𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐓

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞

"Ms. Lewis, would you like to press charges?" a lady officer's voice echoed the room this time.

I already had my answer. Without any hesitation I spoke.

"Yes. I would like him to rot in jail."

The officers nodded and asked me to narrate what happened yesterday starting from the mall all the way until the horrific night. I told them every single detail while my mom was in tears. 

She couldn't believe that her own boyfriend would ever in a million years rape her own daughter. 

I continued answering the officers' questions for 30 minutes until they decided to leave. When they left I turned towards my mom and started crying. She cried too. We both hugged each other and cried. We cried hard and we cried for a long time. 

I ended up falling asleep in my mom's embrace and she ended up sleeping next to me. I was peacefully sleeping until I saw him in my dreams. I saw Jason coming towards me. I started to shake and silently cry in my sleep. My mom noticed my behavior and immediately woke me up. I hugged her tightly and cried loudly. 

Is this how my life is going to be like? 

Will he always show up everywhere? 

Will I ever live a normal life? 

Before I knew it I was asleep again. This time I didn't see him in my sleep. I was finally at some state of peace that was unachievable during these past few days. 

I woke up the next morning around 11 am. I was really tired. I was also very hurt. 

I went downstairs and saw my mom cooking my favorite meal. This is exactly what I need right now. I decided to eat it as soon as she was done making it since I was extremely hungry. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning. I made my way to the dining table while limping as I was still in pain. 

It broke my mom to see me like this. 

It breaks me too. 

I'm already shattered and broken after what happened. 

My mom came towards me and served me food. I stared at it with a blank stare. I started slowly eating it but I didn't enjoy it like always. 

I mean what could you expect from me? 

Nothing. 

Right now absolutely nothing. 

As I was eating I noticed that my mom kept fidgeting.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I asked her weakly.

She looked at me with those hurtful guilt eyes. As much as I hated seeing her feel guilty I couldn't feel anything right now. I was too weak. Before she could say anything I cut her off.

"Mom, it's okay. You didn't know that this would happen." I once again spoke weakly.

I knew that she was hurting. I knew that she wanted to apologize and blame herself. But I can't handle that right now. I just wanted to finish eating. 

I noticed that she was fidgeting again. I'm guessing that she has something to tell me. I took a deep breath and asked her to tell me what she was thinking about. Her response shocked me.

"H-honey we have to go to court today." she spoke hesitantly.

Oh my god. 

I have to see that disgusting, inhuman man again. 

I knew that I had to be there so I just nodded. My mom helped me walk upstairs and I started to get ready. I wore sweatpants and a hoodie again. I had my hair in a messy bun and headed downstairs. I had no intention of dressing up so I was ready within two minutes. 

As I went downstairs my mom saw me and quickly helped me to the car. The court was about an hour away so we had to leave as soon as we could. I sat in the passenger's seat and was feeling really tired. My eyes started closing and I was once again asleep. It was a bit uncomfortable sleeping in a car but I was able to manage. 

Eventually, we reached the court. Just knowing that I was near that man scared me. I held onto my mom's hand and walked inside. I saw that the courtroom was filled with people. 

Police officers. Lawyers. Judges. They all filled this big courtroom. The lady officer that asked me questions yesterday spotted us and brought us to our seats. She told us that if everything went smoothly we could leave today and Jason would end up in jail. 

We waited for everyone to set up and I was a nervous wreck. I really didn't want to be here. We waited and waited until minutes turned into hours. After 2 and a half hours I saw a man come out in an orange jumpsuit. 

He was in handcuffs. 

His footsteps haunted the room. 

Each and every step he took was horrifying. 

It was Jason. 

Jason Crawford. 

The man who raped me.