Music Heals All Wounds

Chapter 2

Essence

"Essence!" I heard my six year old sister, Emani, shout as she ran in my direction.

Today was Sunday and church service was officially over, so I was getting Emani from the children's church. They must have been handing out candy or something because all of the kids that were leaving out the room seemed hyper as hell. I grabbed Emani's hand and led the way to where our parents were standing outside.

"Why are they looking at you like that?" Emani asked defensively as we passed by a few girls who looked to be around the same age as me.

"I'm not sure." I lied.

I couldn't help but notice all the attention that's been on me since I stepped foot inside the church. Which wasn't a surprise, I'd been noticing a lot of lingering eyes as of lately, I guess the church was no exception. Since the day I got arrested there's been a lot of noise surrounding my case and my trial. People love to talk and the news and media sites got people all over the world forming opinions about my situation.

"There they are." My mom said gesturing towards me and my sister. "These are our daughters, Essence and Emani. Essence, this is Sister Theresa."

The Theresa lady smiled at us.

"It's nice to meet you ladies, y'all are gorgeous. Vanessa, Marcus, it was nice talking to you guys, but I should be going. I'll see you at bible study." She said before going her way. She seemed nice.

"Service was real good today." My dad mentioned as we made our way to the car. "They had a nice turn out, a lot of new people showed up."

While we were walking we passed by a few more people, who judging by the looks and whispers, recognized me as well. I let out a deep sigh and continued walking. I couldn't really blame people for their shocked reaction. These people came to church to praise the Lord and listen to the word, I'm sure they weren't expecting to see some murderer while doing so.

As soon as we got home I went straight upstairs to my room, I didn't feel like being around anybody at that moment. My mood was a little wrecked. I sat down in front of my vanity and stared at the mirror for a while, just reflecting. I sat there for what felt like hours, trying to convince myself that I wasn't crazy and that I wasn't a monster. The day Jeremiah died, I didn't know beforehand that, that would be his last day on Earth. I'm sure he didn't know either. I didn't mean to kill him, it should've never got that far. I just wanted him to stop. Stop entertaining other girls. Stop exploding on me whenever he was angry. Stop hurting me when all I was trying to do was love him. Stop making me his personal punching bag. Just stop.

"Essence, you got company!" My mom yelled.

"I'll be down in a second!" I yelled back.

I took another deep breath as I looked at my reflection in the mirror before getting up and heading downstairs. I definitely wasn't in the mood for any company. When I reached the last step, I saw a familiar face that I hadn't seen in a while. My childhood friend, Maya Stevenson, was standing in my living room.

"Essence!" She yelled, pulling me into a hug. "I can't believe you're out."

"I can't believe you're here." I said confused as I hugged her back.