11

When Tyra got back from the party, she found her mother waiting in her apartment. Elizabeth Okello was a tall woman in her early fifties.

There was a resemblance between mother and daughter, but the lines lining the older woman's face make it harder to notice. There was always a frown on her face, or a sneer.

Elizabeth was standing at the windows, looking at the city skyline beyond. Tyra's apartment was on the twelfth floor of a high-rise residential building in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the city. 

"Mother?" Tyra called as she placed her keys on the side table near the door and walked into the room. 

Elizabeth turned, and Tyra noticed the lit cigarette in her hand. She wished