Journey to Love

Chapter 24

Layla was sitting on the very comfortable hospital bed playing an amazing game called Uno. She'd been playing the game non-stop with Mrs Williams since she was first introduced to it yesterday, although a soft knock on the door interrupted their current game.

Layla looked up at Mrs Williams, unsure as to who could be on the other side of the wooden entryway as both the nurses and doctors who visited her would normally walk in without knocking.

Mrs Willliams shrugged her shoulders before calling out, "Come in."

Layla hesitantly looked at the door as it opened slowly, accelerating her fear that it was Jackson or Danielle coming for her. Though instead of her foster parents, it was two large males in blue suits with vests.

"Good afternoon," The older-looking male smiled at Layla and Mrs Williams, "My name is Charlie, and this next to me is Marcus. We are both police officers who are currently on the case of Mr and Mrs Stone."

"Oh! It's nice to meet you," Mrs Williams smiled, shaking each of their hands. Layla watched on in silence as they each grabbed a chair from the side of the room and sat down at the end of her bed. She subconsciously scooted over towards Mrs Williams, who gave her a comforting pat on her thigh.

"Layla," The older one sat forward, staring at Layla with such intensity, she curled in on herself. "I want to apologise on behalf of not only the police department but the entire justice system for failing you. You should not have been living in that horrible home for such an extended period of time. I want to reassure you, and-" he nodded towards Mrs Williams, "Anita, that Jackson and Danielle are going to be locked up for a very long time. They will not be receiving bail either before court. So they are still currently in prison and will be in prison for the foreseeable future."

Layla sat silently, shaking at the mere mention of her foster parents. A small part of her was relieved to hear that they would be locked away for a long time. That they would not be able to reach her or hurt her anymore.

"So Layla, Marcus, and I want to ask you a couple of questions regarding what your home was like so that we can get enough evidence to keep them behind bars. Is that okay?"

Layla looked wearily towards Mrs Williams with tears in her eyes. If Layla told her what had happened in that home, would Mrs Williams still see her as the same person? Or would Mrs Williams realise how terrible, how bad she was and not want to take her home anymore?

And what about the police, would the police still see her foster parents as the bad guys? After all, Layla had given her foster parents reasons to discipline her. They wouldn't hurt her just because, right?

"It's okay, Sweetheart," Mrs Williams interrupted her thoughts. She seemed to be able to sense Layla's troubles as she said, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm always going to be here with you, okay?"

Layla nodded her head at Mrs William's reassurance before turning to the two officers and nodding her head at them as well.

She could do this.

"Ok, Layla, starting off, can you tell us what sort of things caused your foster parents to get angry?"

Layla shakily nodded her head, her heart spiking as she struggled to get her sentence out, "Um..they wo-would get angry at me if I didn't make food on time. Or if I didn't cook their food correctly. They...got upset if I cried or screamed. A-and if I didn't do their washing or cleaned the house on time. Th-hey also got upset if I was late from school or if I didn't respond back to them, or if I ran, or looked at them wrong."

"That was very brave of you, Layla, thank you. Can you tell us what sort of punishments they did, what they did to hurt you?" Marcus responded.

Layla nodded again, more for herself as she tried to compose the tears that started falling free. She cuddled further into Mrs Williams as she answered the question. "T-they hit me and punched me, kicked me... they locked me in my room, or in the closet, and they made me go hungry, and they took my glasses away from me when I was bad."

Layla felt Mrs Williams arms around her tighten ever so slightly, causing Layla to feel a little more safe at telling these people something forbidden. Something that was beaten into her to never utter to another soul.

"Do you know how long has this been going on?" The dreaded question toppled out of Charlie's lips, causing Layla's tears to pour at a quicker rate.

She'd been good, she told herself. She didn't do anything wrong. 

"A-about two months after I g-got there," She quietly revealed, causing Charlie to cough in surprise. 

"According to Krystal's social folder, that would be about 4 years ago. Considering you arrived when you were 5. How do you remember it so vividly?"

Layla's eyes screwed shut as she responded with, "B-because it was the first day of pre-primary and, and I didn't want to get dressed because I...I missed my mum, and I wanted my mum really bad. But no one would get my mummy, so I didn't want to go to school. Jackson got angry and started yelling that she was dead, that she died because of me. I must have angered him deeply because he slapped me across the face and dressed me himself. He drove me to school while I cried. He never came to pick me up, so I ended up walking home." 

"Since then, he started hurting you more?" Charlie asked, already knowing the answer. Layla nodded her head. 

"I wasn't always bad, I promise! Sometimes I messed up, but I didn't mean to. I swear. I was trying to be good," Layla bawled out. 

Layla felt herself being shifted onto Mrs Williams's lap, Mrs Williams's fingers running through her hair as she spoke out, "You have been good, Layla. You're not bad." 

Layla could hear the chairs scraping against the floor as Charlie and Marcus stood from their seats, "I think we should leave it here for now. Danielle's and Jackson's court date is next Wednesday at Riverview Courthouse. Layla may be required to speak in court, the Lawyer will get in touch and we can go through with Krystal what may be expected of Layla in court so that it's less scary. But we will be in court to help support Layla through the process."

"Thank you, officers. It really means a lot that you are here helping her." 

"Of course, ma'am, it's the least we can do. Have a good afternoon." Marcus replied. Layla heard the door close a couple of seconds later, leaving them alone. 

"It's okay, Layla. You're okay now, sweetheart." Layla snuggled further into Mrs Williams's shoulder. 

"T-thank you for caring about me," Layla whispered. 

"Of course, sweetheart, always," Mrs Williams replied, giving Layla a kiss on her forehead, cradling her closer in her arms. " How about we watch some cartoons, yeah?" 

Layla barely nodded her head in recognition, trying to focus on Mrs Williams's soothing scent, thanking the universe for sending her an angel like Mrs Williams.  

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Sorry about the slow updates, everyone! 

I can't believe we hit over 14,000 reads, it's so exciting, and I am so grateful for every one of you who have made it this far! Thank you.

Words: 1271

Published: 30/7/2022