Page 76 of Out to Find Freedom

She didn’t know better; they’d been good lies. It had all come out in court. How my aunt had told Harriet I moved to the new school to get away. She’d made the impression that Donny had tried to rape me, so I wanted to get away from him and from the friend who’d set us up in the first place. The police had visited looking for Donny after he disappeared. Only they didn’t look too far into it after his mum had found a suicide note stating how he regretted so much in life. Gloria and her people made out that he’d raped and killed a girl. The letter told the police where to find the body. Of course, the police believed the note when it did lead to a body. Apparently the girl who looked very similar to me had been questioned by the police about Donny. She cried and told them of the horrid night he took her out on a date. She confessed it was all a lie in the end. What hurt the most was that Donny’s mum never knew the truth. She died from cancer not long after her son’s death.

“I’d been hurt thinking Donny would do that and how you could blame me for it. W-when they found his note, I… I lost it. I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. I eventually climbed out of that pit. But then all this came to light and….”

“You didn’t know what to do or say?” She nodded. “I didn’t either, and I don’t still. I wanted to reach out to you so many times.”

“You saved me and my family fromherand those others.”

“You would have done the same.”

“I don’t know if I could have.”

“I do.”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry for not coming sooner. I mean, I’ve been trying for the last month, but that lady at the private investigation firm, Violet, kept putting me off. She said you were getting your life together.”

I honestly didn’t expect that. I wasn’t sure why Violet held Harriet back, but I did appreciate the thought.

“I am. I have.” I smiled, thinking of Ryan and my business, my house and my friends.

“So…” She licked her lips. “Do you think you would do an interview with me for channel ten?”

I stiffened, my throat thickening. “Sorry?” I asked, just as the front door opened. Ryan stepped in and closed the door behind him. His eyes narrowed on Harriet. I should have known it hadn’t been Ryan at the door earlier; he wouldn’t have knocked since he had a key, and if it was open, he would just walk in. Still, if I’d have looked first, I had a feeling I would have opened the door to Harriet anyway.

But regret tightened my stomach.

She wasn’t really at my house just for an interview… right?

“Get the fuck out,” Ryan snarled.

“Ryan?” I said, standing from the couch.

He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin Harriet’s way. “This bitch is only after one thing, a payday. She’s been hounding all of us at the firm for your address and number, sayin’ shit about missin’ you and wantin’ your friendship back. But we weren’t born fuckin’ yesterday. We never gave it because we’d heard all the damn TV stations have promised her big money if she got you in for an interview.”

“That’s not true,” Harriet cried, standing next to me. She took my hand, but I quickly pulled it free.

“Bullshit,” Ryan clipped. “Violet just rang, said she’d been in there this mornin’ and when a client came in bein’ a dick, Harriet disappeared, but the file drawer had been opened.” His eyes caught mine. “Usually it’s locked tight, but Violet had just been in it when this bitch made an appearance. Know it’s no excuse, but it won’t happen again. Violet’s fuckin’ fumin’. She’s in the process of takin’ all the case files into the lockdown room where no one can get to them without a goddamn security card and access number.”

Why Violet had stopped Harriet’s visit made sense now.

Anger had me facing Harriet and demanding, “Get out.”

“What? No! You have to do this,” she snapped. “You owe me this. My world wouldn’t have been messed up if it wasn’t for you.”

“I’m sorry?” I asked, appalled. “Are you telling me you were beaten, threatened, had people murdered in front of you just because you wanted to go home? Did you witness a girl younger than we had been back then being raped, drugged?” I yelled, my breath heavy. “Did your aunt slice at your skin over and over?” I waved my arm in her face. I took a deep breath to calm my erratic heart. “She did it all because her boyfriend stared at you like he was going to fuck you. Did that happen to you? Do I owe you for any of that? For being locked away for over two years of your life in a basement?” In the earlier days, I would have caved. I would have seen her misfortune, whatever it had been, as my fault. I would have done things I didn’t want to do to please her. But I wasn’t the same person any longer.

I had love in my life. People who cared.

I was strong.

No one would bully me into something I didn’t want to do. No one could control me any longer.

I had the strength to stand up for myself.

Stepping into her, so her face was close to mine, I told her, “Get the fuck out before I sic Ryan on you.”

Her eyes widened. She glanced over at Ryan, who I heard open the door. Harriet nodded, stepped back, and then walked around the coffee table. I watched her go and waited until she was out the door with Ryan closing it before I relaxed.

Only the tension rolled back in and I started to pace while I ranted, “Can you believe her? I mean, really, the nerve. She hasn’t been through anything. She got to stay in her cosy little house with her parents. I owe her nothing. The greedy… greedy—”

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