“No. I don’t want to have to explain my history to anyone. My den mother has this man she met through the prison pen pal system. She tried to get me to sign up for it, but I declined. I want no parts of a prison romance. Did you know they have this Prison Bae group on social media? Somehow my picture got on there, and there were several men that looked me up and sent me letters over the years.”
I tried not to laugh. “Wow. I mean you’ve always been a beautiful girl, Layah. Somebody would want you.”
“You sound like my friend Londyn. No thank you.”
I smiled. “You made a friend?”
She blushed. “I was kind of forced into this friendship. She’s a mechanic at my uncle’s shop.”
“Is she nice?”
She nodded. “She’s very nice. A little crazy, but nice.”
“Does she know about…you know.”
“She does. I really didn’t have a choice in telling her. Rodney’s mother rolled up on me while I was out to lunch with her one day. Things got heated and embarrassing, and Londyn was there for me. I had to come clean.”
“Run that back. She ran up on you?”
“She was yelling about how funny it was that I was out enjoying lunch while her son rots in the grave. She called me a murderer and a lying whore before she slapped me.”
“You should press assault charges, Alayah.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to go through all of that, Killian. I knew this was coming eventually. I couldn’t avoid the family forever.”
“Nobody has the right to put their hands on you.”
“Don’t you think I know that? If anybody knows that, it’s me. I just want to move on with my life. I don’t want to see another police office, courtroom, or inside of a jail again. They will never forget what I’ve done, just like I’ll never forget what he did. We all have to live with it.”
I could see that I was fighting a losing battle. She didn’t deserve to be further abused by the West family, but if she didn’t want to do anything about it, what could I do to stop her? We sat there quietly until Wanda brought our plates out. Both of us picked over the food, not really eating much. There were barely any words passed between us until I asked her if she was ready to go.
The car ride to her home was silent as well. She sat looking out the window with her chin rested on her hand. She seemed to be in deep thought, so I didn’t bother her. When we pulled up to the house, she sat in the car for a moment before finally speaking.
“I apologize for making things awkward,” she said softly.
“You didn’t. I just…I don’t really know what to say to you, Alayah. I don’t wanna set you off.”
“How about we just don’t talk about prison or my life before that?”
“It’s bound to come up.”
“It doesn’t have to. I won’t bring it up if you don’t. If you wanna be friends, act like you just met me and you’re getting to know me. Pretend I didn’t live this whole other life for the last ten years.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
“Then be delusional with me.”
I chuckled. “Delusional, huh?”
She shrugged. “Most people go through life being delusional about one thing or another.”
“Are you really gonna let me be your friend again?”
She was quiet for a moment. “We’ll see. Good night, Killian.”
“Good night, Alayah.”
She climbed out of the car, and I waited until she was safely inside before I pulled off. This wasn’t the meetup I expected, but maybe over time, we really could become friends again.
