The 3 Most Wanted

My name is Meg. I am 23 locked up in a county jail for women in California for the rest of my life. Every day is a blur to me but yet so clear to re-live in my head everyday as to why I’m here. I can still hear the screaming for help. I can hear the click of the gun and smell the smoke debris from the gun and it’s fresh. Last summer was supposed to be the summer of all summers. My best friend Mya came all the way from Atlanta. I haven’t seen her for years prior to last summer. That was my right hand man. But time can deceive the people you thought were someone else. To me she still was.. even after what happened. It’s 3 of us. Me, Mya, and Trish. Trish is short for Trisha. Trisha was always the one girl who looked at life as a party every single day. But as for Trisha she disappeared after high school. Maybe changed her life and wanted to not know us anymore. I can’t help but laugh thinking about the time I first tried Hennessy. The face I made when I coughed from the disgusting taste. The smiles that spread across Trish and mya’s face in awe that I finally tried something they thought I was too innocent to try. Yea. I can’t believe I’m here. I had straight A’s and a job at my college. What happened? Let’s go back to June 28th, 2020.

It all started when mya sent me a text.

“Just landed! Come pick me up! Can’t wait to see you, it’s about to be lit!”

As I was wiping my eyes from the amazing sleep I just had, I fell back on my back and smiled at my phone thinking about all the fun we were going to have. The beaches! The boys! The amusement parks! I had so many plans.

I get up, brush my teeth and dance in the mirror in full happiness mode. “Meg, turn that music down!” Yells my mom from downstairs. Wow. I can hear her clearly. The traditional mother daughter relationship of knowing my mother was a strong traditional standard type of mother to where I know I don’t have to worry about anything. Man, I miss that. “Yes mom” I yell back, as I turn it down and text mya that I’m on my way.

I hop in the car, along with the bad feeling I ignored in my stomach. What can it be? Why do I feel so weird? Is it my period? Maybe just one of those days, I thought. As I was driving down the freeway, I cut on the radio. “ Big meek in the building yall, I’m having the wildest party this weekend, all my fine ladies I hope to see you there! The details are posted on my instagram !”

Yeah, I’m not a party girl. So I changed the station. Of course I’m not going to mention this to mya, she wouldn’t even settle in before begging me to drive us to the party.

I finally made it to LAX. I haven't seen her yet. As I’m looking back and forth, I start thinking about that feeling I had. Something kept pushing me back to that feeling. But one thing about me is I question every question. Why? Or why not? So I shake the feeling once again.

“MEGGY !” Mya yells with all the voice she has in her. I fastly turned around and ran over to her with a huge smile, while everyone in the background turned blurry.

“Oh my god you look amazing”! I said to her while she flipped her 30 inch hair and posed in her blue crop top shirt and high waisted jeans that enhanced her figure.

“Like wine, I get finer with time” she says with arrogance. Then that feeling came back, and my smile simmered down, when a tall man with tattoos on his face and neck came behind her and hugged her with a intimidating presence.

“And you are?” I curiously say to remind mya I’m still standing there while she is in complete distraction kissing him.

“Oh, silly me, this is my man, Trevor . We met in Atlanta earlier this year. I figured I’d bring him to meet you”

As she’s standing there looking at my blank face waiting for a response, I shake the feeling again and introduce myself. “Oh hey of course !Nice to meet you, trey. I smiled to lighten up the awkwardness but his tense demeanor was thick. His brown eyes analyzed me. His lips tightly closed together. His light skin with tattoos on it, making his appearance even more bold.

I wasn’t too thrilled about him, but whatever made Mya happy.

We walk out of LAX to my car, when I pull mya to the side while Trevor puts the luggage in the trunk. “Why is he so stand-offish?” I ask. She quickly looks over at him to make sure he isn’t listening. “Just cool it okay? He’s not really a trusting person like that, he will grow on you” she pats my shoulder and proceeds to get in the passenger seat.

We are 30 minutes from my home and getting closer when Trevor taps mya on the shoulder. She lightly jumps in discomfort as she says to me “ Hey Meg, can you get off at this exit? Our Airbnb is located this way”

I quickly turn to face her, face to face in disbelief. “What do you mean your Airbnb?” “ I thought you were staying with me ?” With an uncomfortable shrug look on her face, she replies, “change of plans girlie”.

How could she? This was supposed to be our summer and I just feel like Trevor is taking over it! I'm so mad at her right now.

Tension is building in the car as I turn on this street called basin. She isn’t the same. She’s acting weird. Before she left Atlanta years ago, she was my best friend. The vibe is off. I just can’t put a finger on it. All I could keep thinking was Trevor being here and what that means for our summer. His cold, deep voice trembles as he tells me to park here. I look over and see a tiny red house. “Okay, what now?” I ask.

Mya looks back at Trevor looking for assurance to say something. He opens the car door and gets ready to get out. “Meg, why don’t you come in for a bit. Smoke with us and catch up?” A part of me wanted to say no because I wasn’t a weed fan until she made me one long ago. After she left, I stopped. “I don’t know Mya,I haven’t smoked in forever” I said. She laughs in irritation. “Girl Trevor has the good stuff. It’s been a long time, come on I need it and I used to love getting high with you and Trish, Come on!” She’s convincing me of rekindling old memories that I have been holding on to and wanting back so bad. How can I resist? I look down at the steering wheel thinking. Should I or should I not? The devil wins. “Ok fine” I say to her. I’ve had headaches before. But this headache that came over me as soon as I stepped out of the car felt like something I’ve never felt. A headache of thoughts rushing through my head and it won’t stop. And I just don’t know why.

Walking in, Trevor flops on the couch. “Lock the door behind you” he says to me. So I lock it. Such a cute house. Tiny, yet so clean and well decorated. I sit down to get comfortable and release all of my obsessional thoughts. “I will be back, I need to use the bathroom. Stay here Meg, I want you two to get better acquainted” she happily says seeking attention of both me and Trevor.

Trevor didn’t look so interested. I’m starting to think he just doesn’t like me. I don’t know. I Nod awkwardly at mya to okay the Gesture. As she walks off Trevor looks at me with deep concentration. I look back a few times but I am very nervous. “ So Meg, tell me a little about yourself,” he says. Wow he talks. “ Well, what do you want to know?” I ask. He lays back slowly on the couch and continues to stare at me. “Hmmm, how about you tell me what kind of girl you are” After a moment of silence he passes me the blunt.

What does he mean? What kind of girl am I?

“Um, I mean, I’m the type of girl that keeps to myself”

I said awkwardly as I took two puffs from the blunt. The room gets silent. Trevor breaks the ice with a deep, loud laugh. I couldn’t help but to laugh too. What else can I say? “I like that, it means you play your role” he says. “Yeah I guess you can say that” I reply. That moment made the word “role” play back in my head over and over. As I get up in all nervousness, I let him know I need to check on Mya. He waves at me with one hand and the other is placing the blunt to his mouth. I walk off.

Walking towards the kitchen that is walking straight from the living room, I see Mya walking out of the restroom. “Come here, we need to talk” I whisper to her. “What’s up girl, did he grow on you like I said he would?” The smile on her face led me to believe she really likes this man. I roll my eyes and reply “ It’s hard to like him, he gives me the creeps”. I didn’t want to say that, but I had to be honest. She looks me up and down and laughs biting her lip. “Okay, look let me check on him and then we can talk ok? Stay right here” she says to me as she looks me in my eyes and nods to approve that she’s about to walk away.

She walks away to the living room to talk to Trevor, and I lean across the kitchen counter. I start getting curious. A voice in my head told me to eavesdrop. I start tippy toeing by the wall to listen. I overheard Trevor say, “That wasn’t the plan Mya. Who do you think I am! My time is money. Either do what we planned or we are going to have a big problem in here. She’s perfect for this job.” He says to her in an angry and demanding voice. I can hear his hand grip her shirt hard. I instantly walk out to the living room and Mya pushes his hand off quickly to help him as he snatches away to assure me everything's okay and nothing is happening. Both of their faces were bland. “Mya is everything okay” I ask. I deeply knew it wasn’t but I knew she wouldn’t validate what I clearly know. She snaps back into a smile to lighten the room up. “Yes girl, everything is fine” she says.

Trevor announces to both of us that he heard about the party big meek is having. I act like I didn’t know and always hoped he wouldn’t suggest we go. If he suggests Mya goes, then she suggests I go. “Come on you guys, I hear this party is about to be lit let’s go! “ he says with a little laugh behind it. He grabs mya’s waist and confirms to her that he wants to go. “I don’t see why not” she says very uncomfortably but yet tries her hardest to pull it off. They both stare at me waiting for my response. Don’t do it meg. Jesus why didn’t I listen to that voice in my head. “I don’t know guys” I say. Mya didn’t hesitate to remind me that she’s only out here for two weeks and wants to have fun with her two favorite people. She knew exactly what to say to make me feel like I would be wrong not too. So of course I replied, “You're right. Let’s go” Mya laughs with excitement and says “cool, follow me to the bedroom, you can borrow my dress so we can be the hottest chicks there”. I didn’t say much. I wasn’t dressed for a party, so yes changing is necessary. We walk to the room, and Mya hands me a red dress exposing cleavage and both of my legs and thighs. “I look like an escort” I say to her in shock. “Being hot gets us way more action, just trust me you look amazing” she assures me as she puts on a dress similar to the one I have on.

We arrived at this two story house. So many people outside and even more inside. A little pre-game is well needed. So I took a couple shots of the d'usse I purchased for us on the way here. We all three enter the house and instantly all eyes are on us. It felt incredible having all eyes on me like I was a star. I Just wish someone would have told me I was going to be a star, on the news.

Trevor grabs me and Mya and leads us to the bar.

“Hey look there’s meek” He says as he turns Mya to him. “Remember what I said” he tells her. I hear them but I try to act like I don’t. She straightens her dress and walks back over to me. Something isn’t right. I feel so branded, Like I have to stand here as an advertisement . She fixes my hair as I curiously ask her, “What is he talking about”. She looks guilty. “Look, Meg, Meek has a lot of money. I couldn’t tell you at first but this is business. Trevor is in debt with some folks in Atlanta. Some way we have to get some money out of meek”. I couldn’t believe what she was saying! Is she serious? This isn’t the Mya that I knew. “What?” I asked. Look, Meg, we aren’t kids anymore. I love trevor. Just follow after me and everything should be ok!” She says as she snatched me close by my hand for me to understand. My thoughts couldn’t keep up with my words. I felt so disconnected from what was happening. “Look Meg, we are hot. All we have to do is get him to take us to the other room, that’s it”. She said before she felt comfortable walking towards the target. “Mya, what makes you think he will give us his money!” I said, trying to convince her that she is crazy. “Meg shut your mouth. Let’s go.” She snatches me as she walks towards meek. Her amazing curvy body switched from right to left. Meek immediately catches the bait. “Damn , wait a minute shorty, who are you” he says in a seductive voice as he reaches for her and looks for me to participate. This is my best friend. I can’t back out now. “Yeah, hey sexy how are you?” He says. He leads us to sit down and continues to talk to Mya. “ It’s too noisy in here, let’s move to the next room. Me and my girlfriend are more private type of people” Mya says to him as she strikes his chest with seduction. “Hmm, I like girls that like girls. Would your girlfriend mind having male company?” Says Meech grabbing my waist and looking at my neck like he wants to bite it. I replied yes. As unsure as I am, I feel tipsy and vulnerable to help Mya. I mean she did say she got it under control.

We followed him to a back room. Mya sits on the bed as he walks towards her with lust. I close the door as I look at them both tongue kiss while meech demands me to come and kiss him. Mya looks at me in full sexual interaction and advises me to kiss her too. I can’t believe what I am doing. “Take off your clothes, both of you,” meek says. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.

I look at Mya and Mya looks at me waiting for one of us to do something. “Meek baby, I really want you. But I have to go. I need to get this money” she says while she bites his lip. “What money? You ain’t going nowhere I got all the money you need” he says as he pulls her dress down. “Show me the money,” she says. He walks over to the side of the bed and lifts the mattress. There beholds big stacks of money. “Here it is baby” he says in excitement to lay Mya down. Mya rolls on top of him and grands her purse. She reaches into her purse as I’m staring at them wondering what to do. Remember that feeling I had? Now it’s raw in my face as a person. Mya is holding a gun. She points it at meech and demands him shut up and put his hands up. I cover my mouth from screaming in disbelief. What is she doing! She yells, “ Meg, get the money”. My whole physical being felt like a dream. I’m witnessing my best friend who used to bake cookies with me, paint my toes, and watch icarly with me, transform into a monster. The face she had wasn’t her. I let my mouth go and screamed. Before I could blink, Trevor came in with a gun in hand with gloves on “ Where is the god damn money meek”! He yells. He points the gun at me and yells at me to get the money. The only thing I could think of was to run and get the money. “You are going to regret this,” says meech. Mya looks at me knowing she sees the vision of our past. “Trevor I can’t do this”. She cries. “Mya put the gun down” I say to her, walking towards her to help. A girl from the party slightly opened the door which distracted everyone in our room. Meek pushes Mya off of him and Trevor opens fire. He shoots meech and also Mya. I can hear screams all around the house as my heart drops out of my chest. My best friend falls to the ground as blood flows out of her chest. I scream and scream and scream. I grabbed the gun Mya had but I knew I couldn’t shoot it. I couldn’t process what was happening. As I clicked the gun out of anger and fear there wasn’t a bullet. The feeling of fear went away and bravery came about. Either I live or die. Trevor took the money out of my hand with little to no fight. He ran out of the room with no remorseful look on his face. There I am. Police sirens are loud in the background. My friend is dead. Meek is dead. I try everything to revive her. But she isn’t waking up. Jesus why me. Why Mya! Why! The police barged in and demanded that I put my hands up. Everything after that was a blur.

I can hear mya’s voice in my head. Her laugh. Her innocence before Trevor took it. I felt so guilty. It’s the next day and my attorney is across from me. “Meg, your fingerprints are on the gun, I can’t help you unless you tell me the truth” he says. “I am telling the truth. I didn’t kill anyone, I was just there. You should be trying to find Trevor” I replied. He looks at me in boredom. I know he doesn’t believe me. “Look , Mya had a boyfriend named Trevor” I said in full throttle anger.

He stares at me and smiles. “Meg, we found drugs in your system”. I look back at him confused. Then it all comes back to me. The weed I had wasn’t weed. Yes I was high but I know I’m not crazy. I did drink too. But I know what I saw. “You're caught. You killed your bestfriend and you killed the rapper meek”. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Was he right or was I? Here I go questioning a question again. My heart sank. My breath turned light and thin. Then that day went blank too.

So you see? Was it me or was it real what I saw? I think about it everyday. It’s been a year now. I am awaiting trial. Can someone tell me what really happened? Dear Mya, I love you.