BrookLyn's Journey, page 18
“Do you have ID?”
“No, but I didn’t run away.”
Officer Thomas directed them to sit down in the living room. Officer Allyn stood in the hallway. BrookLyn and Gabby sat down on the couch.
“Your parents are on their way here.”
What?
“Why? I’m eighteen.”
Gabby sat on the couch wringing her hands and nervously shaking her left leg. BrookLyn reached out to stop her from shaking the couch. Her stomach was dancing enough she didn’t need anything adding to it.
“Your parents said you were sixteen.”
“Well, unless they gave me the wrong information, I am eighteen.” She recited her birth date, including the year, hoping they could do the math.
“Your parents also told us that you and Miss Michaels were more than just friends? Is that true?” Officer Thomas queried.
“I really don’t see why that’s anyone else’s business. I’m an adult. She’s not keeping me against my will. She offered to help me get out of a bad situation. She’s done nothing wrong.” BrookLyn slowly dragged out the last words so they’d get her point. “As I said, I left of my own free will. I’m staying with her of my own free will.”
She tried catching her breath, unsure of what was going to happen. She had stolen a tiny glimpse of peace, and now her parents were stirring up more trouble. All she was trying to do was rebuild her young life. It just wasn’t fair and she wanted to scream.
“Well, Miss Scott, we received a frantic call from your parents this afternoon. They told us that you ran away from home yesterday and they are on their way over here now to get you.” They stood looking at BrookLyn as if they had accomplished a spectacular feat.
Oh, God no. BrookLyn gasped. This couldn’t be happening. She was eighteen. How could they possibly be allowed to take her back to the house of horrors? If they did, BrookLyn didn’t think she would make it back out alive.
“I didn’t run away,” she said again, after she regained her composure.
“You keep saying that. Why are you here then?” Officer Thomas asked.
“So, are you telling us that you’re not being held against your will?” Officer Allyn interjected, not allowing her to answer Officer Thomas’ question first.
“She’s not,” Gabby said softly.
BrookLyn wanted to shout it to them since they didn’t seem to comprehend what she was trying to say. “My parents were the only people holding me against my will.” She was angry that she was being questioned for leaving a house that wasn’t safe for her to live in. Did her mother miss her now because she was receiving the blows from him that she thought BrookLyn deserved?
“They’re your parents. How were they holding you against your will?” Officer Allyn asked, rolling his eyes.
She knew for sure now that he was bad cop as he stood with his hands on his hips wearing a snide look on his face. “I’d rather not say.” Why am I protecting them? They didn’t care about me. They reported her missing after she’d been gone for a few weeks, and only because they found out that she was actually surviving, or because they found out she was with Gabby. This was an attempt for them to have the last word and control her life.
“What’s going on?” Officer Thomas asked.
She looked at the floor not answering.
“BrookLyn, tell them. You have to be free of it,” Gabby said.
BrookLyn wanted to kick, scream, and yell. She wanted to do anything but talk about that.
“If there’s something we’re missing here, let us know. Otherwise, they’ll be taking you home,” Officer Thomas said. He looked like he actually might care. He wasn’t treating her like a rebellious teen the way that Officer Allyn was. BrookLyn heard footsteps and knew that her parents had arrived.
“Oh, you found our baby.” Her mother gushed and walked into the living room, clasping her hands in excitement as if she cared. She didn’t.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Scott.”
Her mother nodded. Her father was out in the hallway talking to a female officer who must have accompanied them here.
“I didn’t run away. I left. I am eighteen. I can do that, huh? And if they’re so worried about me why did they wait almost a month to call you? I didn’t just leave yesterday, you know.”
The officers looked at each other. They had obviously believed her parents when they had told them she had just left. They weren’t aware that she had been out of the house for so long.
Her mother just looked horrified.
“That’s news to us.” He looked at her mother and her eyes shifted toward the floor.
“And how old are you again?” Officer Thomas said.
“You were misinformed, Officer. I am not sixteen as they told you. I turned eighteen in October.” BrookLyn wasn’t going back there. They’d have to hog tie her to get her in their car.
“And is Miss Michaels keeping you here against your will?”
“Why are you asking me the same questions over and over?” Their questions took her around in circles, as she was sure they had planned, hoping to mix her up.
“We’re just trying to get some clarity.”
“My parents kept me against my will.” BrookLyn sighed loudly.
“That’s the second time you’ve said that, Miss Scott. We’re going to need you to elaborate on that,” Officer Thomas said.
Officer Allyn looked annoyed and impatient, like he would’ve enjoyed throwing her in the back of his car against her will. As he shifted his weight impatiently from one leg to the other, she decided she wouldn’t give him that option.
Just as the words started to leave her lips, her father—the larger than life, John Matthew Scott—ducked into the doorway wearing the same snide expression on his face that he usually wore. He was ready to put on a show.
“It’s now or never, BrookLyn.” Gabby almost whispered it, but BrookLyn heard her loud and clear. She was thinking the very same thing.
She took a deep breath and glanced into her parents’ direction. Then she looked to Gabby who was ringing her hands and staring at the floor. She looked like she had been beaten up without anyone throwing a punch. She always puts herself out there for BrookLyn and it was time for her to return the favor.
“I left my parents’ house because I was tired of being abused, sir. My father beat me for reasons that only he knows. My mother, created lies to get him to hit me instead of her. I couldn’t deal with it anymore, so I left. Call it running away if you want, but I was running for my life.” BrookLyn didn’t look at anyone in particular, but she could feel her father’s gaping eyes burning into her.
“Is this true?”
Her father glared at her, but didn’t answer the question.
“Sir? I asked you a question.”
Her father shifted his stance, looked Officer Thomas in the eyes, and said quite matter-of-factly, “She’s a liar. Nothing she says is true.”
BrookLyn gathered the same courage she had felt in the face of Shante, multiplied it by about a hundred and looked at her father as she continued. “I was the last one left in the home, but there were four of us. Once my brother and sisters turned eighteen they left too. I was the lucky one left behind. They hit all of us for many years. Some days he even kept us from school. He called them holidays. These holidays occurred after a bad beating when he was afraid of being caught because he’d gotten carried away and hit us somewhere that could be seen.” She felt her eyes burning with unshed tears. She couldn’t let them fall. She had to be strong.
“Did any of you ever tell anyone about this?” Officer Thomas asked.
“We suffered alone, behind closed doors.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Officer Allyn added.
“Do you really need to ask?” She attacked her nails with a vengeance as she told the tale of the two monsters, as if they weren’t standing in the room.
“Yes, I do,” Officer Allyn said.
BrookLyn was beyond not liking him. She glanced at Gabby who was listening intently. She looked like she was feeling BrookLyn’s pain. Her eyes were filled with tears as BrookLyn talked.
“Well, for starters, I didn’t want to die,” she said calmly.
“Did he ever try to or threaten to kill you?” Allyn again, of course.
“Every beating brought me to close to death, sir. He used his hands and his belt—mostly buckle. Sometimes my legs were swollen and I couldn’t walk. That didn’t faze him. Before I moved out, he picked me up off of the floor by my neck and choked me. I almost lost consciousness.”
BrookLyn wiped the sweat off her forehead, looked at her mother, swallowed hard then exhaled, releasing the fear that remained in her chest. “Is that threatening enough, Officer?”
Officer Thomas turned to her father. “Mr. Scott?”
The large man her father was, right now he resembled more of scared, small child, as he stood not answering. His eyes were directed toward BrookLyn. He was trying to pierce her soul with the visual daggers he was throwing.
I own it now and you can’t penetrate it with your evil anymore. BrookLyn glared back, for the first time in her life. She was terrified yet inspired all at the same time.
“What about your mother? Didn’t she do anything?”
“Yes, absolutely—she wrote each scene.” BrookLyn’s sarcasm hung in the air. But she no longer cared. She had decided that she was no longer going to be a spectator in her own life. At this point, she was all in.
“She’s lying. I don’t care. Let her stay here.” Her father’s chest started huffing up and down—his anger was close to the surface.
Her mother’s mouth gaped open when BrookLyn’s courage blew all around them.
“She’s a troubled kid, always causing problems. Let’s go, Evelyn.”
Her mother lowered her head, walking obediently toward her father.
“The only place anyone is going is down to the station. There are still a lot of unanswered questions that I think you two know the answer to.” Officer Thomas blocked her parents from leaving.
“I need you to come down to the station and make a report. We aren’t going to let them take you home. If your story is true, I don’t want to be responsible for you getting hurt any further.” Officer Allyn said.
BrookLyn heard Gabby exhale at the same time that she did. Did he really think I was making this up?
“Can I ride down to the station with Gabriella?” she asked. She didn’t trust Officer Allyn enough to want to go in the police car.
“I need you both to come directly to the station without making any stops. If you don’t then we’ll have a problem. I’ll be left to believe I can’t trust what you’re saying.” He put on his police cap, almost covering his eyes.
“We will follow your car to the police station.”
He nodded his head in agreement.
As they all filed out of the house, her father turned abruptly, moving swiftly toward BrookLyn. He reached out to grab her, and she glared into his dark, soulless eyes, “You will never put your hands on me again. Never.” She spoke with her finger pointed directly in his angry face. “Never.”
Officer Thomas looked in her direction, quickly coming between them. “Really, Mr. Scott?”
Her father huffed as he was pulled away and her mother, head hung low, walked dutifully behind him.
BrookLyn was so revved up that she couldn’t stop herself. She looked at the pathetic woman in front of her and said, “Mother. That was courage.” She didn’t mean to taunt her, but couldn’t stop it once the words entered her mind. She glanced back at BrookLyn over her shoulder, but true to form, said nothing.
BrookLyn and Gabby walked to the car, hopped in and followed directly behind Officer Thomas. She couldn’t believe she stood up to him, and was sure that her father couldn’t either. Inside the car, BrookLyn finally started breathing normally again. She didn’t see Officer Allyn, who she assumed was driving her parents to the station.
“Gabby, please know that I’m so sorry.”
She didn’t respond. She just looked straight ahead.
BrookLyn touched her right knee. “Please, Gabby, look at me.”
She did this time. Her eyes were filled with tears. Gabby was heartbroken. She didn’t have to tell BrookLyn. She could see it and feel it. She had been there so many times that she knew exactly what it looked like.
“Gabby, I need you to know that I love you. I made a decision sitting back at your house. I want us to be together. I want to share my life with you. Gabby?”
“I don’t have words to explain how I feel. I can’t believe they lied about me like that. Trying to make me out to be some sort of crazy person who would kidnap somebody.” Gabby screamed as she gripped the steering wheel tightly. She didn’t cry but BrookLyn saw the tears hanging on her eyelashes. She was angry but she was hurt even more. “What did I ever do to them?”
BrookLyn’s parents never needed a reason to do something. Gabby knew that but BrookLyn didn’t remind her of it. She said simply, trying to ease her heart, “You loved me, that’s what.” Then she wiped the tears that had been trying to fall.
“I’m writing everything down. I promise my parents will never have the opportunity to bother me again. They’ll be too busy trying to keep themselves out of jail.”
Gabby reached out and took BrookLyn’s hand and they cried together as they drove to the station. No more secrets would be in the Scott Family Haunted House after tonight.
She went into the station with Gabby at her side. Gabby wrote a statement too, since she had seen the bruises. BrookLyn gave the officers Ebonee’s phone number. Officer Thomas contacted her to verify the story. She had planned on calling her later too, but she would provide the numbers for the others.
Unless they had to go to court, BrookLyn would never have to see her parents again. Her mother would keep her cards and journal thinking that she had the win. The thing is, I left—so I win, Mother. She wouldn’t be able to show Gabby the first things she had written about her, but BrookLyn took her life back tonight and would show Gabby through that.
BrookLyn had never told anyone other than Gabby about what she’d been through. Today was big. Her parents forced her hand, but she couldn’t allow them to blame Gabby for the years they abused her. She was free from their abuse forever.
Chapter Eighteen
It was late when they got back to the house and they were both exhausted. Officer Allyn was still with BrookLyn’s parents when they left the station. She kind of liked seeing her father squirm for a change. She was thrilled she wasn’t forced to go back to their house.
“I’m going to call Ebonee,” BrookLyn said to Gabby once they got home.
“Okay. I’m going to run upstairs and change my clothes.”
“Could you just stay with me while I talk to her and then we can both get ready for bed?” BrookLyn touched Gabby’s arm.
“If you want me to.” She seemed surprised.
“I’m going to tell her about us and I want you to be here when I do.”
Gabby smiled and squeezed BrookLyn’s hand. Gabby’s eyes were still sad but she was looking more like herself. Gabby sat down in the kitchen chair and BrookLyn moved to stand in between her legs. She wanted to combine Gabby’s strength with her own to help guide her through this conversation. Gabby wrapped her arms around BrookLyn’s waist.
The phone rang once. “Hello?”
“Hi, Ebonee. Sorry it’s so late.” It was almost midnight.
“It’s not late. I was hoping you’d call. Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m better than okay. It was hard at first, but I feel better getting it all out.”
“I spoke to Officer Thomas. I told him what happened when I was living in the house. I gave him Peyton and Jayde’s numbers. He talked to them too.”
BrookLyn took a deep breath. “I have something else to tell you, Ebonee.”
“I’m all ears,” she said. BrookLyn could hear her smiling.
“The last time we talked you said that you wouldn’t judge me, right?”
“Yes, I love you, BrookLyn.”
BrookLyn squeezed Gabby’s hand and took another breath. She was shaking and Gabby pulled her closer for support. “I’ve been staying with my friend, Gabriella. Gabby and I—um, Gabby and I—we are more than friends.” She’s going to scream any second now.
She didn’t. “What does that mean?”
She started picking frantically at her cuticles, brought her hand up to gnaw on it, then stopped herself. “It means that we’re...a couple.” Silence. She didn’t know which was worse, yelling or silence.
“Are you gay, BrookLyn?”
“No.”
“Now I’m thoroughly confused.”
“Gabby and I are together. She is a lesbian. I can’t say that I am, but I do love her. I know it’s hard to understand. I can’t see myself with another woman. I can only see myself with her. I trust her and feel completely safe with her.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“I’m happy,” BrookLyn said. That was as sure as she was about anything.
“Well, that’s what matters, BrookLyn. Happiness will be the key to all of your success. If you’re happy, it will overflow into everything you do.”
“Do you still love me?” She tapped her fingers anxiously on the countertop.
“I never stopped.” Her sister laughed.
BrookLyn gave Gabby a thumbs-up, and she grinned widely in return.
They continued talking for a little while about her, Gabby, and of course, their parents. It felt good to get it out. BrookLyn wasn’t ready to run and tell everyone about her and Gabby, but it felt good to finally be honest. Before she knew it, they had been on the phone for an hour. The exhaustion from the day had set in. Gabby had just about fallen asleep in the chair, with BrookLyn now sitting on her lap.
