Illustrator space around outline and removing shape

I've used "//" and "\" to create this "W", and have made them into outlines, as I'm trying to give the different layers a colour, as well as having a white space where the lines touch and I would like to remove the top of the second "\".

I'm struggling with the white space at the moment and now I've added a stroke, the fill has decreased. Is there another way I could do this?

I've also tried to use my pen tool to remove the top of the "\" but when using "Path Finder" I cannot find an option to "Minus Forward". I'm a newbie so any advice would be lovely :)