“I told that detective that I wanted a lawyer. Maybe whoever they find for me will be able to help. Someone’s got to believe us.”
“What about your school counselor, what’s her name—Burnett?”
Aja sighed as she rifled through her drawers. “I don’t think she believes me anymore.”
“The family you visited in the nursing home; they’ll vouch for you.”
“Yeah, I could probably get them to verify that they asked me to go, but that’s only part of the problem.”
“They invited you there.”
“I know. Let me just go stay at that awful place tonight. You call Janie; she’ll be able to contact the Jensens, and I guess I’ll have to plan on summer school to get my diploma.” Aja almost cried into her underwear drawer.
Ms. Lewis suddenly stood in Aja’s doorway. “I said five minutes; I meant five minutes.”
“Coming,” Aja sighed. As she walked past her mother, they fell into a hug. “I’m sorry, Mom. This sucks.”
“You don’t have to go tonight.” Her mom wouldn’t let go.
“Yes, she does. I was nice enough to drive her, but I’ll be happy to call for a police escort.” Ms. Lewis moved to allow Aja to go first.
As Aja walked by Lewis, she could feel into the woman’s soul. Despair, distrust, a black hole of sadness. Maybe this woman had seen so much bad that it was hard for her to find good in people. But there was something else. Aja stopped and turned to Ms. Lewis. “Who’s Julia?”
Ms. Lewis looked as if she’d been slapped. “What?” she asked, shocked. “How did you…” Then she became angry. “Get in the car before I call for someone else to take you in handcuffs.”
Chapter 30
Aja couldn’t sleep. Not just because of the constant noise of the stark detention center. Every sound echoed off the green cinder-block walls. Her roommate snored softly, seemed comfortable on the thin mattress. They’d not had time to talk before lights-out. Aja just knew her name was Tish and she’d been caught shoplifting. Aja could also see scores of marks scarring her thin arm, probably from cutting herself. Tish had made it clear that this was her space and she didn’t want “no new bitch takin’ her things.”
The door to the room was left open to a common room, so they weren’t locked in like a cell. Aja knew the doors to the outside were locked and monitored by a security guard. She could hear voices from the other rooms, whispers mostly. Throughout the night, she’d hear the plumbing, girls getting up to go to the bathroom. No one patrolled to check on them.
Aja must have fallen asleep. She was awakened by voices in her room. She turned over and saw Tish and two other girls going through her things.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Aja sat up, groggy, her back painfully stiff from the bruises. “That’s my stuff.”
“And whatcha gonna do about it?” Tish asked. “Maybe I want some of it.”
Aja stood slowly and walked to the girls. Nobody backed away. She grabbed her bag, with Tish’s skinny arm up to her elbow in it, and pulled. Tish pulled it back.
“I wanna see whatcha got. Give it.” Tish wouldn’t let go.
“If you ask nice, maybe I’ll show you,” Aja fumed. She couldn’t believe she was getting in a girl-fight over the few items she was allowed to bring. She felt the impression of her guardian angel pin. She was relived they hadn’t taken it.
Tish let go and took a step back. “I’m the head bitch here. If I want something, then I get it.” The other two girls flanked her. “You sure got some pretty long blonde hair, how ’bout we shave it off when you’re sleeping?”
“How about not, head bitch.” Aja pulled the strap tight on her bag.
“Three on one, Tish,” one of the girls said.
“Wait, she just called me a bitch.” Tish took a few steps toward Aja.
Aja was ready. All her life, she’d rallied for peace, been arrested while being part of non-violent movements, sit-ins, all-for-one, never hurt another, always do the right thing. She’d been physically carried away by officers and never fought back. Today, after all that had happened, she wanted to slug somebody. “Bring it,” she growled.
“Oh, you’re on.” Tish acted like she was rolling up her sleeves on her scrawny arms. “I ain’t scared of you, blondie. I’ll beat your ass to a pulp.”
Aja stood ready. She’d never fought before. Hoped that instinct would kick in. Other than a few yoga moves, she had nothing except anger, extreme over-the-top anger.
“You know what, blondie.” Tish took a step back but still poised for battle, “I ain’t gonna fight your skinny ass on an empty stomach. I’m gonna eat my slop, then I’ll kick your ass.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” Aja said, relieved, but a little pissed too, because she really wanted to punch something.
“Come on, ladies, let’s eat.” Tish turned to her friends and they started out the door.
Aja turned, took her bag, let out a guttural noise and slammed the bag hard on the bed. She felt like the Incredible Hulk. She wanted to put her fist through the wall or scream at the top of her lungs.
Tish hung in the doorway watching. “You kinda scare me, bitch.”
Then Aja started laughing wildly. “Good. I am to be feared,” she yelled dramatically. She laughed until tears came.
“They shoulda put you in the mental ward, bitch, your nut’s cracked all the way.” Tish moved out the door. “You sure you ain’t murdered somebody?”
Aja wiped her tears. “I’m here because I helped an old person and I didn’t do my homework.” She started to cry.
“Damn, you in a hard-ass school.” Tish leaned against the door and watched Aja; her friends had gone. “Look, I’m gonna let you off the hook. I’m not gonna beat your ass today.”
Aja nodded, still crying. “Good.” She wiped her face with her hands. “Let me know when you’re ready.”
“Better come eat.” Tish turned and walked out.
Slop was right. Aja wasn’t sure if she was eating oatmeal or plaster. The small scoop of eggs was cold and mushy, and the overly processed white bread toast would have had her mother in a tizzy. Aja only ate whole-sprouted grain bread.
Tish waved Aja over to her table. “Sit here.”
Aja hesitated but sat next to her and her two friends. She couldn’t lean back on the hard plastic because of the pain in her back. The cafeteria was boring, typical of a school’s eating area. Tish wore a white tank top and a gray jersey sweatshirt with Abercrombie emblazoned across the front. That job seemed like a lifetime ago, Aja thought.
“So you tellin’ me you’re here because you didn’t do no homework?” Tish slathered her toast with margarine and grape jelly. She looked at the others with an almost predatory gaze, as if protecting her turf.
“It’s a long story,” Aja said. “What about you all?” Aja asked the girls, but looked at Tish. She was struck by how pretty the girl was. She had delicate Asian features, shoulder-length black hair with streaks of fuchsia in it, and she talked like a truck driver. Aja thought she might be sixteen, maybe seventeen, and was surprised at how dumb the poor girl sounded. Aja couldn’t see the cuts on her arm, with the shirtsleeves covering them, but Tish was so tiny she looked like she’d bleed out with a paper cut.
“This is our bitch-Ritz hotel,” Tish said, taking a messy bite of her toast. She wiped grape jelly off her mouth with her hand. “We here all the time, ’cept Sissy.” She waved her toast at one of her friends sitting across from her. “She gets to go home every day, but comes back for school and detention.” They laughed and high-fived.
“What about your parents? Don’t they want you home?” Aja tasted the cold egg mixture and pushed them away.
“My momma said she give up on me. I’m old enough to take care of myself anyway, get a job. I don’t need no stupid school and that’s why I have to stay, to get my GED. I’m glad I don’t have a baby to take care of like Sissy here.”
Aja thought her life was screwed up, that she was a total outcast
, but she, at least, wanted to go to college, do something with her life. Tish’s bar was a limbo low. She couldn’t get lower.
“Aja, what kind of name is that? Is that like a place in China or Japan?”
“No, it’s from an old music album that my mom liked.”
“Weird.”
“A-ja Harmon,” a woman who worked at the center called out. She said Aja with a hard j. She stood in the doorway to the office.
Aja turned.
“There’s someone to see you.” The woman nodded for Aja to follow her.
“Probably your proby officer to give you the rules,” Tish said.
Aja followed the woman into an unsecured lobby and saw Mrs. Burnett holding books and papers.
“Mrs. Burnett, I can explain.”
“Aja, I don’t know why I’m even here,” Mrs. Burnett admonished. “Every time I turn around, you’re in more trouble. I’m afraid I can’t do anything about this last semester of school. I’m sure you’ll have to go to summer school, but I don’t want you to get farther behind in your studies.”
Aja cringed. “I swear, Mrs. Burnett, that creepy guy Clay Richards is turning things around. I did nothing wrong. He’s stalking me.”
“No excuses, Aja.”
“I saw Mr. Jensen last night because Lauren called and said he’d been asking for me. I was trying to help.”
“Aja, I spoke to Lauren this morning.” Mrs. Burnett sat on an old couch and placed the armload of books on a chipped coffee table. She hesitated before she asked, “Did you eat Mr. Jensen’s dinner last night?”
“What? No!” Aja sat on a couch across from her. “He ate it all.”
“He hasn’t eaten since Mrs. Jensen died.”
“That’s why I was late getting out of there. He kept asking for more.”
“He ate it all?” Mrs. Burnett asked doubtfully.
“Do an X-ray on his stomach. I wouldn’t touch that mush in a million years.”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” Mrs. Burnett said. “Aja, at least work on these college applications. I called Stanford; they were impressed with your scores, but not your record. I have a friend at Santa Clara.”
“That’s in San Jose,” Aja said, happily. “I’d love to go there.”
“It’s an expensive school, and the scholarships for next year are spoken for. My friend said she’d look at your application, but, Aja, I have to say that your moving from school to school, your juvenile record, and now this.” Mrs. Burnett waved a hand around the center. “I’m not holding high hopes.”
Aja sat back. She and her mom had always struggled financially. They’d lived from job to job, and the little extra money Aja made working she’d blown on clothes or car repairs. There was no way they could afford such an expensive school.
Mrs. Burnett slid the books toward Aja, “Here. At least do your schoolwork and start on these college essays. If what you say is true then…” Mrs. Burnett didn’t finish her sentence.
Aja looked to the cafeteria, where she saw small clusters of kids like Tish, and thought of her own future. She decided that, somehow, she’d raise her own bar, bring Clay Richards to his knees, and get into a good school.
Chapter 31
Later that afternoon, after “class,” which consisted of elementary-level math and English and an art-music session, no learning, just goofing off for an hour, Aja met with her mother and the court-appointed attorney, Maggie Snow. Maggie was a petite woman with a short sensible haircut and looked so young she’d probably just gotten out of law school.
“So you’re telling me this cop sexually assaulted you?” Maggie asked, making notes on a yellow legal pad.
“Yeah, want to see the bruises?” Aja asked.
“From sex?”
“No, from holding me down with his knees. He had his hand up my shirt, then he tased my mom.”
“I think we may be able to pursue a case against him being too aggressive. Did he actually rape you?”
“No,” Aja said.
“First, we need to talk about you being admitted here. I understand there are some theft and trespassing charges pending against you?”
“I didn’t steal anything. I did go to the hospital to see a friend.”
She held a hand up. “It’s my job to prove your innocence.”
“Clay Richards broke into my house, too. I know he would have hurt me. The guy scares me.”
“He said he was responding to a call and never went inside.”
“He was there before I made the call. He’s the reason I called.”
“I don’t understand how he keeps getting away with everything,” Aja’s mom said. “He needs his nuts nailed to a wall.”
The attorney looked at Aja’s mom. “It’s his word against Aja’s.”
“Can I get out of here today?” Aja asked.
“Don’t think so. I need to file some motions with the court.”
“I want her home today,” Aja’s mom said. “She’s done nothing wrong. The system is screwing her.”
“The system is what we have to work with.” The attorney put her legal pad in her briefcase. “I need to get to the courthouse now to file a motion to have your case heard ASAP. I’ll come back later to photograph those bruises. That’ll be worked up as another case.”
Aja hugged herself. She could still feel his cold fingers under her shirt, and the thought of it made her sick.
“No matter about your past record, if this guy really did assault you, I will do my best to bring charges against him.” Maggie packed her papers in her briefcase. “I’ll get an investigator to begin checking Richards’s background.”
“Thank you,” Aja’s mom said. “But, please, try to get Aja home. She shouldn’t be here.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Maggie said as she squeezed Aja’s arm. “There are a few layers here to peel back. The trespassing and resisting-arrest charges against you are what I’ve been appointed for. I’ll look into the assault. For now, sit tight and stay out of trouble.” Maggie looked pointedly at Aja’s mom. “That goes for you, too.”
“She’s innocent. I want her home,” her mom said defensively.
“Mom, it’s cool. I’ll be okay until tomorrow,” Aja said, then looked at Maggie. “You can get me out of here by then?”
“Let me get to the courthouse now.” Maggie snapped her briefcase shut. “I’ll be in touch.” She nodded and left.
Aja’s mom turned to her. “This whole thing is a nightmare. Clara Wells and I are getting a group to help fight this.”
“Mom, he deserves to be nailed, but come on. Why don’t we let this attorney see what she can do? What if you get tossed in jail?”
Just then the woman working at the center came in and said, “A-ja, you have to come in now. Visiting is over; we’re locking up.”
“Come with me now,” Aja’s mom whispered. “We’ll bust out of here and run.” She had tears in her eyes.
“Soon, Mom.” Aja stood and tried not to cry. “Can you check on Mr. Jensen? Call Janie and see how he is.”
Her mom nodded, crying softly.
Aja watched her go. Her mom was still beautiful, lean and muscular, and had always held herself proud and strong. She looked much younger than her forty-one years, but today she looked withered, her laugh lines turned to wrinkles. It was like she’d crumple at the mere whiff of a breeze.
After the doors closed and locked with a buzz that went through Aja like an electric shock, she gathered her books and went to the center’s common room. There were groups of teens at a few tables talking. Most sat in front a TV. Aja found an unoccupied table and started her schoolwork.
She finished her homework and opened the college application forms. She read the topics for the college essays and thought about what she could write. Topic A: Describe an event that has shaped your life. Topic B: What are your future dreams? Looking back what would you change? Topic C: Tell about an unforgettable experience and how it shaped you.
Aja sm
iled. At least with her checkered and diverse past, she’d have no problem coming up with ideas.
Chapter 32
Aja was still mulling over the essays when Tish and Sissy flopped down at her table.
“Whatcha doing? We already done school today.” Tish pushed Aja’s stack of books away. “Physics? You’re kiddin,’ right?”
Aja shook her head. “No, I want to graduate at the end of this semester, but because I’m here, I’ll probably still have to go to summer school.”
“Why do you care so much about school? It’s stupid.”
Aja shrugged.
Tish looked at the college applications. “What’s that for?”
“College.”
“Man, if I was graduating, I’d stop. Who wants to go for more school? You’re one crazy bitch.”
Aja laughed. “I guess I am.”
“’Specially if you had to come here for not doing your homework. Never heard of that.”
Aja changed the subject. “Do you know that social worker, Ms. Lewis?”
“Lou-Lou Lewis? Yeah, she your T.O.?”
“T.O.?” Aja asked.
“Truant officer, bitch. For someone so smart, you’re dumb.”
Aja could read Tish easily; she went ahead and let the vision in. She got a flash of Tish’s home life. A mother who competed with her, told Tish not to do something, yet the mom did it. There was a man who tried to hurt Tish, and her mom blamed her. Aja got an eerie feeling in her stomach warning her to stop the vision.
“Don’t ignore me, bitch. I asked you a question.” Tish broke Aja’s image.
Aja jerked back to reality. “Sorry, what?”
“You zoning on drugs? I asked why you want to know about Lou-Lou.”
“Who’s Julia?” Aja asked, remembering the vision she had when she passed Ms. Lewis.
Sissy spoke for the first time. “Oh man, don’t say that name around her. Julia was one of Lou-Lou’s truant kids. Old Lou-Lou felt sorry for her, thought she could save her ass.”
Tish laughed. “Yeah, that ’ol bitch Lou-Lou took Julia to live with her, then the little bitch cleaned her out. Left town with Lou-Lou’s money and jewelry. Hil-arous.”
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