Chapter 3 - Good-Bad Deal

There was no way to tell if the sun had risen or not. One thing was sure, however, Lucy had been awake for hours. The other inmates had slept and woken up but she didn’t get a wink of sleep throughout the night. Her entire body hurt, her head was aching and her throat was dry. Lucy was too scared to ask the guard for water, so she just sat there, coughing occasionally through the night.

Her thoughts had been mostly about Lacy. She couldn’t stop worrying for her sister. She wondered if their mother had talked to Lacy about everything, about how John almost molested her. Scenes of John smacking her sister and ripping her shirt played several times in Lucy’s head. And every time they did, she felt a burning anger. She wasn’t wrong. John needed to be stopped one way or another.

Thoughts of her mother also crossed her mind. Lucy wondered what she was thinking, or if she even worried about how she was faring. It bothered her that her mother had stopped asking how she was doing for months now. She only left her money once a week and screamed for them to come downstairs when dinner was ready. It was like she’d stopped being their mother.

“Lucy Adams,” an officer called out for her. “Someone is here for you.”

Lucy sprung to her feet. She scurried over to the bars and held on patiently as the officer opened it up. “Who’s here for me?”

The officer didn’t reply. After he opened the door, Lucy stepped out of the cell and waited for him to close it. She followed closely behind him, anxious. The only person that could be there so early to meet her was Lacy, but she couldn’t come alone. Her guess was Martell or Joyce accompanied her.

As she walked into the room, Lacy rose to her feet. Her face lit up and she smiled at Lucy, obviously delighted to see her. Lucy looked at the people seated by Lacy’s side and to her surprise, it was their mother and a strange man. She had expected Rita to be at the hospital by her husband’s side, but she was here instead. Something was up.

“Hey, Lacy.” She hugged her sister tightly, until the officer broke them apart.

“Are you okay?” Lacy asked, wearing a worried look. “You don’t look okay.”

“I’m fine.”

Lucy brushed Lacy’s hair away from her face to get a clear look at her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” she replied, nodding.

“Didn’t get any sleep at all? You don’t look so good.”

“I didn’t sleep much, but it’s nothing to worry about. I’m fine, Lucy. He couldn’t do anything to me because of you.”

Lucy took her seat. She stared at her mother and the stranger, waiting for someone to say something.

“Hello, Lucy,” the man finally said. “I’m George Brookes.”

“Hello, Mr. Brookes. I don’t think we’ve met.”

“No, we haven’t. I’m the lawyer representing Mr. John Stewart. We’re here to offer you a deal.”

Lucy’s brows furrowed.

“A deal?” She tilted her head to the side.

“Thankfully, John didn’t get hurt badly,” Rita finally spoke up.

“Thankfully?” Lucy scoffed.

George cleared his throat. “He regained consciousness during the night and this morning, a detective came to see him and he testified about what happened last night.”

“Testified? He’s the predator, not the victim. Why does he get to tell his side of the story?”

“Lucy, we heard your testimony, but Mr. John claimed it never happened in the manner in which you put it.”

“What?” Lucy said. “What do you mean it didn’t happen that way? I hit him because he was on top of my mom, ripping her clothes off. She’s the one sitting here, why don’t you ask her yourself?”

“Mrs. Stewart confirms John’s narration of the events, not yours. She claims you overreacted and the detectives will believe it too, given that the victim is also testifying.”

Lucy stared at her mother in disbelief. “You’re not taking my side? Because of him?”

Rita dropped her gaze, refusing to look directly at Lucy as she spoke. “Lucy, withdraw your statement and we can all go home. John is willing to drop the charges because he loves you like his own daughter.”

“He loves me?” Lucy repeated. “Are you listening to yourself?”

“You are not a child anymore, Lucy. Start acting like an adult.”

“This was your chance,” Lucy yelled. “This was it; this was your chance to leave him. I gave you a chance to put him behind bars, mother. You could have just said the truth and the police would have taken care of the rest. What is the matter with you? Don’t you want to be happy?”

“I am happy and I will be happier once we end this police case.”

“Lucy, it’s in your best interest that you accept our deal,” George added. “That way you get out of here today, but if you drag this, you’ll be here for a long time. And at the end, the judge will rule in our favor. Your father is doing this because he loves you, even though you’re trying to bring him down.”

“He is not my father!” Lucy bellowed, losing her patience.

“Do not call him that, ever,” Lacy added.

“Don’t be stubborn, Lucy,” Rita continued. “Or do you want to rot here?”

“I’d rather rot here than go back to that house with you and your husband. At least in jail, I understand the people here have done bad things and are paying for it, but in that house, a criminal is walking freely.”

“You don’t mean that,” Rita responded. “Stop bluffing and accept the damn deal, you annoying child. Stop making things hard for me.”

“Lucy, this isn’t a joke,” George said. “If you remain adamant and choose not to withdraw your statement, you’d be sent to prison pending your court case. Is that really what you want?”

“What I want is for the truth to win, Mr. Brookes. Your client was trying to rape my mother and my little sister. He ripped her clothes. I’m sure the police have seen that in the house.”

“What matters is what the victim tells the police,” George explained. “And your mother here claims your account of the night is false. Lacy is a minor, and to the police, she’s not the victim. So, it’s just you, your mother and John. It’s two against one.”

Lucy shook her head. “I won’t do it, I will not withdraw my statement.”

“Lucy,” Lacy finally spoke. “Just do it.”

“Even you?” Lucy’s voice broke. She blinked back the tears as she stared at her sister. “Even you, Lacy?”

“We want the same thing, Lucy. However, that’s not going to happen with you behind bars. You need to be safe, that’s all that matters to me. I don’t care about John, I care about you.”

“You don’t get it,” Lucy insisted. “This was our one chance, Lacy.”

“Please,” Lacy begged. “Let it go.”

Lucy bit the inside of her cheeks and rapped her fingers on the table surface. It was hard for her to swallow her pride, but she had a lot to lose if she didn’t. So, through clenched teeth, Lucy agreed to withdraw her statement.

Once they were done with the paperwork, Lucy had to wait for her mother to sign her release papers. She stood away from them, with her arms crossed. She had decided to go wait in the car and was about to leave when she spotted the red-haired man, signing papers too, by the exit.

In better light, she could see his face clearly. His side profile was mesmerizing. He had a chiseled jawline with slightly pouty lips and a small pointy nose. Lucy stepped to the side to get a clearer look at his face.

He had soft brown eyes, just like hers. His hair was red but its color matched his skin fantastically. There was something mysterious about him, something that made Lucy want to walk up to him. He was a couple inches taller than six feet, which was fine for Lucy since she was six feet tall.

Why am I thinking about that? I don’t care if he’s fine for me.

He looked fit, ripped even. It was obvious from the way his arms filled the hoodie sleeves. He was certainly attractive to look at. Suddenly, he turned and looked straight at Lucy. Gasping, she turned away. She took in air the wrong way and her body let out a loud cough.

This was awkward. He’d caught her staring at him, maybe a little lustfully too. This wasn’t the time to be lustful. She was supposed to thank him for saving her in the cell. The man made his way out of the station and Lucy ran to catch up with him. He wasn’t going to get away that easily.

“Hello,” she greeted, sliding in front of him and blocking the exit.

Lucy smiled at him. She tried not to stare at his eyes. He didn’t smile back. In fact, he appeared irritated that she’d blocked off his path. Or maybe that was how he always looked.

“Hello,” he replied, without inflection.

“I wanted to thank you for saving my life yesterday. Thank you very much, I am very grateful.” Lucy said.

“Great.”

He made to walk away, but Lucy stopped him again.

“Wait, what’s your name?” she asked. “Even if I don’t catch anything, I’ve got to get your name.”

He glanced at his watch then at the road over her shoulder before looking down at her. Lucy took a step back unconsciously when their eyes met. There was something dangerous about the red-haired man, something prowling in the nether regions of his personality. It made her fear him, but it also had a magnetic allure. Lucy found herself wanting to know this mysterious man.

“Defoe,” he answered. “My name is Defoe. Can I go now?”

“No,” she blurted, then cleared her throat.

Defoe might have as well not heard because he smoothly stepped past her and would have gotten away if Lucy didn’t grab his sleeve.

“Can I get your number?”

Lucy thought he was frowning before, but when his brows arched at her question, she realized that the previous expression was actually his resting face.

“Why?” he asked, staring at her hand on his sleeve.

“You were nice to me and I would be grateful if we kept in touch.”

“Listen, I really have to go, girl. If you–”

“It’s Lucy, sorry, I should have told you sooner. Just give me your phone number so you can go. It appears you’re in a hurry.”

Defoe sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “You don’t have a lot of friends, do you?”

“I do,” Lucy lied.

“Tell me yours,” he ordered, staring at his phone.

“What?”

“Your number…”

“Oh.” Lucy spotted her mother and Lacy walking towards the exit and she quickly recited her phone number to Defoe. Once she was done, he didn’t even glance at her again before walking off. Lucy wanted to stop him, to make sure he saved her number, but he already jogged across the street and she couldn’t follow him.

“Let’s go,” Rita said. “Get in the car, Lucy.”

Lucy rolled her eyes but she obliged. She got into the back seat and made sure to slam the door. It was sure to get her mother’s attention. Lacy noticed it and laughed. Lacy’s happy face made Lucy laugh too even though she wanted to keep a straight face.

The ride home was silent. Rita refused to even turn on the radio. Lacy had tried to make small talk but there wasn’t much to talk about. Lucy tried to distract herself by thinking happy thoughts, but then again, what was there to be happy about?

“Like I said before,” Rita finally said, breaking the silence. “You owe your freedom to John. It’s because he loves me and you two, even though you antagonize him, that he decided to help Lucy out of that place.”

“Right, how could I repay such overwhelming love?” Lucy questioned sarcastically.

“You can repay it but thanking him when you get home and telling him how sorry you are, that’s all he wants.”

“What?” Lucy blurted. “I will do no such thing. You might as well take me back to the station.”

“Maybe back there you’d learn some respect. Why are you so damn stubborn? I didn’t raise you to be this way.”

“You have not asked how I am, mom,” Lucy rasped. “Your husband threw me to a wall and punched me, but you haven’t asked me once how I am.”

Rita went silent for a second before responding. “If you weren’t fine, I would have known. Don’t try to change the subject.”

“How is he even home already? Shouldn’t he be in the hospital?”

“They say the wound isn’t deep, but he will suffer a headache for a few days,” Lacy answered instead. “He got home this morning.”

“Well, I am not apologizing to that man.” Lucy folded her arms, gazing out the window as they turned into the driveway to their house.

Rita put the car in park and turned to the backseat. “That’s up to you, but you will get punished if you don’t, Lucy. Why won’t you just swallow your pride and do what you need to do. Don’t make things harder than they already are.”

“Oh, so you admit that things are hard?”

“They are hard because of you. If you had listened to me and just stayed out of my business, then we wouldn’t be here, would we?”

“You’re making me feel bad about defending you, do you not see how weird that is? Aren’t you tired of buying makeup every other week to cover the bruises?”

“Would you please–”

Rita took in a deep breath. She was obviously struggling to maintain her composure. “Why don’t you focus on yourself for once, Lucy? Focus on your own happiness and stop trying to lecture me at every chance you get. You just turned eighteen, what do you know?”

“You both fight all the time, doesn’t it get tiring?” Lacy asked, massaging her temple. “I’m sick of it and all I do is listen. Why can’t you get along already, like you used to?”

Lacy was right and Lucy suddenly felt saddened at the fact. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a civil, happy conversation with her mom. Tears filled her eyes but she fought them, and quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before glaring at her mother.

“I am not apologizing to that man,” she reiterated.

“You will do so if you want to live under my roof.”

Lucy pushed the door open and stormed out, walking with heavy steps. She went through the front door and slammed it shut, making her way up the stairs.