Chapter Four #2
“When she thought we weren’t looking, she was very affectionate with Louis, which grossed us out.
She said she was trying to survive and get us through high school, but we thought she was truly into him, despite the way he treated us.
She begged us not to antagonize him. We had to look up what that word meant.
King said that us breathing the same air antagonized him, and Mom had no intention of doing anything about it.
I asked him if we should tell someone at school.
He said, ‘What will they do? He’s never hit us.
There’s food in the house, and we have everything we need. They’ll laugh us out of their office.’”
Amara took another sip of water. “When it happened… I was supposed to be spending the night next door at my best friend’s house.
I’d started to spend a lot more time over there, which left King home alone with them.
That made me scared for him, but I couldn’t stand being there if I had somewhere else to be.
So I was next door, but I started feeling sick.
My friend’s mom suggested I go home in case I was coming down with something contagious.
I didn’t want to go, but I did. I tried to slip in through the kitchen door so no one would hear me, but when I walked in…
They… Louis had King on the floor of the living room.
He had his hands wrapped around King’s throat as he thrashed and struggled against his hold.
My mother was screaming at Louis to let him go, but Louis was like a man possessed.
He just kept squeezing until King stopped moving.
I was terrified I’d be next if they knew I was there.
I slipped down the hall and into my room, but kept the door cracked so I could hear them. ”
Sam’s heart ached for what Amara had seen, for the loss of her brother and ally and for the weight she’d carried in the years since.
“My mother was shrieking at Louis, saying he’d killed her baby.
He told her to shut the fuck up and help him figure out what to do with him.
I was waiting for her to call the police, but she never did that.
She just screamed and cried and begged him to call the rescue to bring him back.
Louis said if she called anyone, he’d kill her, too.
I was crying so hard in my room, with a shirt stuffed in my mouth so I wouldn’t make any noise.
I’d never been so scared or devastated in my life.
“My brother was dead? Louis had killed him? Mom wasn’t immediately calling the cops or running for help or doing anything about it?
I didn’t understand what was happening. And then I heard them talking about what to do with the body.
I think I left my body for a time after that.
I slid down onto the floor. I was there all night, afraid to move. ”
Sam swiped away a tear that broke loose as Amara relayed her horrifying story. Next to her, Freddie stared at the wall over Amara’s shoulder.
“In the morning, I needed to use the bathroom, so I came out of my room to discover I was home alone. They were gone, and so was King. I was shaking so hard, my legs, hands… I’ve come to understand I was in shock, and the physical reaction was because of that.
But at the time? It added to the terror.
I went back into my room, closed the door and waited.
“I wasn’t sure what exactly I was waiting for, but I found out later when they returned home, and my mom freaked out, pretending to realize King hadn’t slept in his bed.
I listened at the door as she began calling his friends to ask if they’d seen him.
When their plan became clear to me, I got sick in a paper bag I pulled from the trash can in my room.
Before long, there were people at the house, and my mother was hysterical because she couldn’t find her son. ”
“Did anyone wonder where you were?” Freddie asked.
“Not once that entire day did anyone open the door to my room to see if I was there. I’m not sure if they assumed I was still next door, but no one checked.”
“So they also didn’t ask you if you knew where he was?” Sam asked.
“They did not.”
“Did the police come?”
“Not until he was found.” She fiddled with the label on the plastic water bottle.
“It took two days for his body to be found. They screamed and cried when the police came to tell us he was dead. The word got out pretty quickly, and the house was overrun with people and food and condolences. My mother sat in the living room, sobbing the whole time, while Louis held her hand and accepted the kindness of neighbors and the few friends they had. Most of the people were friends of King’s and their parents.
Everyone was devastated and filled with outrage over the death of another Black kid under suspicious circumstances.
They were sure it was some sort of hate crime and were determined to get justice for him. ”
Sam handed her a tissue that Amara used to blot the tears from her eyes and face.
“There was a huge, over-the-top spectacle of a funeral. My mother played her role to perfection. Sobbing and carrying on… I heard them say that more than fifty thousand dollars in donations came in and how that would pay for the funeral and cover their outstanding bills. I threw up again when I heard how they’d profited from murdering my brother. ”
“What were their interactions with you like during that time?”
“Minimal. We kind of steered clear of each other. I came out to use the bathroom and eat and went right back in my room.”
“Did your mother offer any support to you after the death of your brother?” Freddie asked.
“She never once mentioned to me that he’d died. She acted like everything was normal when I was around, and I quickly understood that I was expected to do the same.”
“Why did you wait until now to report this crime?” Sam asked to get the information on the record.
Amara cleared her throat. “I knew kids at school who were in foster care, and they told these stories about things that’d happened to them…
I was terrified of ending up somewhere worse.
And I know that sounds ridiculous in light of what’d gone on in our home, but they were the devil I knew.
I heard that expression in a movie. The devil you know…
That’s why I kept my mouth shut and stayed away from them while I worked my ass off in school to get the best-possible grades. I put all my energy into that.”
“Has anything else happened, that you know of, that might be considered criminal?” Sam asked.
“They fight. A lot. Yelling, screaming, accusations of every kind… But I haven’t seen anything that could be called criminal, as far as I know. I might be wrong, though. Who knows what they’re doing when no one is looking?”
“It was very brave of you to come here today and share your story with us,” Sam said.
“I couldn’t wait to be old enough to escape from them and not have to go back. I don’t know what I’ll do now, but I’m never going back to that house.”
“We’ll set you up with a safe place to stay while we work toward getting justice for your brother.”
Hearing that, Amara visibly brightened. “Really?”
“Of course. We need you to make a case against your mother and stepfather. Keeping you safe is in all our best interests. And besides, you deserve to be somewhere safe to plan your future.”
“I’d… I’d like to graduate with my class in early June, if that’s possible. I’ll understand if it’s not.”
“We’ll certainly see what we can do to make that happen.”
Tears spilled down the young woman’s face. “I want you to know… I’ve followed your career for years. I’ve read everything I could find about you and your cases and your team. I knew about Detective Cruz and how he’s your partner… I’ve been waiting all this time to come see you. And only you.”
Moved by Amara’s faith in her, Sam reached across the table to take her hand. “I’ll do everything I can for you and King. He’d be so very proud of you.”
“Even if he knew I waited six years to report what happened to him?”
“No matter. He’d be proud. I’m sure of it.”
“What will happen now?”
“We’ll arrest them and charge them with the first-degree murder of King Robinson.”