Chanelle lay paralyzed as his clammy body scrubbed against hers and his rough lips gnawed on her neck. His sweat dripped onto her as he continuously shoved roughly inside her. “Say my name. . .” he ordered, but Chanelle remained silent. With even more force he pushed himself in deeper. “I said, say. . .my. . .name!”
Her tears shot in all directions as she forced his name out.
“Yeah, baby, that’s right.”
Blood was everywhere by the time he finished. Justin seemed pleased with his deed. “You weren’t lying when you said you were a virgin. It was nice and tight. . .just the way I like it.”
Chanelle’s privates hurt badly, like she had been prodded with a knife.
“There’s a restroom around the corner. You go take a shower and I’ll clean up this mess,” he commanded, panting heavily.
The water burned the part of her that had been violated, but she scrubbed hard, making it hurt worse as she tried to wash the experience away.
“No one ever has to know what happened with us, right?” Justin said to her as they sat in the car outside the hotel getting ready to go in for her mother’s party.
She just looked at him.
“I can’t risk you going in there trippin’ and saying stuff that’s not true. No one is going to believe I did anything to hurt you. But, if you lie and say I did, it’s going to cause a lot of unnecessary trouble. This is our secret. I’m not trying to brag, but there are a lot of girls who wish they were in your position right now. Girls throw themselves my way, but I like the way you play things. I like the girls who are conservative and play like they want to wait.”
“I wasn’t playing,” she spat, attempting to get out of the car, but he grabbed her.
“Yes, you were. You wanted it just as much as I did. Are we clear on that?”
“Yes. . .” she whispered.
“Good, now put a smile on your face and let’s go in here like we had a great time.”
“So,” Detective Evans, continued jotting down notes, “have you spoken with Justin Scott since that night?”
“A couple of times. My mom and I got into a fight that same night and I left. The next day Justin left messages for me to call home and quit trippin’.”
“Did you save any of those messages?”
“No, Sir.”
“He left you messages, but did you actually speak with him.”
“A couple of weeks ago when I found out I was pregnant.”
“What did he say?”
“He talked to his mom and she took me to get an abortion.”
“That wench did what!” belted Lisa, bewildered that her best friend had neglected to share this information.
Chanelle continued speaking. “I couldn’t go through with it, but Miss Olivia thinks that I did. She took me to the clinic, but she didn’t go in with me because she didn’t want anyone to recognize her, so she waited outside.”
Hours soared by and it was getting late. Chanelle was visibly getting frustrated as well. A couple of times she sighed irritably during the interview. When the detective began to verify facts from Chanelle’s story for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Chanelle snapped. “Why do you keep going over that night? Either you believe me or you don’t, but I’m done talking.”
RJ looked as if he was about to say something, but Detective Evans spoke up first. “You’ve done a great job, Chanelle. Please don’t take tonight as any indication that I don’t believe you.” He spoke gently. “It’s my job to interview victims as thoroughly as possible. I need to make sure I have all the facts.”
“I’ve told you everything that happened.”
“Thank you. . .it took a lot of courage for you to come down here. Again, you’ve done a great job. I have enough information for tonight.”
“So then we can go ahead and take her home?” asked RJ.
“Yes, but. . .” Detective Evans hesitated for a moment. “There is one more thing that could possibly help. Though it’s been several weeks now since the attack, I would recommend that Chanelle goes to the hospital to have a sexual assault kit done. Obviously, there wouldn’t be any semen found, but it’s possible that there may be other evidence of an assault. Chanelle, it’s totally up to you. I can’t make you go. Even if you do go, I can’t get the results unless you sign a medical release giving the hospital permission to share them with me. You don’t have to go tonight, but since it’s already been a while, I would suggest the sooner you go, the better.”
Lisa watched as Chanelle, though noticeably tired, nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll do it tonight,” she answered.
Detective Evans seemed pleased. He even agreed to meet them there. He also gave Chanelle some pamphlets and other literature on rape crisis centers in the area. He had one last word of advice to share before they walked out. “Since Justin Scott thinks you’ve had an abortion, let’s keep it that way. I’m going to bring him in for questioning. Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens more than I’d like to admit. I want you to know that it’s not your fault and you did absolutely nothing wrong. I’m proud of you for coming forth; most victims keep silent. Is there anything else you have to tell me before we get going?”
“No, but I brought these with me.” Chanelle seemed more at ease now that the interview was over. She reached in her bag and pulled out some clothing. It was a lime green tank top with blue jean capris. The shirt was torn in several areas and there was blood on both it and the capris. Chanelle had even brought her underclothes; her panties were also covered with blood.
Detective Evans looked surprised. “Is this what you were wearing the day of your assault?”
“Yes,” Chanelle answered in a way that indicated she didn’t want to continuously be asked about this. Detective Evans was pleasantly surprised that she had thought to keep those items. He explained how her clothing would be turned in to the property room and then sent to the lab for processing. Lisa was also proud of the way Chanelle handled things. She remembered the outfit very well and her heart thumped with anger as she pictured Justin ripping off Chanelle’s clothes so he could have his way with her. It wasn’t the type of image that any mother wanted in her head.
CHAPTER 28
Conflict of Interest
Despite Lisa’s protests that she and Chanelle would be fine, RJ still insisted on crashing on her couch. It was well into the wee hours of the morning when they finally got home and Lisa didn’t feel like protesting. Plus, she really did feel more secure with him there. This whole series of events had shaken her up quite a bit and it felt good having RJ around to console her.
The three of them slept right through Sunday morning service. Had Lisa been up, she probably would have gone to church with RJ instead of going to her own. She wouldn’t have wanted to risk Chanelle seeing Justin at their church and she would have wanted to avoid Olivia as well. She was still baffled over Olivia’s involvement in the situation.
The hospital staff wasted no time reporting the results of Chanelle’s examination to Detective Evans, who called to inform them as he’d promised. As expected, there was no semen found within Chanelle, but the examination did confirm that she was several weeks pregnant. The timeline correlated exactly to the night the rape occurred. In addition, the test revealed that Chanelle had a great amount of scar tissue, which was indicative of some type of aggressive intercourse.
Later that Sunday evening Lisa’s mother called to tell about her trip to L.A. She was bummed out about losing money in some slot machines, but she was elated to learn that Chanelle was home. Lisa knew she would have to fill her mother in on what was going on sometime, but she didn’t think it would be wise to do so over the phone. Lisa didn’t even tell Callie, who, of all people, would be able to handle the news considering she had had a similar experience to Chanelle’s. Lisa just didn’t feel like worrying anyone else right now.
That night RJ camped out on Lisa’s couch once again, leaving from there to go to work. Lisa got to the office about thirty minutes earl
ier than normal that Monday. Chanelle had asked if it would be okay for Kyle to come over. Lisa didn’t mind, especially because she didn’t want to leave Chanelle alone, but she had to come in to work since she’d missed the entire previous week due to her trip to California.
“Hey, welcome back. I was wondering what happened to you last week.” Megan burst into her office.
“I had to go to California to see my sister.”
“Is everything okay with her?”
“Yes, she was hospitalized, but she’s fine now. Sorry I left on such short notice. I hated to leave you hanging. Olivia said she’d let you know.”
“She came in several times last week and did some work from your office a couple times. She said she was trying to help the board get some stuff together. I asked about you, but she just told me that you would be off for a while.”
“I’m sorry, Megan. I should’ve called you myself. I was with Liv when I got a call about my sister, so I left at a moment’s notice.”
“That’s okay. Nothing happened last week that I couldn’t handle. I’m guessing Mrs. Scott won’t be here for the board meeting today, considering the circumstances. I saw the news this morning.”
“What news?”
“They said Justin Scott was brought in and questioned about rape allegations brought against him yesterday.”
“Really?” The police moved faster than Lisa thought they would.
“They’re saying it’s possible that he’ll be suspended from playing football if charges are filed. I figured you would have already known since you and Mrs. Scott are such good friends.”
“I didn’t speak to Olivia at all yesterday.”
“Do you think it’s true. . .that he really raped someone?”
Lisa shrugged her shoulders casually. “That’s for the police to figure out.”
Megan looked at her suspiciously. “I’m surprised you’re not more upset about this. Are he and Chanelle still dating?”
“No, they are not.”
Megan looked like she was waiting for Lisa to volunteer additional information, but when Lisa remained silent, she said, “Oh. . .well, I guess I’ll get to work.”
“Enjoy your day.”
Lisa waited a few minutes and then closed her door. She called both RJ and Chanelle to see if they had heard the news. Chanelle hadn’t, but RJ had caught wind of it on his way to work. Lisa went to the lounge and tried to appear nonchalant as she and co-workers watched the “breaking news” report. A clip played of Isaac giving a statement proclaiming Justin’s innocence. Reporters asked the Ohio State football coach whether or not Justin would still be able to play in the upcoming game this Saturday. He said, “As of now, yes, because Mr. Scott has not been charged with any crime. If that should change, then the Athletic Department will take appropriate action.”
After the report, Lisa quickly returned to her office. Though she had plenty of work to do, she wasn’t making any progress. She tried to focus, but she kept wondering how things had gone down at the station. It was around one when Olivia called Lisa on her cell phone. She struggled with whether or not to answer it, but ultimately did out of curiosity.
“Hey, Lisa. I’m so glad you answered the phone. We really need to talk.”
“I don’t have anything nice to say to you.”
“I know you’re upset, but we need to clear the air.”
“I don’t understand how you could look me in my face, knowing how worried I was about Chanelle and not tell me that you’d taken her to get an abortion.”
“Do you think I liked lying to you? I know this is hard for your family, but you have to realize it’s hard on mine, too. Lisa, we’ve been too close to let our friendship be destroyed by this. Will you please come by after work so we can talk? I’m hoping we can mend some bridges.”
“I can’t come over after work; I want to get home and be with Chanelle.”
“Then leave work early and come.”
Lisa mulled the idea over a few seconds. “I guess I can do that. Give me about an hour or so and I’ll be over.”
Lisa could have walked out of her office and been within ten feet of Megan’s desk, but she called her on the intercom instead. “Hey, Meg. . .”
“Yes?”
“Olivia called and asked me to meet her. I know I was gone all last week; do you think you can handle things or do you need me to stay?”
“No, go ahead. I’m sure Mrs. Scott needs you with everything that’s going on. I’ll be fine.”
“Thanks, Meg, you’re the greatest.”
Before leaving, Lisa also called Detective Evans. “Don’t go,” he warned her. “I understand that the two of you had a close friendship prior to this, but there’s clearly a conflict of interest. Justin has given a sworn statement saying that he’s never touched Chanelle. He’s denied our request to voluntarily give a DNA sample, so we have to get a court order to obtain it. Chanelle’s clothing is awaiting processing for anything that will link to Justin. The more he denies having had sex with her, the better it will be for our case. It’s not a good idea for you to talk to anyone—especially his mother—while we’re in the middle of an investigation.”
• • •
Lisa did not heed Detective Evans’s advice and headed to Olivia’s suburban home in Delaware County. Mending her friendship with Olivia was not her main concern, but after all they had shared over the years, Lisa felt obligated to at least hear her out. She felt partly responsible for Liv not believing Chanelle was raped. Lisa had been the sole culprit in planting her daughter as a bad seed in Olivia’s head. It was logical that Olivia would believe Justin over Chanelle since he had always been the “good boy.” Lisa could understand that. What she didn’t understand is how Liv could secretly try to terminate Chanelle’s pregnancy.
Walking up to the brick sidewalk, Lisa quickly took a trip down memory lane, thinking about the many occasions when she had visited the Scotts’ home. With Isaac traveling a lot and Justin gone most times, she and Liv often hung out like schoolgirls, engaging in sleepovers and good old-fashioned fun. Part of Lisa mourned their friendship, realizing that no matter what happened with the case against Justin, things between her and Liv would likely never be the same.
“Thanks for coming by.” Olivia reached out to hug her and Lisa stiffly returned the gesture. Though there were small lines of tension creased in her forehead, Liv seemed to be in good spirits.
“Come sit out back.” She followed Olivia to the back patio and they sat at the table. Lisa’s mind quickly went back to Memorial Day when she and Isaac sat out here and he’d told her about the surprise engagement party Liv had thrown for Eric and her. Things were so different then. Liv had been more than a best friend; she had been like her sister, but now, she wasn’t someone that Lisa could trust any longer. “I know how much you love half and halfs, so here’s some lemonade-iced tea.”
“So what did you want to talk about?” she asked, giving in to the invitation for a drink and treat. Liv hadn’t done a bad job making Lisa’s favorite drink and the brownies smelled way too pleasant to pass up no matter how mad Lisa was.
“I want to talk about everything that has happened. The police questioned Justin about Chanelle’s allegations.”
The brownies tasted just as good, if not better, than they smelled. Lisa finished her bite before responding. “I know. . .I spoke with the detective right before coming over.”
“So you know this thing is very serious. Justin may be suspended from playing football this season. This could be bad for him if it’s dragged out much longer.”
Lisa took the liberty and got another brownie. “I know, Liv, but it’s out of our hands. I wish to God this had never happened.”
“Me, too. There’s a lot at stake here, but there’s a way we can work it out. It’s not completely out of our hands, you know?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Well, between you and me, how much would it take for Chanelle to change her story?”
Lisa nearly choked on the treat. “You can’t be serious? You think you can pay us off and make this all go away? Justin committed a crime and, like it or not, he will pay. That’s non-negotiable.”
Olivia’s grin turned evil. “In this world, everything is negotiable. I really like you, Lisa, and it’s unfortunate that something like this has come between us. I can’t allow your daughter to ruin my son’s future. Before you walk away from the offer, think about it. Isaac and I are prepared to pay you any amount. We’ll take care of Chanelle’s college tuition, pay off your mortgage, anything you desire; name your price. This is the one opportunity you have to get anything you want in life.”
“What I want is my daughter’s rapist to be punished. No amount of money is going to change my mind about that. This conversation is over.” She stood up so forcefully that the chair she was sitting in fell over.
“Not so fast. . .” Liv quickly got up and blocked her path as she headed for the door, grabbing her by the arm. “I’d advise you to take the money and have Chanelle drop this thing.”
“This thing?” Lisa jerked away. “That’s what you’re calling it. Your son raped my daughter and you’re calling it a thing? It’s a crime and I’m quite shocked that you’re not more appalled by it.”
She laughed wickedly. “Yes, rape is a crime, Lisa, but Justin never raped her. In fact, he never so much as touched her at all. It’s his word against hers. Now who do you think a jury is more likely to believe, a college football star with an impeccable record or a rebellious teenager who has been giving you one problem after another? I’m sure somewhere the police have a record of bringing Chanelle home drunk.”
“That has nothing to do with your son violating her!”
“All I’m saying is drop it.”
“If you’re so confident that Justin is innocent and will be cleared, then why are you trying to pay me off?”
“Because it’s a nuisance to have to go through this process.” Liv retreated back to her seat while Lisa continued standing. “It’s a waste of everyone’s time. We have more important things to do. These allegations, though they are false, can ruin my son’s life. As his mother, I can’t sit back and let that happen. A mother will do anything to protect her child.”
In Times of Trouble Page 18
