Blue (16 page)

“Can I ask a question?” Meganlynn asked while they were getting out their pen and paper for the statement.

“Yes, we would love to answer any questions that you have during this.”

“Can he be charged for something that I didn’t tell the police that tried to take my statement down in Arizona?”

“Yes, you may have to travel to that state so he can be tried in that state and convicted in that state, but other than that, you most certainly can in this case.”

“Okay, then I will tell you.” Meganlynn did remember every bit of it by this time.

“It all started back in eighth grade. He was sitting in the seat next to me, and he was also in my group for science. He had asked me out a few days before, but I had said no because I had a boyfriend.”

“Who was your boyfriend at the time?”

“Justin,” she said, pointing to Justin who was sitting right next to her at this point.

“Okay, go on.”

“Then, he must have decided that he wasn’t good enough for me because then he started to sexually harass me.” Meganlynn could not help but sound like she wanted to cry like she actually did.

“What did he say?”

“This is going to take more paper than that.”

“Okay, go on anyway.”

“During pre-band camp, he was grabbing me and making me kiss him. He was also telling everyone that I was his girlfriend and not Justin’s girlfriend.

“Then, on the plane ride to band camp, he made me read him passages from the Bible. I really didn’t mind it, but it was just horrifying to have to read them to him and to have sit next him when I really just wanted to sit next to Justin.

“Then, at band camp, he was doing all of the same things. It was the third day when everything started to go all wrong. He then raped me and then beat me so hard that the oldest girl in the cabin went and got my band teacher. By the time that she got back, I was gone because I had ran away to escape it all. My friend had to take me to the hospital because it was so bad.

“The next two days after that, I spent with him. Then he took me to the airport, and we saw that Blue was waiting for me right across where he couldn’t go.

“Then on the plane ride home, he and Justin were sitting in front of me. I was in writing and my friend that was sitting next to me had to go to the bathroom. There was then a seat open for anyone to sit in. Then, he went and sat next to me on the plane. My friend came back, and he wouldn’t give her back her seat, then I was stuck sitting next to him for the rest of the plane ride home.

“Finally, I had to go to the bathroom. I got up, and went to the bathroom. He then followed me because he knew that I was panicking with him. Then he forced himself into the bathroom with me and then proceeded to rape and beat me. He kicked me in the neck, making my voice really scratchy, and then my legs, hurting them. He also kicked me just about everywhere else on me. Plus, I won’t be surprised at all if I can’t have kids anymore. Then, I was laying there, and he took my legs and broke both of them so I had to crawl were ever I needed to go. He was going to go and do something, and he left me there to suffer. I was bleeding harder and harder by the second, and then Justin came in and found me. He went and got the pilot, flight attendant, and Mr. Nolls. Then I don’t really remember anything else because I was asleep.”

“What a story you’ll have to tell when your kids are going to school.”

“Yeah.” Meganlynn was crying by this point. She had stayed strong enough to give the policemen the information that they needed, but other than that, she really had needed to cry about the whole deal.

“Thank you for your statement. Do you have any witnesses?”

“I am,” Justin said, standing up. “Who was that guy that you were hanging around all of the time while we were down in Arizona?”

“Johnny.” Meganlynn’s voice was nearly gone. She had to yell just for Justin to hear her.

“He’s one and so are Lizzie, Taylor, and Morgan because they were all there when it happened.”

Meganlynn was nodding her head.

“I think that’s about it though,” Justin answered.

“Thank you. Do you want to press charges?”

Meganlynn nodded her head again. She was not scared in the dream; she was brave and was hopeful enough to stay away from Blue, and to have him do the same to her.

“Meg,” she heard a voice say as she was still dreaming. She woke-up and her parents were standing in front of her.

“Mom? Dad?” she asked sleepily.

“Yes, honey?” her mother answered.

“Are you guys back?” she asked as she laid her head down on the pillow that was behind her.

“Yeah, honey, we’re right here,” her mother answered; she had missed her daughter. She was scared that Meganlynn was never going to wake up. Blue was now going to be tried for beating, rape, and sexual harassment, and there would not be any way that he could escape that. Meganlynn was just a little bit excited about it.

“What time is it?” she asked once she had finally become aware that it was light out

“About seven thirty, sweetheart.”

“Oh, I thought that it was still almost eight thirty at night.”

“Are you confused?” her father asked.

“Very,” she answered. “I really don’t know what happened, Daddy.”

“What has happened to her after she woke-up?” her father asked as he turned toward Justin.

“A lot.”

“Explain, please.”

“Okay, she woke up while you were gone. Like, right after you had gone is when she woke up. The police came in and they asked her some hard questions. She was scared, and it was extremely hard for her to talk about, but she somehow got through it.”

“Did she press charges?”

“Not down in Arizona, but up here she did.”

“She’s all right now?”

“Seems to be, but I think she really confused.”

“Well, when she seems not to understand any of the things that she normally understood, and now, she just lost her memory because of something that this Blue did. Well, I think that I have a right to be upset.”

“I was helping your daughter that night.”

“Where were you when all of you were down in Arizona?”

“I was off hanging out with my friends. She was off hanging out with that Johnny kid.”

“Johnny was helping her?”

“He was with her ever since the first day of band camp.”

“How did he know when she was down there?”

“We went to see him and her aunt and uncle right when we got to Arizona.”

“Did he seem like he still loved her?”

“Yeah, they seemed as though they still liked each other, I guess.”

“Huh, wonder why Johnny didn’t tell us?”

“They probably tried, but I would imagine that they would’ve had a little bit of a problem getting through.”

“Maybe.”

“Ask Meganlynn when she wakes-up.”

“Yeah, I guess I could.” He was curious and wondering why these things were happening to his family all at the same time.

“Look, they probably didn’t even think about it. Megan was going through a lot down there. Johnny was probably trying to keep her sane.”

“Could anyone keep her sane?”

“No one could. I was horrified to know that the comforter, the person that keeps every one sane at that school, to know that she now needed comforting.”

“She keeps everyone sane?”

“She always has every since seventh grade.”

“Wow, no wonder she knows a lot about everyone’s business.”

“Yeah, everyone could call her, day or night.”

“And she would listen?”

“Yeah, if we lost her, it would be like the end of the world for the school.”

“I can see that, and it wouldn’t be the only thing that her dying would be the end of the world for.”

“Who else?”

“Our church, our family, all of her and our friends, the pets, and the neighbors.”

“Can’t forget all of the teachers and English teachers that have taught her.”

“Yeah, that too,” her father’s eyes began to water a little. He could not help but guess at what life would be like without Meganlynn.

Meganlynn had fallen asleep a few hours earlier. She felt empty, alone, and needy. She wanted someone that would listen to her. She missed herself when she was in seventh grade, but now, it felt as though she could never get that girl back.

The doctor walked in while her parents and Justin were still asleep.

“The good news is that you don’t have any STDs, but the bad news is that you may have flashbacks. Things may become even clearer as time goes on, things that you didn’t even have anything to with.”

“What are the things that are going to become clearer for me?” Meganlynn asked as the doctor was talking to her.

“Mostly things that he did to you.”

“Like?”

“The beatings, the raping, and the things that he said to you. Do you have a way of getting all of your feelings out?”

“I can write, which normally takes most of the pain away.”

“Right, when you write, but what about after you stop writing?”

“Well, texting my best friend helped when he was sexually harassing me in eighth grade, but my aunt had to stop it because I went over.”

“So, writing really did help, but what about talking to someone?”

“Yeah, I will talk to all of my friends, my parents, and anyone else that will listen.”

“So, talking, texting, and writing all helped. What happens when no one will listen?”

“I blow up.”

“How?”

“I just go all up in flames as I am about to tell someone about whatever is going on.”

“Do you shout it out?”

“No, I can’t take it anymore.”

“What happens then?”

“Then it normally comes out some way or another.”

“Well, who did go to the last time?”

“My eighth grade English teacher.”

“How did she find out?”

“Because we were doing poetry for one of the English projects. We had to write a poem, and I chose to write one about a person that was doing something to me in my life that was life changing.”

“Can you tell me what the poem said?”

“Yeah, I pretty much know it by heart.”

“Would you like to tell me, or write it down?”

“Write it down.”

“Have a notebook with you?”

“Yeah, there’s one in my laptop bag. Actually, I have it saved on my laptop.”

“Can you show me?”

“Yeah.” Then Meganlynn got her laptop out of the bag.

“Is your computer booted up?”

“Yeah, actually it’s right here.” She pulled the poem up. “Here.” She turned the computer screen toward to the nurse so she could see it.

Blue

Blue

Unforgiving, unwilling,

Mean, defying, evil,

I feel harassed every time I’m around him—

Blue

“Was this everything that he did to you tied up into one little poem?” she asked when she was done.

“Pretty much, yeah,” Meganlynn said once she had put the computer screen back down.

“Wow, he had been abusive to you.”

“Very abusive, very.”

“Why did you put up with it for so long?”

“Because I was scared. I really didn’t know what to do.”

“How did you not know what to do? I mean didn’t they talk about to this in school?”

“Well, I mean I really couldn’t tell what was going on between us.”

“What do you mean you couldn’t tell?”

“I mean that I couldn’t see that he was sexually harassing me.”

“Wow, I thought that you might have seen it as plain as day.”

“No, you can’t.”

“How did you finally get the word out about this?”

“See the line that says ‘I feel harassed every time I’m around him?’”

“Yes, but what about it?”

“My eighth grade English teacher looked at that and asked me if I really did feel that way. When I told her that I did, she told me that she needed to talk to me after class. I told her everything that went on between him and me. Then she told the principle. I got called down there during seventh hour, and then I had to tell him everything that was going on. We called my parents, and then I was free. I got my stuff out of my locker and then I went home. After Monday finally came, Blue wasn’t anywhere to be found. I was happy, and then I was called into the office once again. They told me that he was suspended, and then the police officer told that if he ever did anything else to me, then I needed to get one of the teachers or someone else.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. I truly needed a boyfriend at that time, and Justin was my boyfriend at the time. I wanted someone to protect me and tell me that he loved me. That is exactly what he did, but all I really wanted was someone to listen and to hold me as if I was a precious gem that could only be handled with the finest touch.”

“Were you?”

“Yeah, he held me tighter than anyone ever did.”

“Okay, well I have to go. I was just seeing to it that you were okay and healthy.”

“Thank you.”

“You bet.” She walked out of the door.