AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mitchell,” she started, and I balked, lifting my hands to freeze her words.
“No. I can’t do this. I won’t do it. I willnotget on a stand and say out loud all the things no stranger should ever know about me.”
“He’ll do this to other people,” Luke said quietly. “Or he’ll hurt you, or he’ll hurt someone else. Maybe kill them.”
The attorney nodded.
My gut churned. I sat down again. “Can you really put him injail with what I’ve told you? With that tape I brought?”
“I hope we can.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “Will he stay there? Or will they let him out like they did my father? What then?”
“I can’t guarantee anything,” she said softly. “But I promise, Mitchell, I’ll do what I can to support you through this.”
Facing this moment, I wanted to die. I wanted the HIV inside me to get a move on, take me over, make me leave this earth before I ever had to get on a witness stand in front of my mother and God and the press, and who knew who else, and look over at Kyle as I confessed, “He was going to kill me, but some part of me wanted him to.”
“No, I want to take it back,” I said again.
“Is it all true?” she asked.
“Yes, but I don’t want to do this anymore.”
She patted my hand. “I know you don’t, but you need to.”
Luke put his arms around me and whispered in my ear, “Please, baby. He’s dangerous. I can’t lose you. I need you.”
I started to cry and eventually nodded. “Okay. All right. I will.”
After that, it was too late to take things back. I’d already told the police everything, and they’d heard the tape, and they’d already arranged to meet the Knoxville city cops at the dorm to arrest Kyle and take him to the city jail.
Or something like that. I had a hard time comprehending the details. My ears felt stuffed full of cotton, and my mind was swirling with humiliation and fear.
Right now, I was not in control. I wasnota god. I was a little gay boy with no way to protect himself from what was to come.
“It’s late,” Luke said, glancing at the clock. “We’ve been here for six hours now. Can I take him home?”
The attorney consulted her watch. “You’ll keep him safe?”
We both knew she wasn’t talking about keeping me safe fromKyle, but safe from myself.
“Yes.”
“The police might need more from him tomorrow, depending on what they find when they arrest Mr. Aiken—”
That was Kyle’s last name? I’d never even known.
“—and search his room.”
“All right. Here.” The woman pushed two business cards across the table. One was hers, and it listed her name as Lydia Butler. The other card was for a woman called Pamela Novik, PhD. She tapped that one. “This is the name and address of a therapist. She’s fantastic at what she does. And because she’s also my sister, she sees some of my clients for free from time to time.”
Luke let out a grateful-sounding sigh.
Lydia went on, “She’ll be expecting you tomorrow morning at seven a.m. sharp.”
“It’s Saturday,” I murmured.
“Mental health emergencies don’t take a break on Saturdays, and neither does my sister.”
