Belonging to Lust

After making the call to Chasity, Zaiyia, Heath and Alice all sat around at the kitchen table in wait for Mr. Bennett’s arrival, all the while listening to both Levi and Molly White watching a movie from within blanket forts Heath had fashioned for them in the living room. There really wasn’t much more to say as they waited, and so they sat in silence while preparing themselves for what was to come.

When a knock sounded on their front door, everyone at the table jumped in their seats except for Heath who excused himself to answer the door. Instantly becoming frightened all over again, Alice leapt to her feet and fled outside to the backyard to get some fresh air to contain her erupting nerves. Zaiyia was right behind her, ranting to her as much encouraging words and comfort as she possibly could in hopes Alice would see this through and not chicken out.

In minutes Heath was back into the kitchen leading both father and daughter along behind him. Noticing that both of the young women were gone, he frowned, and called out for his missing girl by the cracked back door. “Zaiyia, you two come back inside. The Bennetts are here.”

As her father took a seat on the other side of the table, Chastity chose to wait until Alice and Zaiyia seated themselves before selecting her own seat beside the feeble blonde girl who also needed her support. Mirroring Zaiyia's action, she took Alice’s other hand in hers and gave her a soothing smile that she was there for her and would also have her back through tonight’s ordeal.

After getting through some brief pleasantries with the victim, Mr. Bennett whipped out his trusty pen and notebook and cleared his throat before interrogating. “Alright, Alice. I’m gonna ask you a couple of questions, and all I’m gonna need you to do is answer them in as much detail as you can remember.”

Zaiyia and Chasity listened in as Alice answered Mr. Bennett’s questions as best as she could through momentary pauses to steady herself and her shaky voice. Tears flowed openly because she didn’t want to let go of either hands to wipe them, she was clutching onto her friends for strength as she trembled helplessly in her chair. It felt like weeks had already passed by the time the interrogation came to an end. Alice was left feeling hollow, frail, and barely alive in her seat.

Closing his notepad, Mr. Bennett raised his eyes to the fragile girl across from him. He felt bad that he had to question her like this, but the night wasn’t over yet. “Ms. White, are you aware of what steps will need to be taken now that our talk is over?”

Despite having done the research herself several times in the past since making her decision to speak out on it, Alice’s mind suddenly drew a complete blank. Her blue eyes stared across the table at him with a defenseless expression.

Nodding in understanding, Mr. Bennett further explained as tentatively as he could in a calming voice. “We’re gonna take you and your siblings down to the station with us and compile evidence of your abuse through photographs and interviews. While we’re doing that, other officers will be sent out to arrest your father on charges of both Child Abuse and Neglect. You’ll immediately be put into protective custody until CPS can place you and your siblings with a relative. If not, we’ll have to put you three up into foster care and hopefully you’ll find a suitable family that will adopt you three together.”

Alice had managed to hold herself together well enough up to this point until Mr. Bennett mentioned foster care. That’s when she imploded and broke down in front of everyone at the kitchen table. She felt rather than see both Chasity and Zaiyia close in on her sides in a warm consoling hug before words of comfort were whispered by each of her ears. Office Bennett had stopped speaking instantly, and Alice appreciated that he was giving her a moment to get it all out of her system. After all, it was a long time coming.

“Alice, what’s wrong?” A small voice cut into the adult conversation. Both Molly and Levi had heard their sister weeping over the movie they were watching and immediately dropped everything to run into the kitchen.

Lifting her head from where she had hung it over the table, Alice swiftly tried to hide the evidence of her tears by wiping them off of her pink face, sweeping back her long blonde hair in the process. “It’s okay, I’m okay, you guys. I’m fine. See?”

Both Chasity and Zaiyia stepped aside as Alice got up to comfort her siblings who looked on the verge of crying themselves. Their older sister lowered herself to her knees on the kitchen floor and was quickly embraced by her brother and sister. The sobs she suppressed boomerang back in full force, she disintegrated in their arms, apologizing to them over and over again for things they didn’t know or wouldn’t understand. The others in the room didn’t dare to intervene, instead they gave the family the privacy that they needed.

Chastity couldn’t help herself from crying even if she wanted to, but she dampened it behind her hands while watching on. Zaiyia took to falling against Heath’s awaiting chest when he stepped around the family to be of comfort to her, fighting to try to keep herself together as well. This wasn’t about Zaiyia or Chasity, it was about Alice and saving her and her siblings from further abuse.

Eventually, Alice cried it out as much as she could, and glanced over her shoulder at a very patient Mr. Bennett. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you.”

“That’s alright, Ms. White. Take all the time you need.” Mr. Bennett assured her, not in any rush to spur her to wrap things up with her siblings. He understood this wasn’t an easy situation to be in, and so he planned to sit quietly and help the young girl undertake as much of this as he could to make it so.

“No, please, go on.” Alice implored him, wiping the tears from her sibling’s faces as they stared up at her with tear-filled eyes. They didn’t know why she had sobbed as hard as she had, but it was enough to have them weeping with her as they clung onto her jacket like two baby Koala Bears.

“You and your siblings can only be in protective custody for three days. If we can’t find a suitable relative to take you in, then we’ll have to go through the court to review your situation.” Mr. Bennett went on, keeping his eyes on the two little children crying softly as they stared up into their sister’s face.

Alice understood that that would mean she’d have a little more time with her brother and sister until they were inevitably divided, and felt a little better knowing it. Still, they’d eventually be torn apart, and that was the worst fear that she felt comfortable expressing to Chasity’s dad. “I…I’m scared. I-I don’t want to be separated from my brother and sister. I don’t want to be adopted into a family that won’t accept all of us. With or without our dad, we’re still family.”

“I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep.” Mr. Bennett spoke with brutal honesty. “But what I will say is that I promise you I will do whatever is in my power to make sure that won’t happen to you and your siblings, okay?”

“What’s going on, Alice?” Levi whimpered, not having finished his crying yet.

“I’ll explain everything to you both later, okay?” Alice whispered comfortingly to them as she ran her fingers through his hair before addressing Mr. Bennett again. “So what happens now, Mr. Bennett?”

“We need to go down to the station.” Mr. Bennett answered her before angling his head to smile down at the somber children in her arms. “Hey, Levi, Molly, have you two ever been inside a real Police station before?”

Both Molly and Levi nodded their heads at him, finding the officer’s smile very infectious.

“Do you guys wanna go check out my Police Station? I promise you it’s much cooler than the ones you’ve seen!” Mr. Bennett asked them, his eyes directing the same offer to their older sister.

As soon as her sibling’s eyes landed on her, Alice smiled. “Yes, we can all go and see.”

The kids were clearly excited though not willing to leave their sister’s side to do so. As they all headed outside to Agent Bennett’s car, Heath donated the toy box he’d allowed both Levi and Molly to play with to Chasity’s dad and even went as far as to place it in his trunk for him.

Still teary-eyed, Chastity went up to Zaiyia and took her hands in hers to give them a comforting squeeze. “Hey, don’t worry about them, okay? I’ll be looking out for them from here on out. You did your part in there and did it exceptionally well! I’m proud of you, Halifax. Like…I can’t even come up with the words to express it right now and it’s seriously frustrating me!”

“It’s okay. Just look out for them and keep me posted on everything. I’ll see you soon.” Zaiyia told her before embracing her and waving her along. As she watched everyone pile into Agent Bennett’s car, she felt Heath’s presence at her side before he wrapped his arm around her and steered her back inside.