by Lady Lissa
I can feel her lips trembling against mine as we share a tender kiss. I feel her tears against my cheek as she cries heavily. How could any parent want to see their child in this much pain and be okay with it? How could any parent want to cause their child so much pain?
“I love you Onyx. I’ll always love you,” Starr says as she breaks into full blown tears. She is crying harder than I’ve ever seen her cry in my life. I wish there was something I could do to take away her pain, but the only one that can do that is her mom and she’s not budging.
I slowly make my way towards the door and Mr. Mark says, “I’ll walk you out Onyx.”
Once outside the room, I can hear the torture in Starr’s cries as she screams at her mom, who’s probably trying to comfort her.
“DON’T TOUCH ME MOM! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” Starr cries out loud.
“Oh God Mr. Mark, what just happened? Doesn’t your wife know how much I love your daughter? I swear on my own life that I would never do anything to hurt Starr!” I cry out.
“I know that Onyx. I don’t agree with my wife’s decision so give me a chance to work on her and talk to her. She’ll come around,” he says.
“How long will that take?” I ask.
“I don’t know but I promise that I’ll speak with her,” he says.
“Thanks Mr. Mark,” I say.
He gives me a fatherly hug and I leave him standing there watching me. I get in the elevator and push the button for the first floor. I have never been so hurt in my life. I feel like I’m having trouble breathing. As soon as the elevator stops, I run outside, suddenly needing some air. When I get outside, I take deep breaths until I can catch a steady breath.
How could Starr’s mom think that I would ever hurt Starr? She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I love her more than I love my own self. She’s the air I breathe which is probably why I’m having trouble catching my breath now.
“Please God, if you love me and you believe that I love Starr, please give her back to me. Help her mom see that I mean her no harm. I want nothing but the best for Starr. She’s my shining star and I love her,” I say as I stare up towards the heavens.
I sure hope the lord is listening to my prayers and grants me this one.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Mandy
Sitting at the police station, waiting for these fools to question me has got me worried. There is a knock at the door and two detectives and the lawyer my mom sent walk in. Miss Quita takes her seat next to me and the detectives sit across from us.
“Can you excuse us for about ten minutes, fellows? I need to have a word with my client if you don’t mind,” Miss Quita says to the two men.
“Yea sure. Ten minutes,” one of them says.
Once they have left the room, she turns to me and asks, “Why are you here Mandy?”
“Because they think I hit that girl last week at the hotel,” I say.
“Did you?” she asks.
I look at her as if she has lost her mind.
“You can tell me anything you want to. I am bound by attorney client privilege and nothing you say to me will ever leave this room. I’m not here to judge you or anything like that. I just need to know what I’m dealing with so I can defend you” she says.
“Okay, I did it but I didn’t mean to do it. I was just so angry and for a moment, I lost control of myself,” I lie to her.
“Okay, so we are going to argue that they don’t have any evidence against you. The fact that a car matching your car’s description is what we call circumstantial evidence. They don’t have your license plate numbers and your windshield isn’t damaged,” she says.
“So can I get out of here?” I ask.
“Yes. You haven’t been arrested. Unless they have evidence against you, they will have to let you go,” she says smiling.
I am so happy, I reach over and hug her tight around her neck.
“Thank you. Thank you so much,” I say as tears fall from my eyes.
“Don’t thank me yet. Let me get you out of here first, then you can thank me,” she says.
She gets up and knocks twice on the door. The two detectives who were here before rush in again before she can make it back to her chair.
“My client is ready to answer your questions,” Miss Quita says.
“Okay, let’s start with your whereabouts on the night in question,” the detective with the double chin asks.
“I was home,” I answer.
“Your mother says she doesn’t remember what time you came in. Can anyone vouch for what time you got home?” asks the other detective.
“How can they when they were asleep? I didn’t get home until late that evening. I think it was around three or four o’clock in the morning,” I say.
“Where were you before that?” he asks.
“Out celebrating my graduation,” I respond.
“We were told that you weren’t allowed to attend graduation because of a fight you had with the victim,” the chubby chin dude says.
“So, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t out celebrating like everyone else. I still received all my credits and I’m going to get my diploma. I had every reason to celebrate with the rest of the graduating class,” I respond.
“Where were you celebrating? Can anyone vouch for your whereabouts there?” the other detective asks.
“I was at the club with everyone else. My ex-boyfriend Onyx had a party and everyone can say they saw me there,” I say.
“We need your car to check it for DNA,” the fat detective says.
“Do you have a warrant?” Miss Quita asks.
“We are in the process of obtaining one,” he says.
“Well when you get one, we’ll turn over the car. Are you done with your interrogation of my client? Because if you are, we are going to leave. You have no evidence to hold her here,” she says.
“You’re right. But know that we are coming for that car and if we do find a shred of DNA on it matching the victim, we will be arresting your client for attempted murder,” the other detective says.
“Attempted murder? I thought this was a hit and run!” I say.
“Whoever hit this young woman was trying to kill her. The fact that they left the scene makes it a hit and run, but it is attempted murder all the same,” the chubby one says with a smile.
Now I’m nervous. They want to charge me with attempted murder. I could go away for life if they arrest and convict me. I can’t let that happen. There has to be some way I can get out of this mess.
“Well, when you have the warrant, you can pick up the car. When you have the evidence, you can arrest my client. Other than that, have a nice day fellows,” Miss Quita says.
“Let’s go Mandy,” she tells me as we both stand up.
“Don’t leave town,” the detectives say at the same time.
I roll my eyes at them and the two of us walk out of the interrogation room. When we make it out to the lobby, my mom is waiting for me and I have never been so happy to see her in my life. I rush into her open arms and she holds me tightly.
She holds me as I release tears I didn’t even realize I was holding back.
“What’s next Quita?” my mom asks.
“Let’s walk and talk. You know these walls have ears,” Miss Quita says.
As the three of us walk outside, Miss Quita says, “Okay, they are obtaining a warrant to seize Mandy’s car. What’s going to happen is they will pick it up and take it to a forensic lab where they will try to find any kind of evidence linking her car to the incident. If they can’t find anything, your daughter will be free and clear. But, if by any chance they find the victim’s DNA anywhere on her car, she will be arrested and taken into custody. A bail hearing will be set for her release until trial. For right now, just go home and wait for them to come with the warrant for the car. Just make sure you make it available to them because they can hold her in contempt and she will be arrested on the spot.”
“Oh lord how did this happen?”
my mom asks.
“Try not to worry about it too much Miranda. Until or unless Mandy is arrested, just chill,” Miss Quita says.
“They said they would file attempted murder charges though,” I say quietly.
“Attempted murder!” my mom shouts.
“Yes. They can file attempted murder charges on whoever the driver of the car was that night. A hit and run with a vehicle can be classified as attempted murder or manslaughter. I think they are going with attempted murder because of your history with the victim and that charge carries a stiffer sentence if you are convicted,” Miss Quita explains.
“Wow! What if she didn’t do it? Can they railroad a conviction out of her?” my mom asks.
“They can only bring up charges based on the evidence they find. No evidence equals no charges. Even though they have a surveillance tape, it doesn’t show the license plate on the car. That’s good. She doesn’t have a cracked windshield as far as I know, so that’s another plus. The only thing that could hurt her, is if they find DNA evidence on the car linking her to the crime or the cracked windshield, if the original one was indeed, replaced,” she explains further.
“We’ll talk later Miranda. Mandy, everything will be alright,” Miss Quita says.
“Thanks Quita. Thank you so much for being there for my daughter on such short notice,” my mom says.
“No problem,” Miss Quita says as she walks away to her car.
My mom and I walk over to her car and get in. When we are inside her car, she breaks down and starts crying.
“Did you do this Mandy?” she asks.
“What?” I ask, surprised that she is even asking me that.
“You heard me. Did you hit that girl with your car?” she asks again.
“Mom, how can you ask me something like that? I thought you knew me,” I say, feigning innocence and hurt.
“I thought so too, but now I’m not so sure. I know how upset you were when Onyx broke up with you. I also know how furious you were when he started dating that girl. You even got in several fights with her and got kicked out of the graduation ceremony. You have been behaving pretty erratic these past few months, so I’m going to ask you again and I want you to tell me the truth. Did you do that?”
What does she expect me to say? Does she really expect me to tell her yes I did it?
“What’s to stop them from convicting me and a jury from believing me if my own mother thinks I did the crime? If you don’t believe in my innocence, then what’s the point in fighting?” I ask.
I am so hurt that my mom actually thinks I did this. Even though I did the crime, your parents are supposed to believe in you. Why would she turn her back on me like that? What kind of mother would believe her child did such a crime?
“You don’t have to answer me. Just the fact that you can’t answer me with a simple yes or no, tells me all I need to know. You did do it. You hit that girl with your car. Why were you trying to kill her Mandy? Is that man really worth your freedom? Is he worth you going to jail for the rest of your life?” she asks, shaking her head and starting her car.
On the drive home, I lean my head against the window and pray that I have the chance to wash my car before the police take it away. I hadn’t thought about DNA until they said they wanted to take my car to forensics. The only thing I thought about was fixing the windshield. Hell, I still have a huge dent in the hood from where Starr fell on it after hitting the windshield.
I am praying so hard that my car is still there when we get home that I almost miss it on the back of that wrecker truck.
“There goes your car,” my mom says.
I look back at my car on the bed of that truck, heading towards the police station. Tears well up in my eyes and begin to fall as I think about what they will find after going over my car with a fine tooth comb. Dammit! I may go to jail.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Starr
My mom is being so unreasonable right now. I will admit that I wasn’t very happy hearing that Onyx choked out Mandy, but knowing that he did it for me, made the situation easier to accept. I know, just as he knows, that she was the one who hit me with her car. The fact that she did that and thought she could smile in his face and pretend she didn’t, had to be what set him off.
I appreciate that Maggie is here and had my back, but I should have known my mom would never listen to anything we had to say. Maggie’s right. It’s like we aren’t supposed to have an opinion. Like everything she says, we’re just supposed to go along with it. Well, not this time.
After my dad and Onyx leave the room, my mom sees me crying and tries to put her arm around me, as if that would be of any comfort to me after what she just did.
“DON’T TOUCH ME MOM! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” I yell at her.
“You will watch how you speak to me yong lady! I am your mother and you will respect me as such. Now, you may not like how I handled the situation, but I did it for you. You will understand the lengths a parent will go through to protect their children when you have your own,” she says.
“Protect me? I don’t need protection from Onyx. He loves me and would never hurt me! You are the one who is hurting me! Does that make you feel good to hear that mom? Huh? Do you feel superior knowing how bad you hurt your own kid?” I ask.
I know that my words are getting to her because my parents always prided themselves on being the best at that job. They never wanted to hurt any of us. They always made sure we had the best of everything and anything our hearts desired. But now, my heart desires Onyx and she won’t let me have him so I’m going to hit her where it hurts. And from the tears slipping from her eyes, I’d say I’m doing a great job.
“Of course I don’t feel good that you’re hurting. I don’t want to hurt you,” she says.
“You could have fooled me,” I respond.
“Me too,” says Maggie.
My mom cuts Maggie a look so sharp, probably hoping that it would keep her quiet. But my sister isn’t like me. I won’t say she’s rebellious, but I will say she’s her own person. My dad is kind of a pushover when it comes to my mom. He doesn’t like to make waves with her, so Maggie kind of uses that to her advantage.
She’s a daddy’s girl; always has been and probably always will be. Even though my dad agrees with everything my mom says so they don’t argue, his weak point is my sister. If my mom says it’s cold outside and Maggie needs to wear a jacket, she can go to my dad and say, it’s not that cold daddy, do I have to wear a jacket. In turn he will say, she doesn’t need a jacket Nina.
Now even though my mom doesn’t like that my dad does this, she won’t argue with him about it. My sister has always been able to wrap my dad around her finger.
“I don’t want to hear none of that mumbo jumbo about how you’re doing this for me. You’re doing this for you. So you could let us see that you’re still in control of our lives,” I say.
“She ain’t controlling my life anymore,” my sister says and rolls her eyes.
“Well consider yourself lucky,” I tell my sister.
“I can’t wait until I graduate and go off to college, then you won’t be able to control me anymore. I won’t ever come home then,” I say as I look at my mom.
“Starr, don’t say that. I’m not doing any of this to hurt you. I just want what’s best for you,” she says.
“Are you kidding me right now? You want what’s best for me so you take away the best thing that’s ever happened to me? I don’t wanna talk about this anymore because you don’t care what you are doing to me right now. Just leave me alone,” I say as I turn my head to face the window.
“Starr, I love you and I’m sorry you’re so upset with me. I hope you will soon realize that I am looking out for your best interest. Onyx choked a girl…” before she can finish, Maggie jumps in.
“Onyx choked a girl who hit your daughter like she was some animal in the street! Onyx did what he felt the need to do so he could protect Starr. The fact that you can’t or won’t see tha
t mom is really sad. That boy has been respectful, kind and loving towards my sister since the first day they met. And now, you wanna treat him this way. The only thing you are doing here is pushing your child away. Did you hear what she just said? She said she can’t wait to go to college so she doesn’t have to come visit anymore. Is that what you want mom? To have your daughter so mad at you that you’ll never see her again?” Maggie asks.
“Of course not and Starr doesn’t mean that. She’ll visit. I know she will,” my mom says.
“I don’t know mom. She seems pretty adamant,” Maggie says.
Maggie’s phone starts ringing and she picks it up.
“Hey boo,” she coos into the phone.
There’s a pause before she says, “I’m visiting my little sister but I can use a little fresh air.”
Another pause. “Alright. Text me when you’re downstairs.”
She ends the call and say, “That was Trevor. He’s on his way to pick me up.”
“You and Trevor are still dating?” I ask.
“Yep, going on six months,” she smiles happily.
“I’m happy for you sis. I like him,” I respond.
“Good. I’m glad you like him. I like Onyx too,” she says.
“Well I don’t like Trevor. I think he’s a dope dealing loser,” mom says.
“Did I ask you that mom? We’re still together whether you like him or not because I don’t care what you think about him. And for your information, Trevor has a job. A REAL JOB! But since you didn’t bother to try and get to know him, of course you wouldn’t know anything about it,” Maggie says.
“Standing on the corner selling dope is not a real job Maggie!”
“Have you ever seen him standing on a street corner? Have you ever seen him with dope in his possession? You are such a small minded person mom. When did you get to be this way? We used to be able to come to you about anything. When did you get to be this, this bitch?” Maggie asks.
My hand immediately flies to my mouth because I have never heard my sister call my mom out her name like that. My mom jumps up from her chair and rushes over to Maggie in a heartbeat.