Blackbird

All The Tears You're Gonna Cry

We walked inside Evan's house and before Tara could run off I pulled her to the side. I waited until everyone else was out of ear shot then I spoke. "What happened at school today?" 

"Please don't be mad" she began to cry " I just wanted to help, I don't want you to die" I grabbed her little hands and kissed her forehead.\

"Shh baby, its okay I'm not mad. We just can't tell anyone or they'll separate us, don't you worry okay things will get better" I reassured her.

"But if you die, who will be my mommy then" she sobbed, making my heart ache.

"Nothing bad is going to happen to me Tara, and no matter what I will always be your mommy, and I will always be there to protect you okay?" she sniffled and nodded, I hugged her once more then wiped her tears.

"I love you with all my heart kid" I said causing her to smile again.

"I love you too" she smiled and in that moment it felt worth it. Like the abuse didn't matter as much, as long as I could keep a smile on her face, as long as she was safe everything would be okay. I wiped her face off and she ran off to find Ethan so they could play. I couldn't ignore the  horrible pain shooting through my body any time I moved. Everything hurt and I felt so dizzy, I leaned against the wall to support myself.

"Rena, everything okay" Evan questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I nodded.

"C'mon you need something to eat" he put my arm around his shoulder and slowly helped me walk to the kitchen. Ms. Vanessa dropped the tupperware she was holding when she saw me.

"Oh my god, Rena are you okay" Vanessa asked coming to my aid.

"I'm-"

"She hasn't been eating, I'll fix her something" Evan said then turned to me "can you make it to the chair by yourself" 

I nodded in reply, and took one step causing the pain to intensify. I tried not to grimace as I took the next step, my legs then buckled under pressure and suddenly I was collapsing making everything go dark.

I woke up to the sound of a monitor beeping and the smell of antiseptic. I opened my eyes and observed the room it was all white with a couple of black chairs which were occupied by Evan and Ms. Vanessa. After a few moments they noticed that I was awake and Ms. Vanessa said something to Evan then she left the room.

"How are you feeling?" Evan asked approaching the hospital bed.

"Tired " I answered. Before he could say anything else Ms. Vanessa returned with a dark haired, brown skinned woman wearing a doctor's coat.

"Hi Rena, I'm Dr. Fatima. I have a few questions for you okay sweetie?" she said, I nodded slowly. "Have you ever been a victim of abuse?" my eyes widened, and I looked at her then at Evan and Ms. Vanessa  who didn't seem to think the question was preposterous. 

"Wh-what, no" I replied nervously.

"Rena if you're scared it's okay we have people here who can help you" Dr. Fatima stated.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" I said defensively.

"Rena you have two cracked ribs, bruises all over your body, and you're very malnourished. You also have a severe amount of internal damage to your vagina" she blatantly stated. I couldn't even speak, what could I say? I just burst out into tears, and Ms. Vanessa attempted to console me. I felt hysterical, I was wailing and sobbing and Evan watched. He looked like he hated seeing me like this I could've sworn I saw a few tears fall down his face. After a few more minutes of crying I calmed down, I was ready to talk. I did a rape kit and afterwards Dr. Fatima brought a couple of police officers in so I could give them a statement.

"Since I was young my mom brought different men in, the first one though he touched me and told me not to say anything and at first I didn't but when I finally did, my mom said she didn't believe me. But now, come to think of it because he was her supplier she probably let him do it. The men came and went and after a while they lost interest in me. Until about a month ago, Vick came. H-he wanted my sister, and I couldn't let him do that to her" I was crying again, and everyone else looked completely horrified, though I continued "I thought maybe he'll never come back, until he did, we came home there was new furniture in our dingy house. And he was there, he physically went after Tara and I stopped him but then he was set on me. He beat me up and raped me. After it was over my mom showed up and she admitted that she let him do it but because he left us money and we weren't starving I was doing our family a favor." I finished.

"Ma'am, I know this maybe be strange but you are the bravest girl I've ever met in my day." one of the cops said solemnly, I gave him a half-hearted smile and him an his partner left the room.

"Where's Tara?" I asked.

"She's at my house with Ethan and the babysitter" Ms. Vanessa reassured me. I sighed and relaxed into my pillow noticing Evan's face and I beckoned him over to me. I grabbed his hand and gave the biggest smile I could muster.

"It's okay, we're gonna be okay thanks to you" I said.

"H-how could someone do something so disgusting? How" he asked angrily, he had tears running down his face that I'm not sure he was even aware of.

"I don't know, I've wondered that too" I replied.

"You need to rest okay, we're gonna go check on the kids and we'll be back" Ms. Vanessa said patting my arm.

"I'll stay, to keep an eye on her" Evan said and pulled up a chair next to the bed. She nodded and exited the room. "Try to get some rest" he said to me, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep and for the first time in a long time, I felt safe. 

I woke up to the sound of angry whispers. I could see Evan on the phone, pacing the room. Then I heard him say "What do you mean their mom came to get Tara?"

I sat straight up in bed, startling Evan. He noticed the look on my face, I ripped the iv out of my arm and proceeded to get up.

"Rena" he yelled.

"I have to go" I said getting out of the bed. He grabbed me trying to restrain me as carefully as possible. The nurses must have heard us because they ran into the room.

"Calm down, Miss" one of them said.

"No, let me go, please they're gonna hurt her" I screamed. Then I felt a needle in my arm and my vision started to blur, I could feel my grip loosening. "P-please don't let them hurt her" I whispered then my world went black. When I came to I was back in the hospital bed with the iv's in my arm. This time Ms. Vanessa, Ethan, and Evan were all in the room. I noticed they had all been crying, when I didn't see Tara I was instantly on high alert.

"Where is Tara" I asked hoping that maybe she was just with an officer.

"I'm so sorry, Rena" Ms. Vanessa sobbed, my mind was racing, why was she crying?

"Where is my little sister?" I asked again, only this time I was louder. They were silent for a few seconds trying to find the words to tell me.

"She's dead, he killed her" Evan replied.....You ever felt your heart shatter into a million tiny pieces and it's like the world will come crumbling down at any second? Well that doesn't even begin to describe the half of what I felt.