Chapter 12
Killian
I tossed my wallet and keys into the bowl beside my front door and kicked off my shoes.
Today had been a long day, and all I wanted to do was sip on a beer, kick my feet up, and watch some football. I headed into the kitchen to grab the beverage and something to snack on while I relaxed. I’d just settled on the couch and turned on the television when my phone began to ring.
I groaned. I just knew it was work calling, and I’d just left the place. Begrudgingly, I placed my items down and dug in my pocket to retrieve the phone. My brows furrowed as I read the unfamiliar number on the screen.
“Hello?”
There was silence on the other end of the line. I pulled the phone from my ear to make sure they hadn’t hung up, and sure enough they were still there.
“Hello?” I said again.
“Killian.”
The sound of her voice made my ears perk and me sit up straight.
“Alayah?”
“It’s me. Do you have a second?”
“Yeah, yeah, I do. What’s up?”
“Can we meet somewhere so we can talk?”
I looked at the clock. It was almost six.
“Yeah, we can do that. It’s almost dinnertime. You wanna grab something to eat?”
She hesitated for a moment. “Sure. I’ll meet you at Rusty’s.”
I smiled softly. Rusty’s was a diner I used to grab us lunch from during school hours from time to time. Since I had a free period before lunch, I’d go out for food and bring her something back. On occasion, I took her there with me.
“I could pick you up,” I offered.
“No. I’m already on the bus. I’ll just meet you there.”
“Oh. Well, okay. Just let me change out of my work clothes, and I’ll head out.”
“Okay.”
She didn’t say goodbye or anything else before hanging up.
I stood from the couch and took my things back into the kitchen before going to my bedroom.
I changed into a pair of sweats and a plain white tee then slipped my feet into my slides.
After grabbing my wallet, phone, and keys, I left the house.
The drive only took about fifteen minutes.
When I stepped out of the car, I could see Alayah sitting in a back corner by herself with her head down.
I walked into the building and was greeted by Ms. Toni. She owned the diner and still worked, even at her age of sixty-five. She smiled as I approached the counter.
“Hey, Ms. Toni,” I said, returning her smile.
“Hey, baby. You’re here later than usual. I always see you at lunchtime when you come in.”
“I know. I’m meeting a friend.” I nodded in Alayah’s direction where she was seated in a half-circle booth in the back corner.
“Oooo. She’s a pretty thing. You’ll have to introduce me.”
“You know her, Ms. Toni. That’s Alayah.”
“Alayah…Alayah…” She paused for a moment, then her eyes widened. “You mean that Alayah.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Bless her heart. I didn’t even recognize her. When did she come home?”
“It’s been a few weeks, really about a month now.”
“Good for her. I always hated that they locked that child up.” She shook her head. “I see that mama of hers from time to time. She needs her ass beat for letting that happen to her child.”
“Well, you know everybody isn’t fit to be a parent.”
“They sure aren’t. Come on. I’ll walk you over. I want to speak to her.”
She rounded the corner and led me to the back where Alayah sat, plucking at her nails.
“Hey, Layah,” I said, sliding in the booth beside her.
Even though I made sure to put some space between us, she inched away just a little and offered me a tight-lipped smile.
“Hey, Killian.”
Ms. Toni took a seat beside her and reached for her hand. “Hey, baby. I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you.”
“It’s okay, Ms. Toni. I don’t mind not being seen right now.”
Ms. Toni gave a sympathetic smile. “You were a beautiful girl, but you’ve grown into such a gorgeous young woman. These curls are still wild and free.” There was a short bout of silence before she spoke again. “How are you, baby?”
“I’m okay. I’m here.”
Ms. Toni nodded. “I hope things haven’t been too hard on you. You deserve some peace. I’ll be praying for you, sweetheart.”
Alayah offered a half smile. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“Can I hug you?”
She nodded slowly. Ms. Toni wrapped her arms around her and squeezed tightly. When she pulled away, she cupped Alayah’s face and kissed her forehead. She lifted her chin and spoke softly to her.
“Don’t hold your head down. You have nothing to be ashamed of, you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. I’m gonna send Wanda over here to get your orders in a second. It’s on the house.”
She didn’t give me time to protest before she slid out of the booth and fled the table. I sat back, adjusting in my seat. My gazed drifted to Alayah, who was nervously plucking at her nails again.
“What can I do for you?” I asked.
“I, um…I need some legal advice.”
“About your case?”
She shook her head. “No, no not about that. It’s my sisters. I want to know if I have visitation rights as their sibling.”
I sighed. “Well, siblings don’t have automatic legal visitation rights like a parent would. Now, some jurisdictions do recognize the importance of sibling relationships, and they will allow you to petition for visitation rights in certain circumstances.”
“Like what?”
“The most common are instances where foster care or adoption separates siblings, divorce or separation of parents with children from different relationships, or the death of a parent. In other cases, they consider what is in the best interest of the child and the nature of the existing relationship between the siblings. If they are old enough, the courts might consider their wishes. It really all depends on the jurisdiction.”
“So basically, I’m screwed.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“What judge is going to take me seriously, Killian?”
“Did something happen?”
She sighed. “I, um…I went to the house. I know I shouldn’t have, but I was emotional and missing my sisters. I really needed to see them.”
“Did you?”
She nodded. “For a few minutes. Adrienne wants nothing to do with me. She seems so angry. And Amiyah…I feel like I have a chance with her. She gave me her number, and she hugged me. Killian, I needed that so bad.”
Tears laced her voice as she spoke, and I could tell this was weighing heavily on her.
“I’ve had to live without them for ten years. I know they have a lot of questions and even more feelings about everything. I just want to sit down with them, and I can’t. Kennedy has already threatened me if I came near them again.”
“Wait. You saw your mother?”
“Don’t call her my mother,” she snapped.
“And yes, I saw her. She pulled in the yard right after I walked away. She damn near chased me on the bus. If the driver hadn’t stopped her, she would have gotten on and tried to fight me.
I’m not afraid of her. I could have held my own, but who wants to fight the person that gave birth to them?
Even if she deserves to have hands put on her, I don’t want that to come from me. I’m not that person.”
“I know you aren’t. I can try to help you—”
“Nah. Don’t worry about it. It’ll just be a waste of time and money.”
“I wouldn’t want your money.”
“Surely you wouldn’t do all this work pro bono. I couldn’t ask you to do that, and I won’t ask you to do that.”
“I wouldn’t let you pay me, Layah, and you aren’t asking. I’m offering.”
“No. I’ll figure something out.” She was quiet for a moment before grabbing her bag. “I should go.”
She went to get up, but I gently touched her arm. “Alayah, please. You’re already here. At least have something to eat. I’ll take you home.”
She peered down at me, then slowly sat. Quietly, she picked up the menu and looked it over.
I kept quiet as I did the same. It wasn’t long before Wanda came over to take our orders.
I smiled as Alayah opted for the same meal I used to bring her back in the day: a double bacon cheeseburger with chili cheese fries and a vanilla milkshake.
“You still have a hearty appetite, I see,” I said when Wanda walked away.
“After eating prison food for so long, you appreciate a good meal.”
“What’s the first thing you ate when you came home?”
She smiled softly. “Aunt Penny made all of my favorites—fried chicken, baked mac and cheese, cabbage, rice, cornbread, and a sweet potato pie.”
“I know that itis kicked in.”
“I definitely overindulged.” She peered over at me. “I should apologize for how I’ve treated you when I’ve seen you. It doesn’t excuse it, but it’s been a lot on my mental. Being home hasn’t been the easiest.”
“I get that. You’re adjusting to life on the outside again. Ain’t much has changed around here. Same old River Point.”
“What’s changed with you?”
I chuckled. “Nothing but age.”
“No girlfriend? Kids?”
“Nah. I’m single. I have a little one, but she’s not mine. My sister has a five-year-old little girl named Ellie.”
I pulled out my phone and pulled up a picture of Ellie and me. Her little face was plastered against mine, and she wore the biggest smile while holding up her award trophy.
“She’s adorable. She looks like you.”
“That’s my baby. Running my pockets every chance she gets. I swear she doesn’t forget a thing. I told her if she got all gold stars at school, I’d give her some ‘monies’ as she likes to call it. I walked into my parents’ house the other week, and she met me at the door with her hand out.”
“Well, you made a promise. You had to see it through.”
“I know, I know.”
“I would have thought you’d be married with kids by now. I remember how important family was to you.”
“It’s still important. I have family dinners with them every Sunday.
We do birthdays and holidays. We take a family trip during the summer months, and we have an ongoing group chat.
It’s safe to say those people stay in my business,” I added with a chuckle.
“As far as marriage and kids…I don’t know.
I guess I haven’t met the right woman yet.
I’m sure the big man upstairs will send me my rib one of these days. ”
“Good luck with that. I’m sure you’ll make a great husband.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Do you eventually wanna…you know, date? Get married?”
“No. I don’t want to have to explain my history to anyone.
My den mother has this man she met through the prison pen pal system.
She tried to get me to sign up for it, but I declined.
I want no parts of a prison romance. Did you know they have this Prison Bae group on social media?
Somehow my picture got on there, and there were several men that looked me up and sent me letters over the years. ”
I tried not to laugh. “Wow. I mean you’ve always been a beautiful girl, Layah. Somebody would want you.”
“You sound like my friend Londyn. No thank you.”
I smiled. “You made a friend?”
She blushed. “I was kind of forced into this friendship. She’s a mechanic at my uncle’s shop.”
“Is she nice?”
She nodded. “She’s very nice. A little crazy, but nice.”
“Does she know about…you know.”
“She does. I really didn’t have a choice in telling her. Rodney’s mother rolled up on me while I was out to lunch with her one day. Things got heated and embarrassing, and Londyn was there for me. I had to come clean.”
“Run that back. She ran up on you?”
“She was yelling about how funny it was that I was out enjoying lunch while her son rots in the grave. She called me a murderer and a lying whore before she slapped me.”
“You should press assault charges, Alayah.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to go through all of that, Killian. I knew this was coming eventually. I couldn’t avoid the family forever.”
“Nobody has the right to put their hands on you.”
“Don’t you think I know that? If anybody knows that, it’s me. I just want to move on with my life. I don’t want to see another police office, courtroom, or inside of a jail again. They will never forget what I’ve done, just like I’ll never forget what he did. We all have to live with it.”
I could see that I was fighting a losing battle.
She didn’t deserve to be further abused by the West family, but if she didn’t want to do anything about it, what could I do to stop her?
We sat there quietly until Wanda brought our plates out.
Both of us picked over the food, not really eating much.
There were barely any words passed between us until I asked her if she was ready to go.
The car ride to her home was silent as well. She sat looking out the window with her chin rested on her hand. She seemed to be in deep thought, so I didn’t bother her. When we pulled up to the house, she sat in the car for a moment before finally speaking.
“I apologize for making things awkward,” she said softly.
“You didn’t. I just…I don’t really know what to say to you, Alayah. I don’t wanna set you off.”
“How about we just don’t talk about prison or my life before that?”
“It’s bound to come up.”
“It doesn’t have to. I won’t bring it up if you don’t. If you wanna be friends, act like you just met me and you’re getting to know me. Pretend I didn’t live this whole other life for the last ten years.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
“Then be delusional with me.”
I chuckled. “Delusional, huh?”
She shrugged. “Most people go through life being delusional about one thing or another.”
“Are you really gonna let me be your friend again?”
She was quiet for a moment. “We’ll see. Good night, Killian.”
“Good night, Alayah.”
She climbed out of the car, and I waited until she was safely inside before I pulled off. This wasn’t the meetup I expected, but maybe over time, we really could become friends again.