about how I had left him with a psycho. How I was a bad person but she was worst. I don't know. I know you might think I'm just making up stories out of grief but sweetie for Nathaniel's sake don't let Mrs Beckley slip out of your hands. The cause of my son's death must be solved. Promise me you'll do your best."

"I'll try Jane."

Mrs Williams took a long look around the room and smiled at me.

"I know you didn't love my boy. You must have liked him but you had your eyes on someone else. Isn't that right?" she asked. 

My face felt hot. I had to make up something. How did she know?

"I...I...Jane the...Nathan was..."

"You don't have to make excuses dear. A fellow woman knows. I've been watching you for a while now, even before we started our conversation. I see the way you look at the detective. Wesley Stark? He's a fine man."

I blushed while Mrs Jane continued.

"Don't let him go love. Put your worries and your fears behind you. You also need his help. Admit you need him. Don't wait for the right time, because, the right time may never come. I lost Nathaniel's father for this same reason."

"Why didn't he come for the funeral?" I asked.

Mrs Jane looked at me and smiled once more.

"He's dead." She replied.

"I'm so sorry. I really am...I..."

"No need to apologize sweetheart. It's alright. I just regret the fact that I let him go before he passed on and now my Nathaniel's gone too. Don't wait darling. Let him know how much you love him, while he's still with you." She advised me.

I wished it was as easy as she claimed it to be.

Just then, Wesley approached us. Mrs Jane stood up and looked back at me before she left.

"Oh well I've had too much to drink. I'll head home now or I might just get myself another glass of wine. It's a sad day after all. Don't forget what I said dear. Don't wait for the right time."

Wes sat beside me as soon as Mrs Jane stumbled out of sight.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"Just a long story. Something about keeping an eye on Mrs Beckley and other crazy suggestions. I'll tell you about it once we're out of here."

I could not follow Mrs Jane's advice. It was easier this way.

Back at the police department a few days later, every one tried their best to find Nathan's killer.

I also helped as much as I could. After all, I had made a promise to Mrs Jane.

I arrived at the department when Mrs Beckley was being questioned. 

I did not see a killer in her. All I saw was a nice lady who really cared about me. I looked through a glass pane at another room with two chairs and a table, while I stood in a rather empty room with other cops. 

I was told that investigated suspects could not hear a thing from the other side but victims, lawyers and cops who stared at them through the glass plane could hear every word the suspects sputtered out of their lips. 

I wished Mrs Beckley could hear me tell her how sorry I was for Nathan's death. 

She claimed to have seen Nathan before he left her home on the day he died. 

I could see Mrs Beckley's eyes. I felt sorry for those blue eyes. They no longer held excitement of any kind. They were sad. Sad eyes soaked in grief and pain.

She was no killer.

"Mrs Beckley, are you Nathaniel's biological mother?" Wes asked.

He had gone too far.

Mrs Beckley raised her head. Her almond shaped eyes were filled with tears.

"I see you've met the queen. Nathan's real mother must have approached you. She left the boy with me for years and in time he started to call me 'mother'. I fed him, nurtured him, trained him and took care of him like a real mother would. The woman, who calls herself his mother, had fifteen years with the boy and I had just nine years with him. It's not my fault he loves me more than her. I didn't want that. I just wanted the boy's happiness. Yes. Yes. I did. I may not be his real mother but every day with him was a gift from God. I have always been alone until I met him. Now I'll hear his voice but he'll be unseen." She burst into tears.

Wesley asked her a few more questions and decided to let her go. She was clean. 

I hugged her and told her how sorry I was on Wesley's behalf.

It was the first time I saw her cry and it hurt me. She just smiled and walked towards the door. I pondered on it all.

While I stared at Mrs Beckley, something else caught my attention at the police station.

I saw a girl in a large pink ball gown. The tips of her dark hair had been curled and extensions were added.

She was pretty. She looked like a princess from a fairy tale. Her makeup had been soiled by her tears. Her white corsage was soaked in red. Her wrist was wrapped in soggy bandages soaked by blood.

There was another young man beside the princess in a pink dress. He also had dark hair like the princess and he had the look of fury crawling on every inch of his face. He was taller than the blonde and his green eyes shone while his hands were wrapped firmly about his black tuxedo. 

Stark stood beside me.

"People do crazy things in the name of prom. You won't believe me if I told you the girl tried to get the corsage out of a grinding machine while it was turned on. She claims she didn't want the blonde guy, who is her new boyfriend to be disappointed. She got her corsage alright. Her ex, the green-eyed guy found out and started a fight with the new boyfriend who gave her the corsage. One thing led to another and now someone's hand is in a bag. Just called an ambulance...It'll be here any minute. Brutal! I've always hated prom." Wes said.

 He claimed to hate prom, but I was sure I hated it more than he did.