Love Child

37- Remember

Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star's stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun's birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
- Joy Harjo, Remember

I got a call this morning telling me that Davis pleaded guilty to his charges of drug possession and child endangerment. He'll be in jail for a ten years, maybe seven for good behavior. I haven't been able to stop smiling all day. I hadn't been following his case very closely because I've had so many other things going on but the fact that he's getting put away just takes a load of weight off of my shoulders.

Especially after the trouble that he tried to cause for me by putting the police on my tail, I feel absolutely relieved that he's put away for so long. In seven years, I highly doubt that he'll even be able to find me if he holds his grudge that long—which he probably will.

To celebrate the downfall of my old foster father, I decide to take Micah to his favorite bakery near the senate building after work.

"What's the occasion?" As we walk hand in hand toward the bakery.

"My foster father will be going to jail for at least seven years. But knowing him, he'll probably be stuck in there for the whole ten. Anyway, he's out of my hair for good, and I want to celebrate that," I explain to him. It's Friday now— a whole week after our successful weekend away in my apartment. After the fiasco that was our short break, we've been practically inseparable. If he's not in class or with a study group, he's with me either at the office or at my apartment. I'm loving every second of it.

"That's great, El. But didn't you say that he knows other important people? You should probably still just be careful," He warns me slowly.

"I know that. I just want to celebrate this one victory before I worry about the possible bad things that might happen later," I admit. He clearly has an in with the police department but now that I'm not working as an escort anymore, they don't really have anything on me. And my pull with being Senator Barkley's daughter was clearly more important because it got me out of their investigation.

He said that he knows some important business men, but I'm assuming that I've slept with those friends that he has. That's how he must have known about what I'd been doing to make ends meet. So, I highly doubt that those men would try to come after me for their friend since I have dirt on them as well.

I know that I can't completely dismiss Davis as a threat, but I can worry about him a lot less.

"You should call Josie, tell her the good news," Micah suggests.

"I don't think that her dad is letting her talk to me. Ever since the amusement park, she hasn't been answering her phone," I inform him with a long sigh. "I can't say that I blame the guy, but I would like to tell her that he's being put away."

"Can't you just tell her dad? That way, at least he can tell her and she knows that she's safe from him."

"I would, but the last time that we talked about it, Josie didn't want to tell her dad about what happened." We go into the bakery and Micah's favorite M&M topped brownies are on display right next to the peanut butter brownies. I'm not in the mood for a brownie today, but I do see an inviting display of coconut fudge.

"Wait, he doesn't know?" Micah stops short of the counter to order our desserts when I tell him that.

"She was afraid of telling him," I explain. "She didn't want him to get all heroic and do something stupid. Or go to the police and make her sit through a trial."

"You have to tell him, Eleanor," He insists. I continue walking to the counter and order myself some fudge and an M&M brownie for Micah. He stops talking just long enough for me to place our order and pay for the two desserts before he continues saying, "The man has to know what's going on with his daughter."