Good Girlz in the Hood : The Chronicles of Ciara

Chapter 27

"WHAT?!" I was so fucking angry. I was ready to hunt down this stupid nigga Bradley. I had never liked him, he always seemed dodgy...

"Did they know it was Rianna?" asked Karina

Meisha shook her head. We went back to the waiting area where a nurse and doctor were talking to Derome and Kyle. As we got closer the nurse looked and up and saw me.

"Ah yes, there's the girl who came in the ambulance with her. Rianna wants to see you - alone." She said, and led me towards the ward.

She led me to the bed Rianna was lying on, and I sat down at the end of it.

"I need to tell you something, but you can't tell the others." She said

I nodded

"Before Devonte stabbed me... he... raped me." She said, as she burst into tears.

I didn't even know what to say. I just hugged her and tried to comfort her, but you can't exactly comfort someone who's been raped and stabbed up all in one night.

We sat in silence for a bit... she stopped crying after a while but she was still sniffing. The nurse came back and said that she would probably be able to leave in the morning because the stab wound wasn't that bad. I didn't know whether or not she knew Rianna had been raped.

**

None of us left the hospital that night. I somehow ended up sleeping with my head on Kyle's lap. Neither of us mentioned that he had kissed me the last time I saw him.

I woke up around 4am and went into the ward to check on Rianna. She was lying on the bed staring up at the ceiling with tears running down her face. I lay down on the bed next to her, even though it was a tight squeeze. I think she fell asleep eventually, but she kept waking up.

Around 9 a nurse came to check on her.

**

We got to them lot's ends around 12:45 ... Meisha and Karina went to their houses and I went with Rianna to hers. We brushed our teeth and took a shower - not together. We were top-to-toeing on her bed, whilst she was flicking through the channels on freeview.

"Do you think i should tell my mum? Coz she'll just make me feel like it's my fault and shit..." she said, quietly

"I think you should tell her... But maybe not straight away-"

"And she'll wanna go to the police ... I just..." she started crying.

I got up and hugged her. I didn't know what to do; one of my best friends had just been raped and she was too scared to tell her mum or anyone else...

She fell asleep and I watched over her...

I also fell asleep and when I woke up Rianna was standing in front of her wardrobe dragging all her clothes out and throwing them on the floor...

I got up from the bed and walked over to where she was...

"Cee... Cee... do I ... do I dress like a slut?" she asked me, barely getting the words out. She was crying again

"No Rianna, of course not. If you did, do you not think I would have cussed you by now?" I said, pulling her into a hug. Rianna had somehow managed to pull out all her raving clothes, which obviously weren't the most respectable outfits, but she didn't dress like that all the time... she dressed like a typical 17 year old - Primark stuff, New Look stuff, H & M stuff etc...

I didn't know what to do - there's only so much one person can take, and Rianna was in a state. My own mum was on holiday, her mum worked full time, along with her dad. If I told her brother he would kill Bradley and Devonte...

I remembered hearing about a place called The Havens, which was like a counselling service for rape victims. One of my friends had gone there before, and I wasn't sure about the name and location so I called her... she gave me the details. The next step was to get Rianna out of the house... I didn't how that was gonna work though...

I went into the kitchen and pretended I was looking for something to eat, but there was actually no food in the cupboards or fridge anyway, and I noticed there was a shopping list pinned to the notice board...

"Rianna... are you hungry??" I said while climbing back upstairs.

"Yeah... but there's no food in the house. Can you go to the shop and get something for us??"

I put my shoes on and stood up...

"Why don't you come too, some fresh air will do you good as my mother says..."

It was slightly drizzling so after a while of persuasion, we left the house wearing our hoods up and walked down to the bus stop

**

I don't know how I did it, but after I bought us some food, I managed to persuade her to go The Havens coz "they were the only people who wouldn't judge her, and who could help her"

She told the woman what had happened, all the details including the whole thing with Bradley. The people there couldn't tell the police what she told them unless she wanted them to...

After what seemed like 10,000 years we left The Havens and made our way back to Rianna's house...

"Thank you for always being there, Ciara. I dunno what I would do without you; I'd probably be dead right now..."

"That's what friends are for, love"