BLAME IT ON THE PAIN : EPISODE 21 – 30
EPISODE 24
AUTHORESS ZION
“It wasn’t those boys, Ford. It was DeLuca. I know it was.”
I’d spent almost 48 hours in the same interrogation room at that point. I fell asleep in Ford’s arms for a few short hours, only to wake up screaming.
I knew the truth. I saw it with my very own eyes. They tried bringing in a child psychiatrist. They tried feeding me.
They tried doing everything they could to get me to believe something that I refused to.
I just didn’t understand why they wanted me to believe otherwise.
Ford dragged a hand through his dark hair. His 5 o’clock shadow looked even more scruffy than usual, not that it dulled his movie star good looks.
Like my father, he was young. Both he and my father were the youngest members of the FBI, still in their late 20’s.
I sat up in my seat, my legs swinging because they didn’t quite reach the floor yet. “Where’s my mom? Why isn’t she here with me? Especially when I’m being interrogated. Where’s my lawyer?”
Ford threw up his hands in frustration. “I’m not interrogating you, Alyssa. I just need you to understand certain things. And you don’t need a lawyer because you’re not in any kind of trouble.”
“Then why am I still stuck here? Where’s my mother!” I screamed.
Fords expression changed from one of frustration to sheer sadness.
He reached for my hand. “She’s in the hospital,” he said softly.
“Why?”
He rubbed his eyes. “She’s not in good shape right now, kiddo. And the doctor’s need to look after her for another day or so. She knows you’re here, safe with me.”
“What happened to her? Give it to me straight, Ford. I’m a big girl now. I’m officially 10 years old today.”
A look of pity flashed across his face. “After she found out what happened, she collapsed.” He paused, appearing to choose his next words carefully, but I cut right to the chase.
“What happened to the baby?”
“She lost the baby,” he whispered.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and began rocking myself. “It’s my fault. I didn’t want a little sister and now she’s de.ad. Just like it’s all my fault that my Daddy died.”
Ford immediately stood up, walked over to me and sat me on his lap. “No, sweetheart. None of this is your fault.”
I sunk against him and put my arms around his neck. “You’re only saying that because I’m a kid.”
“Have I ever treated you like a kid, Alyssa?”
I thought about his question for a moment before I answered, “No.”
He was right. He never treated me like I was a child. He always talked to me like I was his equal. So much so, that he and my mother got into it a few times. Especially after he let it slip that Santa and the Easter Bunny weren’t real, back when I was 8 years old.
I liked that about Ford, though. In a world full of adults trying mold me into what they wanted me to be, he let me decide things for myself. He let me draw my own conclusions after give me the cold-hard facts.
He never told me I shouldn’t do something, or told me I was wrong for feeling a certain way…until now.
“And you trust me, right?” he asked.
“You’re the only one I have left now. Of course, I trust you.”
He turned us in the seat Adve up on the table. “Then I need you to repeat after me- I saw those two boys ki ll my father after he broke up a fight brewing between them and a few others.”
“But I didn’t, Ford. I know exactly who ki lled my father. I’ll never forget his face. I see it every time I close my eyes. It was him. That DeLuca, man. I don’t know why you don’t believe me. Ask Hannah, she’ll tell you.”
“Goddmmit,” he barked. “Listen to me, Alyssa. DeLuca didn’t ki ll your dad. It was two members of rival gangs. He tried to break it up and he got caught in the crossfire. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
I shook my head adamantly. “No, it wasn’t. Ask Hannah! Why won’t you believe me?”
He stood up and kicked a chair across the room.
I began trembling. “Ask Hannah,” I repeated.
He ran back over to me and grabbed my face between his large hands. “I can’t ask Hannah.”
I was even more confused by his statement. “Why?”
“Because Hannah’s dead. She was found by her car after leaving the station with two buIIets in her h ead.”
BLAME IT ON THE PAIN : EPISODE 21 – 30
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