Beauty To Broadway (Hamilton)

Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty Eight

Lin and I went and checked into our hotel around 8pm. Coral was asleep in her bassinet. Lin and I sat on the porch.
"So... Chris wants me to testify for him," I said.
"What? That's crazy. No way," He replied.
"I have too," I said.
"No Saint, there is no way I'm letting you do that," Lin replied, obviously getting frustrated.
"I loved him Lin, I can't let him go to prison because he loved me too," I said.
"If someone loved you, they would take no for no and they wouldn't try to rape you," he argued. He stood up and went back into the room. I sighed. Maybe Lin was right, if Chris did this to some other girl and he and I weren't together, would I defend him, or would I defend her? What kind of person would I be if I tried to condone what Chris tried to do?

The next morning I went back to the hospital. Lin stayed back at the hotel with Coral, he didn't think he could do anything to help me with my brother. I met my mom here but she wanted to spend some time with Coral before we left again, so she went to the hotel. I went in to Kai's room and he was still restrained to the bed.
"Hey buddy," I greeted. He looked at me and didn't speak. So I did the thing that any good sister would do, I undid his restraints, all of them. He sat criss cross on the bed and looked at me. "You can run, but I promise you I won't take you to New York if you run. And I promise you'll be restrained for a long time if you try to leave. Let me help you, let the nurses help you. It sucks Kai, you lost your leg, but I lost my brother and I want you back," I added. He looked at me and started crying.
"You want to take me to New York?" He asked.
"There's a few very nice hospitals up there that I know will help you. And besides, you were just as close to dad as I was. I want you to come to New York so I can spend more time with you and tell you stories about him and I. And Lin is a great guy. I know he won't be dad, but maybe he can teach you a thing or two. I'm sure they need a few one legged actors on Broadway," I teased. Kai chuckled.
"I do NOT want to be an actor," he replied. I chuckled.
"Okay, so what do you want to be?" I asked.
"A marine biologist," he replied. I got teary eyed.
"Just like dad," I said.
"Just like dad," he repeated. I know what you're thinking. Hold on, you lived in Arizona. My dad studied fresh water marine biology when we lived in Arizona but he mainly studied salt water biology when we lived in Hawaii. There was an opportunity in Phoenix to save some species of fish, I never paid any attention to his job, frankly it seemed quit boring. But my father loved it, and now that he's gone, I wish I listened to him more about what he loved to do.
"It'll be hard with one leg," I blanket stated, I didn't want him to get his hopes up. He looked very upset at my comment, I felt bad. "But hey, if anyone can do it, it's you," I assured him. He smiled.
"I wanna get better Saint," he replied. I sat on the bed next to him and pulled him in tight for a hug.
"Then I have to be able to trust you. Okay? No more of these psychotic breaks. Alright? If you're angry, you need to say something, scream it even. Let people know how you feel. You're mad at the world, you're mad at God, you're mad at your family. But I just need you to trust me, I'm going to do everything I can to help you," I said.
"I believe you. I want to go with you to New York," he replied. I smiled and squeezed him tighter.
"Thank you for forgiving me," I said.
"I could never stay mad at my sister," he replied.

And so with his doctors permission, my mothers permission, and a few tears from our younger siblings, we left. I promised them we'd come visit soon. We got back to New York and took my brother straight to Manhattan Psychiatric Hospital. We checked him in, Lin got all the paperwork situated. Before we had to leave, I pulled Kai aside.
"I'll come visit you every weekend," I promised.
"I'm not going anywhere," he joked.
"You don't have to be here long. As soon as you open up about your anger you'll be out of here. There's a physical therapist coming to see you tomorrow I think, he's going to fit you for your first prosthetic!" I exclaimed.
"I'm so excited," he replied. Lin assured for us to leave.
"I'll see you later," I said.
"See you," he replied. He smiled and then was taken away in a wheelchair.

We were now parked outside of an all to familiar court house. We got out of the car, Lin went to the back and got Coral.
"You don't have to do this," Lin said as we walked in.
"I want to, he's a good guy," I replied.
"A good guy who pretty much tried to kill me," Lin mumbled.
"You can testify too," I said.
"I don't want the kid going away for 20 years, but I'm not going to lie for him, he tried to kill me and I would only make things worse for him," Lin replied.

We weren't super on time for the trial. We were actually pretty late. But when the courtroom doors slammed shut, all eyes were on Lin, Coral and I. Chris said something to his lawyer and the next thing I knew, I was sitting next to the judge being questioned by lawyers.
"Saint Ayala, you have a daughter. Correct?" Chris's lawyer asked.
"Yes," I replied.
"Was she home the night of the incident?" He asked.
"No sir, neither of the two children were home. Just Lin," I replied.
"You were in a relationship with Mr McCarrell?" He asked.
"Yes," I replied.
"And the night of the attempted rape, you invited him back to your home with what intentions?" He asked.
"Intentions?" I asked.
"Well, you were both drinking and then you took him to your home. Most women's intentions in those moments would be to have sex," he replied.
"Excuse me? My intentions were to allow my boyfriend to sleep over since his house was so far away from where we partied," I snapped.
"So you didn't want to have sex with Mr McCarrell?" He asked.
"No! That's why it would've been rape!" I yelled. And now I started crying. I think I finally realized my situation. Yeah, Chris is a great guy, but he tried to rape me, he tried hurting Lin, the father of my child. "Look, I know he's a great guy. And I loved him. But Lin is my daughters father, and Chris could've killed him, Chris could've killed me. He almost raped, but he didn't because Lin was there to stop him." I stopped and looked at Lin who was holding Coral. I started crying harder, "And Chris, I'm sorry. But I can't get out of my head the fear that I felt when your hands were around my neck. You don't deserve this, because I know you're a good guy. But you made a mistake, should you spend 20 years for that mistake? No, but you can't take it back. And that night is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. Just thinking about it makes me fear for my life, my daughter's life, and Lin's life. I'm sorry Chris, but you deserve some type of punishment," I said. I wiped my eyes and then left the podium. The judge had enough. Chris was sentenced to 10 years, with a parole hearing at 5 years.