BrookLyn's Journey (42 page)

“I am BrookLyn Scott
and
I didn’t run
away.”

“Do you have ID?”

“No
,
but
I didn’t run
away.”

Officer Thomas
directed
them
to sit down in the living room. Officer Allyn stood in the hallway.
BrookLyn and Gabby
sat down
on the couch
.

“Your parents
are on their way here
.”

What
?

“Why? I
’m
eighteen.”

Gabby sat on the couch wringing her hands and nervously shaking her left leg.
BrookLyn
reached out to stop her from shaking the couch.
Her
stomach was danc
ing enough
she
didn’t need
anything
add
ing
to it.

“
Your parents
said you were sixteen.”

“
Well, unless
they gave me the wrong information, I am eighteen.
”
She
recited
her
birth date, including the year, hoping they could do the math.

“Your parents
also
told us that you and Miss Michaels were more than just friends? Is that true?” Officer Thomas
queried.

“I really don’t see why that’s anyone else’s business. I’m an adult. She’s not keeping me against my will. She
offered to help me get out of a
bad situation. She
’s
done nothing wrong.
” BrookLyn
slowly
dragged out the last words so they’d get her point
.
“
As I said,
I left
of
my own free will. I’m staying with her
of
my own free will.”

She
tried catching
her
breath
,
unsure of what was going to happen.
She
had stole
n
a
tiny
glimpse of peace
, and
now her
parents
were
stirr
ing
up more trouble
.
All
she
was trying to do was rebuild
her
young life.
It just wasn’t fair and she wanted to scream.

“
Well, Miss Scott, we
received a frantic call from your parents
this afternoon
. They told us that you ran away from home yesterday
and they
are on their way over here now to get you.” They stood looking at
BrookLyn
as if they had accomplished a spectacular feat.

Oh, God no
. BrookLyn
gasped. This couldn’t be happening.
She
was eighteen. How could they possibly
be allowed to
take
her
back to the house of horrors? If they did
, BrookLyn
didn’t think she would
make it
back
out alive.

“I didn’t run away,”
she
said
again
,
after
she
regained
her
composure.

“You keep saying that. Why are you here then?”
Officer Thomas asked.

“
So,
are you
telling us that
you’re not being held against your will?”
Officer Allyn
interjected,
not allowing
her
to answer Officer Thomas’ question
first
.

“She’s
not,” Gabby said softly.

BrookLyn
wanted to
shout it to them
since they didn’t
seem to
comprehend what
she
was trying to say.
“
My parents
were the
only people
holding me against my will.”
She
was angry
that
she
was being questioned for leaving a h
ouse that wasn’t safe for
her
to live in. Did
her
mother miss
her now
because she was receiving the blows from him
that
she thought
BrookLyn
deserved?

“They’re your parents. How were they holding you against your will?” Officer Allyn asked
,
rolling his eyes.

She knew for sure now that he was bad cop
as he stood with his hands on his hips
wearing a snide look on his face
.
“I’d rather not say.”
Why
am
I protecting them? They didn’t care about me.
They reported
her
missing after
she
’
d been gone for a few weeks
, and
only
because they found out that
she
was actually surviving
, or because they found out she
was with Gabby
. This was an attempt for them to have the last word and control
her
life.

“What’
s going on
?” Officer Thomas
asked
.

She
looked at the floor not answering.

“BrookLyn, tell them
. You have to be free of it
,” Gabby said
.

BrookLyn
wanted to kick, scream
,
and yell.
She
wanted to do anything but talk
about that
.

“
If there’s something we’re missing here, l
et us know. Otherwise, they’ll be taking
you home,” Officer Thomas said. He looked like he actually might care. He wasn’t treating
her
like a rebellious teen
the way that
Officer Allyn was.
BrookLyn
heard footsteps
and knew
that
her
parents
had arrived.

“Oh, you found our baby.”
Her
mother
gushed and
walked into the living room
,
clasping
her hands in excitement as if she cared. She didn’t.

“Excuse me, Mrs
. Scott.
”

Her mother
nodded.
Her
father was out in the hallway talking to a female officer
who must have accompanied them here
.

“I didn’t run away. I left. I am eighteen. I can do that
, huh
?
And if they’re so worried about me why did they wait almost a month to call you? I didn’t just leave yesterday, you know.”

The officers looked at each other. They had obviously believed her parents when they had told them she had just left. They weren’t aware that she had been out of the house for so long.

Her mother just looked horrified.

“That’s news to us.” He looked at her mother and her eyes shifted
toward
the floor.

“And how old are you again?
” Officer Thomas said.

“
You were misinformed, Officer.
I
am not sixteen as they told you. I
turned eighteen in October
.
”
BrookLyn
wasn’t going back
there
. They’d have to hog tie
her
to get
her
in their car.

“
And is
Miss Michaels keeping you
here
against your will?”

“
Why are you asking me the same questions over and over?”
Their questions took her around in circles, as she was sure they
had
planned
, hoping to mix her up
.

“We’re just trying to get some clarity.”

“My parents kept me against my will
.”
BrookLyn
sighed loudly.

“That’s the seco
nd time you
’ve
said that, Miss
Scott
. We’
re going to need you to elaborate on that,” Officer Thomas
said
.

Officer Allyn looked annoyed and impatient
, like he
would’ve enjoyed throwing
her
in the back of his car against
her
will. As he shifted his weight
impatiently
from one leg to the other
,
she
decided
she
wouldn’t give him that option.

Just as the words started to leave
her
lips,
her
father
—the larger than life,
John Matthew Scott
—
ducked into the doorway wearing the same snide expression on his face
that
he usually wore
.
He was ready to put on a show.

“It’s now or never, BrookLyn.” Gabby almost whispered
it,
but
BrookLyn
heard her loud and clear.
She was thinking the very same thing.

She
took a deep breath and glanc
ed into
her
parents’
direction
.
Then she looked to
Gabby
who
was ringing her hands and staring at the floor. She looked like she had
been
beaten up without anyone throwing a punch. She always puts herself out there for
BrookLyn
and it was time for
her
to return the fav
or.

“I left my parents
’
house because I was tired of being abused
,
sir
. My father beat
me for reasons that only he knows
. My mother
,
created lies to get him to hit me instead of her. I couldn’
t deal with it anymore
,
so I left. Call it running away if you want, but I was running for my life.
”
BrookLyn didn’t
look at anyone in particular
, but she
could feel
her
father’s gaping eyes
burning into her.

“Is this true?
”

Her
father glared at
her
,
but
didn’t answer
the question
.

“
Sir?
I asked
you a question.”

Her
father shifted his stance, looked Officer Thomas
in the eyes
, and said
quite ma
t
ter
-
of
-f
actly
, “She’s a liar. Nothing she says is true.”

BrookLyn gathered the same courage she had felt in the face of Shante, multiplied it by about a hundred and looked at her father as she continued.
“
I
was the last one left
in the home
,
but there
were
four of us
. Once
my brother and sisters
turned eighteen they left
too
. I was the lucky o
ne left behind
. They hit all of us for many years. Some days he even kept us from school. He called them
holidays
. These holidays occurred after a bad beating
when he was afraid of being caught because he’d gotten carried away and hit us somewhere that could be seen
.”
She
felt
her eyes burning with unshed
tears
. She
couldn’t let them
fall
.
She
had to be strong.