"Let me see my mom! I want to see my mom!" Nichole shouted after arriving at the apartment, trying to fight her way past a police officer who was guarding the upstairs bedroom.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but I can't let you go up there." He replied.
"Jay make him let me go up there to see my mother! Please! I want to see my mom." She cried to Jay who was standing just behind her, trying to soothe her.
"I can't do that Nichole. They're just gonna beat my ass if I try." He said calmly to her.
With that Nichole gave up trying to fight her way to the top of the steps to see our mom, who was long gone. It was a good thing that she didn't see Lucy in the condition she was in. No one would want to see their mother that way.
My grandmother, Delores, had already found her way to the apartment as well. Bursting into tears once the news was confirmed that her youngest child had died. Danny was there too. Despite being the furthest away, he was the first aside from the police to show up.
The 6 of us found ourselves standing in the kitchen. A circle of faces in disbelief, no words to be spoken as they carried Lucy out, headed for the morgue, in a black body bag.
"What's going to happen now?" I wondered. Realizing that everything was about to change. I would have to change schools and, "Who was gonna take Anna and I in? Would I still get to see Danny?" More thoughts made their way through my head as I was reckoning with the unknowns.
The first week after my mother died, I went to stay at the place I had found myself most comfortable, Nicholes house. Tensions were high, everyone was emotional and reeling with the unexpected shock of Lucy's death. At one point an argument broke out between Nichole and I and Jay ran down the stairs to defend her.
"This is my house and you're not going to be making the rules here," he chimed in.
"This is none of your business. My mother didn't even like you." I lashed back at him just before everyone broke up the argument.
It was true though. It wasn't any of Jays business, and my mother did not like him. He was a habitual criminal and an abuser. He regularly put his hands on Nichole, cheated on her, and was always letting their small children down. This, however, was the least of Jay's crimes.
One day when I was staying at Nicholes' house while Danny was in another town with his father, I could hear fighting in Nicholes' upstairs bedroom. "Jay and Nichole must be getting into it," I thought to myself.
It wasn't much longer before Nichole came down and sat in the recliner chair across from me in the living room. Her dirty blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, her short legs crossed, and tears were rolling down her bright red cheeks. She was the blonde version of my mother.
"What happened dude?" I said puzzled. Wondering what the hell was going on.
"Jay held me down by my throat and raped me. Snot was pouring down my face, but he just kept choking me." Nichole confided in me as she gasped for air, crying between breaths.
My eyes grew large, and I didn't immediately know what to say. Right at this moment I looked at the top of the steps to see Jay standing there. He is an intimidating looking person, 5'10'' 180lbs, jet black hair with a gorilla like face, and a fierce temper.
He stampeded down my sisters' steps and postured in front of me, "If you EVER repeat to anybody what you just heard, I will destroy you. I will destroy your reputation and everything about you."
I looked up at Jay, shocked, wondering how I found myself in the middle of this situation and not knowing what I could do about it. I was only 16 years old. I looked over at Nichole for a moment, and just felt saddened for her. I didn't understand why she wouldn't get away from Jay.
YOU ARE READING
Phoenix Rises
Non-FictionMy Life story. How it all began, and how I learned to rise from the ashes.
