I don’t know what I was expecting, but what I saw made me start crying.
Aunt Dani was hooked up to a bunch of monitors, and her face was so swollen I barely recognized her. Her hair was matted with what looked like blood. Both her arms were in casts, and there was a tube down her throat.
“Oh, Dani,” Momma said and started praying.
I just stood there, wondering who could have done something like this, then the image of Aunt Dani and Miles at the park flashed in my head. The room started swimming, and I had to sit down.
I took a couple of deep breaths, then on shaky legs I walked out of the room and headed over to Daddy, who was talking to another guy in uniform.
I stood in a trance, not really listening to the conversation, trying to make myself believe Miles hadn’t done this to my aunt. He had looked so happy when she told him about the baby.
“How’s the baby?” I asked, without really thinking, and Daddy and the other officer looked at me.
“What did you say?” Daddy asked.
“Aunt Dani…” I took a deep breath. “How’s her baby?”
Daddy frowned at me. “What are you talking about?”
“She was pregnant, right?” I asked.
Daddy shook his head slowly. “No.”
It was my turn to frown. “Are you sure? I heard her tell someone she was pregnant.”
Daddy opened his mouth, but the other officer stopped him.
“When did you hear this?” the officer asked.
I told the story of following Aunt Dani to the park and her conversation with Miles.
“Can you think of anything else?” the officer asked, and I shook my head.
“No.”
He said a few words to Daddy, then he was gone.
“Is Miles going to jail?” I asked.
“It looks that way,” Daddy said.
Miles was picked up and brought in for questioning. Part of me felt bad, but part of me hoped he would go to jail for what he had done to my aunt.
Cory stayed home from school with me the next day. Momma had spent the night at the hospital, and Daddy was helping look for evidence to make sure Miles stayed in jail a long time.
I was fixing lunch when the house phone rang.
“Hello,” I said, trying to open a loaf of bread while I held the phone perched between my shoulder and ear.
“Hey, baby, how you doing? I heard about your aunt and Miles. That’s messed up. How’s she doing?”
I didn’t want to be moved by hearing Allen’s voice, but my heart skipped a beat without my permission. “We don’t know yet,” I said.
“How are you?”
“Scared,” I said.
“I’m coming over,” he said.
“My parents aren’t here,” I said lamely. After all that had happened, I felt stupid that part of me wanted to see him.
“I think they’ll understand you need me right now. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Cory and I were just finishing our food when the doorbell rang. I got up to answer it, and when I saw Allen, I forgot about all that had gone on between us and just melted into him, finding comfort in his arms.
“It’s okay,” he said, rubbing my back the way I had seen Daddy do to Momma. “I’m here.” He started kissing on me, and I didn’t want to admit how good it felt.
“Let’s go up to your room,” he whispered.
I pushed away from him, not believing he could be thinking about sex at a time like this, but he gathered me close. “Come on, baby. No one’s here.”
I thought about how he had tried to rape me a few days ago, and I couldn’t believe how I was about to fall for him again. What was I thinking even letting him come over?
I was just about to tell him to leave when I jumped at the sound of breaking glass. I turned and Cory was standing there staring at us as juice dripped down her arms.
“Munchkin,” I said, rushing over to her, “are you okay?” I moved her out of the way and started picking up the big pieces of glass. I looked at my sister and realized she had spilled the juice all over herself. “Go change your clothes.”
She headed upstairs without a word.
“What’s up with your sister?” Allen asked.
I shrugged before I headed into the kitchen to get the dustpan and broom. “You need to leave,” I said, not even bothering to look up at him.
“So do the cops know what happened to your aunt?” he asked, totally ignoring me.
“Did you hear what I just said? You need to leave.”
“Baby, why are you acting this way?” he said, trying to wrap his arms around me.
I held the broom in front of me, using it as a shield. “Allen, I’m serious. You’ve got to go. I don’t want to see you anymore.”
He laughed. “Oh, we’re back to this again,” he said. “What did I do wrong this time?”
I looked at him like he was crazy. “You’re tripping,” I said. “Is it just me, or did you not almost rape me a few days ago?” I realized how loud I was talking and lowered my voice. “I don’t want to see you again.”
Allen laughed even harder. “Baby, I know you’re new to this whole sex thing. I didn’t try to rape you. I was just trying to motivate you. I knew you were scared.” He gave this devilish grin and I resisted the urge to hit him with the dustpan.
“I would never hurt you, Courtland. I love you too much to hurt you.” He placed a gentle kiss on my chin. “I’m sorry if I gave you the impression I was going to hurt you. I had been drinking that night. I know that’s no excuse, but it had me acting crazy. Plus, you were teasing me looking all good…. Forgive me?”
He looked at me with puppy-dog eyes, and I felt myself caving in. Maybe I had overreacted. He must have seen me melting because he leaned toward me and pulled me close. His touch brought me back to reality. I might not have any sexual experience, but I wasn’t stupid. Allen had tried to rape me and he had started dating me because of a bet to sleep with me. He tightened his grip on my arm, and it reminded me of the other times he had grabbed me.
“You know I would never hurt you, right?” he said, his voice sounding on the verge of anger.
My mind raced as I tried to figure out how to get out of this situation. Allen was in my house, and the only one there with me was Cory.
“Yeah, baby, I know,” I said, trying to sound sexy. “My daddy will be home soon, and you know how my parents trip when someone is in the house.”
I had never prayed so hard for my daddy to come home.
“He needs to get used to me being around,” Allen said. “You’re my woman, and I can see you anytime I want. Your daddy needs to understand that.”
I gulped.
“Let’s go upstairs,” he said, grabbing my hand.
“I need to go check on my sister,” I said, glancing at the door, hoping he would get the hint.
Daddy chose that moment to walk in, and I ran over to him. “Hey, Daddy,” I said, giving him a kiss for the first time in years.
Daddy took in Allen, who had stood from the sofa. “How you doing, Mr. Murphy?” he asked, putting the dimple in his right cheek on display as he extended his hand.
Daddy rested his hand on his service gun. “Courtland isn’t allowed to have company when no one’s home,” he said.
“I’m sorry, sir. I wasn’t thinking. I heard about Courtland’s aunt, and I rushed over here without calling first. It won’t happen again.”
I snorted under my breath at the lie. Allen had been doing all his big talk, implying my parents weren’t in control, but all that changed when he saw my daddy’s gun.
Allen turned to me. “I’ll call you later, Courtland.”
“Whatever,” I said, the word slipping out before I could catch it.
Allen didn’t respond as he made his way toward the door.
As soon as it slammed, Daddy turned toward me, and I got scared.
I was surprised when he held his arms out to me, beckoning me to come to him. I hesitated
before rushing into his arms. It felt good to be there. I felt protected, like I did when I was little, when I still believed my daddy was the bravest man in the world.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly.
His words made me tremble. I didn’t want to admit how scared I was about Allen’s presence, but truthfully I was.
“Courtland, I’m so sorry,” he said, stroking my hair.
“It’s okay,” I said, but I don’t know why I was saying it.
He took a deep breath and pushed me away from him. “No, it’s not okay. It’s my job to protect people, and I haven’t even been protecting the ones in my own home.”
I looked at him in confusion.
“Has that boy been putting his hands on you? You looked scared to death when I walked through the door.”
My eyes got wide, but I didn’t say anything, scared of what Daddy would do.
Daddy nodded, then turned toward the door.
“Where are you going?” I asked, running after him.
“I’m going to kill him,” Daddy said calmly, and I knew he wasn’t playing.
“Daddy, don’t,” I screamed, grabbing his arm.
He turned to me, and there was murder in his eyes, but for some reason I wasn’t scared of him. “He put his hands on you?”
I gave a small nod.
Daddy drew his lips into a thin line. “Did he do anything else?”
I had been holding everything in for so long, it felt good to finally release it. “He tried to rape me,” I said.
Daddy left without another word.
I sat up all night, waiting to see news of Allen’s death on TV, but it never came. It wasn’t until I was flipping through the channels that I realized it was the day of the NBA draft announcement. I sat watching for hours to see Allen. When his picture came up, I leaned forward, waiting for them to show a live shot of Allen. Instead an anchor appeared.
“As if Allen Benson’s recent legal troubles aren’t enough, the player who was thought to be a first-round draft pick is being investigated for accepting money and gifts from at least two NBA coaches.”
My mouth fell open. Allen’s life just couldn’t get any worse. Before I could stop myself I laughed. Actually, if my daddy caught him, his life would be a nightmare.
Momma was still at the hospital with Aunt Dani, and although she hadn’t woken up, the doctors were hopeful she would any day. Cory and I had gone to see Aunt Dani earlier that day, and after we returned home, she was quiet, even for her.
I went to check on her in her room where she was playing her Nintendo Wii.
“Hey, munchkin,” I said, standing next to her.
She didn’t say anything as she focused on the game.
“You okay?” I asked. “You’ve been pretty quiet the last couple of days.”
When she didn’t speak, I grabbed one of the controls from her. “You hungry?” I asked, forcing her to look at me.
When she looked up, I saw her eyes were red from crying.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“It’s my fault,” she said.
I gathered her to me. “What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Aunt Dani’s going to die, and it’s my fault.”
I rocked her. “She’s not gonna die,” I said, praying I was right. “Besides, Miles is the one who hurt her.”
Cory sat back and shook her head. “No, he didn’t,” she said.
I frowned. “Yes, he did. I saw him there with Aunt Dani.”
She shook her head harder, her glasses slipping down her nose, then she started crying again.
“Miles didn’t do it,” she insisted.
I thought about protesting again, but my sister seemed so sure of what she was saying, I decided to listen.
“If Miles didn’t do it, who did?” I asked.
“Allen,” she said, and burst into tears.
I sat there stunned. “What?” I said weakly. “Munchkin, why would you say something like that?”
“It’s true,” she said.
“But how do you know?”
“I snuck into the backseat the day you went to the park to find Aunt Dani,” she said.
I thought she was making it up until I remembered her Game Boy being on the seat and the other time she had snuck into the car when I had gone shopping with Aunt Dani.
“You left before I could get back to the car, so I was going to ask Aunt Dani for a ride,” she said. “After Miles left, Allen came.”
Her eyes got big again, and she started shivering.
“They were kissing and stuff, then Aunt Dani told Allen she was pregnant with his baby, and he got mad. They started fighting, then he hit her….”
I forced myself to talk. “What?”
Cory reached over to her nightstand table and pulled open the drawer.
“What are you doing with my phone?” I asked when she handed it to me.
“It’s not yours,” she said softly.
I tried to turn it on, but the battery had died, so I went and got my charger and plugged it in. When a screensaver came up of Aunt Dani and Allen kissing, my mouth dropped open.
I started scrolling through the pictures she had saved, and it seemed like there were hundreds of Aunt Dani and Allen together.
I couldn’t believe my aunt had been seeing my man behind my back for what looked like the entire time I had been seeing him.
I sat there with tears streaming down my face.
Cory hit a button on the phone, and suddenly a video started playing. I watched as Allen hit my aunt a few times. When he tried to leave, she ran after him and hung on to the car door. I felt sick as I watched her fall down and Allen run over her. He got out of the car, looked at her, then got in the car and drove off without calling for help.
It took me a few seconds to comprehend that they were in Griffith Park where Aunt Dani had been the last time I had seen her.
“How did you get this?” I whispered.
“When they started fighting, Aunt Dani tried to call for help, but Allen grabbed her and started shaking her arm so hard the phone landed near me. I took it and started recording everything,” she said.
I sat there still trying to take everything in. “How did you get home that night?” I asked.
“I caught the bus,” she said.
“Girl, are you crazy? You can’t just be running all over the city by yourself.”
“Why not? You did that night you snuck out to see Allen.” She said like it made all the sense in the world.
“Munchkin, I’m seventeen. You’re just a kid,” I said. I didn’t even realize she knew about that night.
She looked hurt at my words.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” I said. “I wish you’d called me. I would have come to get you.”
“I did call you,” she said. “I was at the bus stop when I called. Someone let me use their phone.”
I remembered the phone call we had gotten and how I had thought it was Allen.
“That was you?” I asked.
She nodded.
“You were supposed to be at Destini’s house.”
She shrugged and looked kind of sad. I felt horrible I had been so caught up in my own problems I hadn’t even noticed my sister wasn’t where she was supposed to be, and apparently neither had my parents.
We sat there in silence for a few minutes, and I grabbed the phone again and started going through the pictures. I realized a few of them must have been taken in Aunt Dani’s apartment, since the background in a lot of them looked the same. She had on my Worth the Wait necklace in a few of the pictures as well as the earrings that had been stolen from the mall, and I recognized a few things that had been stolen from our house.
“We have to tell Daddy,” I said.
Cory’s eyes got big again and she shook her head. “Allen might get me,” she said, sounding scared.
I gave her a hug, trying to reassure her. “I’m not going to let him put a hand on you,” I said
, really meaning it.
“If he hit you and Aunt Dani, he’ll hit me, too,” she said.
I tried to play dumb. “What are you talking about?”
“I heard you and Daddy talking last night. I know Allen hit you,” she said. “I know everything.”
I wanted to deny it, but I couldn’t. I was tired of hiding from the truth. I realized I had to be honest with Cory so she would never find herself making excuses for a guy who was putting his hands on her—or worse.
“We need to talk,” I said.
Cory and I stayed up late that night, and I told her about my relationship with Allen, how I had seen red flags when he had said and did things that made me feel uncomfortable, but I had ignored them because I really liked him.
I told her about how I was going to rededicate myself to Worth the Wait because I had come to learn how important my virginity was, and that being a virgin wasn’t something people should be ashamed of. I also decided I was going to step down from my position as co-captain of the cheerleading squad. Being a cheerleader had never been my dream, and I was tired of doing what other people thought I should. I was going to follow my dream and try out for the girls’ basketball team.
When Cory finally dozed off, I lay beside her, realizing I had to set an example, not just for her, but other girls out there, and that wasn’t going to happen if I kept silent.
I must have dozed off, because when I woke up, Momma and Daddy were standing over me.
“How’s Aunt Dani?” I asked.
“She flatlined….” Momma said, tears filling her eyes.
I had seen enough episodes of House and ER to know that’s what happened when someone died. Tears welled up in my eyes.
“The doctors were able to revive her, and they think she’s going to be okay,” Daddy said.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“What happened to Allen?” I asked, looking at Daddy, expecting him to say he was dead.
“I just got word the cops picked him up at the airport. Apparently he was trying to head to New York.”
“How did they find him?” I asked.
“I had an APB out for him,” Daddy said. “I’m heading to the precinct now. I need to have a little talk with him.”
I watched as his face changed, and I figured he was thinking about what Allen had done to me. “There are some other things you’ll probably need to talk to him about,” I said. I ran upstairs and grabbed Aunt Dani’s cell phone, pushed the button so the video would play, then handed it to them. Momma’s face went pale as she watched in silence and the muscle in Daddy’s jaw twitched.
The Pledge Page 18