Belonging to Lust

Heath let Alice’s words sink in as the vulnerable blonde girl sat beside his Zaiyia, receiving the comforts only a good friend could give. He gave the two girls only a moment of peace before proceeding to delve back into the issue at hand. “If you don’t mind me asking, how long has this abuse been going on, Alice?”

“I wanna say it’s been going on since middle school for me, but…” Alice lowered her eyes to the table top before glancing to her right where Zaiyia sat rubbing a soothing hand up and down her rigid back in support. “But ever since Zaiyia mentioned that my father might come for Levi or Molly one of these days when my back is turned, or when I’m not there…I began to realize his abuse has been happening for much longer than that.”

Alice allowed herself a few minutes of deep breathing before dredging up her tragic history and her ignorant perception of it. “My father has been hurting me since…since my mother has been out of the picture. Looking back at it and the way I used to interpret it through my battered lenses, I had simply chalked it up as mere bullying from a parent that had the full right to inflict harm on their children. After all, it had been such a lighter form of abuse than it is now.”

“Are Levi and Molly getting the same treatment from their father?” Heath inquired, his green eyes sparing a fleeting glimpse of the two kids mentioned playing outside in his backyard with a box of toys. “Or is it still just you?”

Exhaling a shaky sigh, Alice had to lower her eyes back down again due to the tears surging to the surface. She knew before coming here that this conversation was going to be like tearing a gaping wound back open again. But for the sake of her siblings, she had to be the stronger person and see this through for them. “Before, I’d say…no. But recently…the same exact way my father first started with slight abuse when I was little he’s now…now doing to them.”

Zaiyia eyes widened at Heath then Alice who looked at her with despondent eyes filled with tears.

“You were right, Zaiyia, when you said he’d come for them next.” Alice whispered to her friend, her voice thick with tears.

Shaking her head to dispel that idea of ever becoming a possibility, Zaiyia said with a squeeze to Alice’s shoulder. “But that doesn’t have to happen anymore, Alice! With your help, we can nail that motherfucker and keep him far away from both you and the kids.”

Nodding along with Zaiyia’s inspirational words, Alice spoke back in a shaky voice. “I-I know. I want that too! I NEED that to happen! I-I can’t have that happening to my brother and sister, I don't want them to get hurt like I did.”

“Do you understand what we’re going to have to do in order to make that happen though?” Heath asked her softly, watching the grim interaction before his eyes. “If you agree to our help, your father will be arrested and thrown behind bars for a long time. You’ll likely never see him again.”

Abruptly, Alice turned her head away and squeezed her sore eyes shut. She needed a moment, taking several gulps of breaths to calm her rising panic.

Both Zaiyia and Heath had no choice but to wait patiently for her answer in silence. Leaving her undisturbed, they both shared a look, hers being the most sympathetic and his being the lifesaver to keep her from being swallowed by her friend’s ocean of tragedy.

Out of nowhere, Alice let out a weak laugh that garnered both Heath’s and Zaiyia’s attention. With tears spilling down her pale cheeks, she looked to her confounded friend and explained. “Sorry, I just…I think it’s funny how you’ve been telling me these exact same things every single day since we’ve become friends and I had finally thought I had warmed to the idea of doing this. But now…hearing it said aloud…it’s…it’s making my heart race with fear of what’s to come.”

“Are you worried about never seeing your dad again?” Zaiyia inquired, trying not to make a face of disapproval that she’d even miss that abusive jerk for even a second!

“No, I don’t think so.” Alice rejected, before glancing at Heath at the head of the table. “It’s the next part that I’ve been scared of facing.”

The spotlight was now on Heath, and so he gave Alice what she was waiting to hear next. “After your father is arrested, the cops with the aid of CPS will likely take responsibility for both you and your siblings until they can figure out what will be done with you in the absence of your father.”

Those words were all that needed to be said for the floodgates to flow. Alice began to cry, nodding along to his words that she understood what he was preparing her for. Leaning her head down on Zaiyia’s shoulder, she let her friend soothe her in her time of need. Selfishly giving herself time to regather herself as much as she could considering the circumstances, Alice lifted her head and assured them both. “I…I understand what has to be done. I got curious one day and looked everything up on the school computers of what could happen. I’m ready. Scared, but ready.”

Looking Alice over, Zaiyia asked her softly. “Has your father touched you as of late?”

Alice didn’t answer her, instead she showed them. Rolling up the sleeve of her pink varsity jacket, she revealed the bruises there reminiscent of long thick fingers.

Swiftly glancing away, Heath’s jaw clenched with contained rage that a man would cause such harm to his own children. He couldn’t fathom a situation that would ever call for such abuse.

Gasping in shock, Zaiyia’s brown eyes darted away as she tentatively asked. “W-What happened?”

“It was done last week, and then again over the weekend while you were away.” Alice revealed, her blue eyes connecting Zaiyia. “It’s…becoming more frequent and I can’t seem to make it stop!”

“You know the way to make this all stop!” Heath urged her, her green eyes glowing with rage. “All you gotta do is call the cops and tell them everything that’s been going on in that house.”

“I understand that!” Alice exclaimed in frustration. It sounded like such a simple easy task to do and yet the hardest thing she couldn’t seem to make herself do! “But…I can’t seem to bring myself to do it. I’m too terrified to do it! That's why I came here today and told you guys everything, because…I KNOW you guys.”

“Hey, if you need our help to make the call we can help you through it.” Zaiyia promised her with a smile that chased some of Alice’s fear away. “We’re not about to leave you on your own here.”

Alice nodded in appreciation to her. “Thank you. I have no one else in my life besides you guys to lean on in this and trust with it. No one else knows about it but you two. And yet…you two can’t be enough, can’t be where this abuse finally ends. I can’t let Molly and Levi pay for my fear of the unknown future and a possible separation if I go to the cops and tell them everything.”

“Look, I for one can see why calling the cops can be an overwhelming decision at times. I don’t need to remind anyone here that I’m a black.” Zaiyia replied in an attempt to make Alice feel a little less guilty for her delay. It wasn’t an all right good thing, but she didn’t want the girl to mentally beat herself over it. Considering that calling the cops seems to be the only roadblock Alice was facing right now, Zaiyia glanced over her shoulder to her man. “Heath, instead of calling the cops…could we call one particular cop?”

“A particular cop?” Heath repeated in an attempt to understand her meaning. “Like who?”

“Chasity’s dad.” Zaiyia answered. “He’s an FBI Agent which I think is even more up there in the ranks of coppers.”

Recalling meeting Mr. Bennett face to face before, Heath pondered on it. He wasn’t really questioning where or not the FBI Agent was capable or not of handling a situation like this, rather he was questioning whether or not Alice would even cooperate with a single officer rather than a team of them. “What do you say, Alice? One officer instead? Would that make it easier to tell your story?”

Without hesitation, Alice nodded in agreement. “Much more comfortable with that. I’ve met Mr. Bennett before a few times at school. He volunteers at assemblies and games sometimes.”

“Sweet!” Zaiyia relished in victory. “I’ll get to calling Chasity then?”

Taking another deep breath, Alice nodded. “Yeah, give her a call.”