Chapter 32
Alayah
A Month Later
I walked out of the courthouse with a smile on my face with the people who loved me at my side.
Alayah Chambers was officially a free woman with a sizable restitution check.
When Erica first began telling me what she and Killian had been up to, my first feeling was embarrassment about other people seeing those tapes.
It was bad enough that my sisters saw them.
However, as I listened to her tell me the rest of the story, my heart began to fill with hope.
When I learned of my impending freedom, it was like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders.
It did my heart good to know that somebody was being held responsible for allowing a predator to run free for years.
When the story broke, the women who were paid off came forward. All of them had similar stories of how they no longer associated with their families because they took the money instead of fighting for justice. My heart went out to them. I knew what they were feeling all too well.
“How do you want to celebrate your first official day of freedom?” Killian asked, grabbing my hand.
I looked around at the smiling faces of my loved ones.
Aside from Killian, my aunt, uncle, and sisters were there along with his parents, sister, brother in-law, Ellie, and Londyn.
I couldn’t have made it this far without each of them in some way.
They had been such a light in my life since the moment I’d touched civilian soil.
It hadn’t been easy. In fact, being outside the prison walls was harder than the ten years I spent inside.
My mental had been tested so many times.
The day I learned my sisters saw those tapes, I had a mental breakdown.
It seemed like everything kept coming at me one instance right after another, and that was my breaking point.
My therapist had been a Godsend. It helped that she was a survivor of assault herself.
She understood me on a level that nobody else could.
In the month and a half of seeing her and being on my medication, I could already feel the changes.
When I first got to prison, I spoke with the prison psychologist a few times the first couple of weeks.
She wasn’t helpful, and I wasn’t making progress, so I refused to go back.
The woman tried to make me feel guilty about what I’d done.
True, I took a life, but it was my last resort. Knowing now that I wasn’t the first young girl to be Rodney’s victim gave me even more reason to believe that I’d saved not only myself and my sisters from the same fate, but some other innocent little girl.
“I just want to go home,” I finally answered. “All I need is to be surrounded by you all.”
“We can throw some food on the grill,” Mr. Lake suggested. “Whip up a few sides, turn on some music.”
I smiled. “I’d like that.”
“We can stop by the grocery store on the way to the house,” Killian said.
I pulled away from him. “Actually, can I meet y’all at the house? There’s something I need to do. If I don’t do it now, I’m never going to do it.”
He looked at me curiously. “What is it? Do you need me to come with you?”
“No, baby. This is something I need to do for myself. I’ll meet you at home. I promise.”
He nodded slowly. His home was officially my home these days. I mean, it had become my home when I moved in, but now it was my residence since we’d put an actual title on our relationship.
I was his lady, and he was my man…my man.
I loved being with him. I loved sleeping next to him and waking up to him. Killian gave me peace. He was one of my biggest supporters and my best friend. I knew that there was nothing in life I couldn’t get through without him at my side.
Killian slid me the keys to his car. I’d officially gotten my license last week, thanks to Londyn. She’d taken the task of preparing me seriously and didn’t slack off as my teacher. Even though she was extra as hell, I loved her for believing in me.
“Don’t get in there driving like a bat out of hell,” she warned me as I walked to the car.
I giggled. “That’s you, not me. I’m a cautious driver. I love you guys. I’ll see you soon.”
I climbed in the car and cranked up. As I went to back out, there was a tap to the window. I looked up to see my sisters and Killian. Rolling the window down, I peered up at them.
“You’re going to go see her, aren’t you?” Adrienne asked, crossing her arms.
“I have to, Adrienne.”
“No, you don’t. She doesn’t deserve anything from you, sissy.”
“She’s right,” Miyah agreed. “As far as I’m concerned, she’s dead to me.”
I understood their pain. They were still angry with Kennedy about the way she did them. Our aunt and uncle were granted full guardianship over them now. They didn’t even acknowledge Kennedy as their mother anymore.
“I understand, y’all. I really do. I just have things I need to say and answers I need to know before I can lay this whole thing to rest.”
“And what if she doesn’t give them to you?” Adrienne asked. “You’ll be inflicting pain on yourself for nothing.”
“She has nothing else to lose at this point by telling the truth. If she doesn’t, I’ll leave it alone. I promise.”
They looked at each other, then at me and nodded. Both of them gave me a hug and kiss before rejoining our family. Killian stooped and leaned into the car.
“You know you don’t have to do this alone, right?” he asked.
“I know, but I need to. I can handle it.” I cupped his chin and pecked his lips. “I love you.”
“I love you more. Hurry home. Don’t make me have to come up there because I’ll be rocking an orange suit if she steps out of line.”
I rolled my eyes. “Orange isn’t your color, babe. I’ll be home within the hour.”
He nodded and kissed me once more before stepping away. I backed out of the parking space and headed in the direction of the correctional facility. Truth be told, I was a little nervous about going to visit Kennedy. I’d asked Erica to get me on her visitation list, and she’d pulled some strings.
There was a lot I had to say to the woman who birthed me—a lot of answers I needed. Even if it hurt, I prayed she would do one decent thing in her life and be honest with me.
My life had been an emotional rollercoaster.
While there were more highs than lows recently, the lows were pretty damn bad.
I wasn’t even on social media, yet I’d been the topic of conversation among the West family.
They hated my guts for “ruining” their family like the family wasn’t filled with people who aided in Rodney’s deviant behavior.
They covered up his shit for so long, it was no wonder he was so confident he would get away with it all.
Mrs. West was in the psych ward at a mental hospital.
After the tape evidence came out, she lost it and tried to kill herself.
My guess was she was trying to save face.
She was playing crazy so she didn’t have to own up to the part she’d played in her son’s outcome.
Her family claimed my release drove her insane.
Bullshit. If she wanted to play crazy, she could sit in the psych ward until she died for all I cared.
The two family members that served on my jury were served with hefty fines.
Unfortunately, the responding officer that fatal night didn’t receive any punishment and neither did the lawyer.
That outcome was somewhat expected, but it was still disappointing.
Erica wanted to dig deeper into them, but I just wanted to let it go. I needed peace…. I deserved that much.
I pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car, voiding myself of anything that would be considered a weapon or contraband.
As I looked up at the building with barbed-wire fences surrounding it, I couldn’t believe I was back here.
Ten years of my past resided within these walls. I told myself I’d never come back.
No matter how bad I missed my bunkies.
No matter how well I’d done inside.
Nothing would have ever made me come back. Now here I was.
I sat at the no-contact visitation center waiting on Kennedy to be brought in.
My leg shook nervously. Erica had arranged this particular visit because there probably would have been two of us behind bars if this meeting had taken place face-to-face.
Kennedy hated me, I hated her, and if I got my hands on her, there was no telling what I would have done.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I waited.
Reciting my affirmations and saying a prayer helped to calm my nerves a little.
When I opened them, Kennedy was sitting in front of me with a stoic look.
We stared at each other for the longest time until I picked up the phone.
It was about fifteen painstaking seconds before she picked up hers, too.
“What are you doing here, and what do you want?” she asked.
“I need answers, Kennedy.”
“I ain’t got none for you.”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. After all you’ve done—after all you’ve let be done to me—you owe me answers.”
“I don’t owe you shit. I gave you life—”
“You made my life a living fucking hell,” I snapped. “From the moment I came into this world, you have hated me. What did I ever do to you? Why didn’t you just get an abortion if you didn’t want me? You could have given me up or did anything besides keep me to treat me like shit.”