Chapter 82 Lucy
Lucy
Erin stayed with us for a couple of nights while she tried to find Mum, but Mum had gone into hiding.
Her passport was gone and Dad said she was probably drinking.
Neither of us wanted to go looking for her.
We gave Erin the names and numbers of her friends.
Nasrin confirmed to Dad that, the night he had thrown Mum out, she had confessed to framing Milo Kelly.
Erin flew back to Boston on her own after four days of searching. She did not visit Granny.
When I eventually went to see Granny, she was in a state.
She told me the details, about how naive she had been, how she never meant for the family to split up, she was just trying to save her family’s reputation.
It struck me, not for the first time, that Granny wasn’t smart, but trying to defend her actions around a false rape accusation wasn’t just stupid, it was immoral.
She was devastated that Erin wouldn’t speak to her.
I could absolutely understand Erin’s hurt, but I felt sorry for Granny.
She had made a really bad decision back then and, in a lot of ways, it was her fault.
But it was up to Mum to come forward and tell the truth. She was the one who had told the lies.
Dad’s sponsor, Graham, came over a lot. Dad did not do his show that whole week. They had to use an understudy. He had never missed a day of rehearsal or performing before in his life. I hated Mum for what she’d done to him. Poor Dad.
I met up with Miranda a few times and had long phone and Zoom calls with the other girls.
Ríonna and Basira had similar stories and, when we finally met up after three weeks of talking, we had the most empowering night of our lives.
We had all suffered at the hands of Simon Perry.
Ríonna was the hardest to persuade. She felt that she had brought the attack on herself, but the truth was he had groomed us all.
We went as a group to the Rape Crisis Centre and then to the guards, where we each made a statement.
From there, we went to the HR department of ComStat Holdings.
There was strength in numbers. Miranda did not want to return to ComStat and Basira was about to leave for Iran, but Ríonna was very glad to come back to a job that she loved, and my position was made permanent.
I still have good days and bad days. We all do.
I don’t know what is going to happen now, but we are being kept informed by the Garda Liaison Officer assigned to our case.
Simon has been taken in for questioning several times.
A case is being prepared for the DPP. Despite some initial fears, all our families are standing by us. Except Mum. No surprise.