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“Yes, ma’am. And do you know what else it causes?”
Bria shook her head.
“It can stimulate the kidneys to increase urine production. It is very common for people to relieve themselves in a fight or flight situation.”
“I didn’t know that.” That had probably been the most embarrassing part. But she was lucky in that regard. Bakari saw before anyone else did, and when no one was looking, he took off his hoodie and tied it around her waist.
“It sounds to me like everything that happened in the moments immediately after you saw your friend were all things you couldn’t control. And if you aren’t in control, that means you aren’t at fault.”
“Okay.”
“Do you understand? Bria, this wasn’t your fault.”
She took a few shaky breaths and smiled. “I think I’m starting to believe that.”
“Good. And just in case you forget, I’m giving you some homework to do to keep that weight off your shoulders. Now before we get to that, let’s go over the last feeling. Tell me about the suspicion.”
Only a few short moments after it had swelled so intensely, Bria’s relief receded like an ebb tide. She clawed at her bandage, and Dr. Meriwether rushed over from behind her desk. “Bria, stop,” she said, quietly but with great force.
Bria held her hands out in front of her like she was afraid of them. Dr. Meriwether grabbed her left arm and held it. “This is not the way you’re going to handle your feelings. Understand? I’m going to hold this arm for you.”
“I can’t…”
“You can. Tell me about the suspicion.”
There was no one else on earth she could tell. She felt safe here, but she still worried about the aftermath. “You promise you won’t tell anyone else?”
“Well, as I said when you first asked me that, there are circumstances under which I am compelled to report.”
“Even if it’s something I don’t know is true?”
Dr. Meriwether sighed. “I can’t make you any promises. I wish I could.”
Bria stared at her bandage and decided she had to get it out. Even if it meant…no, it couldn’t mean that. She would stop it before it got that far. She wasn’t even sure…
“Okay. Alright. One of my friends—Mike, he was there that night—said something to me a few weeks ago that really bothered me. He said, ‘Our parents are liars.’”
Dr. Meriwether, still holding Bria’s arm, raised her eyebrows. “And that made you suspicious?”
“No. I was already suspicious. That just made it worse”
“Suspicious of whom?”
Bria squeezed her eyes shut. “My daddy.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“Marcus,canItalkto you for a second?” Ladonna said. He was sprawled out on the couch watchingFamily Feud. He had a long-running dream that the Lanes would make it on there one day.
Ladonna wasn't sure the Lanes would make it to the end of the year.
“What’s on your mind?” he said.
“Something’s been bugging me. About that night.”
“Oh yeah?” he said, his eyes still fixed to the TV screen. The Hawkins family had just stolen the lead from the Ivey family.
“I know it’s nothing. I meant to ask you back then, but there was a lot going on.”
