Chapter Forty-one
I ran from the house like a bat out of hell, tossed the duffle bag onto the passenger seat of my car, and pulled out of the driveway practically on two wheels. I didn’t know where to go or what to do. I wasn’t made for prison, but then again, in my condition I wasn’t cut out to be on the run either. My options were limited. I didn’t have any friends, and I couldn’t trust my mother as far as I could throw her. That’s when it hit me that the only person I had in the world was Kris, my sister.
On autopilot I drove to her house with tears streaming down my face. I was scared of what my fate would be but relieved that the bogeyman, my bogeyman was dead. I was thankful that he would never be able to darken my doorstep again.
“Chanel.” Kris was standing outside removing groceries from the trunk of her car when she noticed me pull up. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling you for days.”
I couldn’t move or even speak. Seeing my big sister made me feel like a child all over again. Through my tears I watched as she closed the trunk and walked over to my car to open the door. I saw the look of horror in her eyes as she assessed the new scars all over my body as well as the hospital bracelet on my arm.
“I killed them,” I whispered.
Without a word, she reached through my open window and wiped my face.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes, I heard you, but don’t say that out loud again. What’s the plan?” Kris looked past me to the bag on the seat. I reached into it, removed about $3,000, and handed her the bag. She tried to hand it back.
“Kris, I’m going to turn myself in. I need you to keep that for you and Deona, and I’ll need you to also put money on my books.” Wiping my face, I sat up in the seat so she knew I was serious.
“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Kris looked sad. “You do realize a charge like this could be life if you’re convicted.”
“I got a life sentence the day he gave me HIV, so either way I’m done for.” I shrugged. Though I was sure my sister wanted to ask me to repeat myself, she didn’t.
“Look at you.” She pointed to my scars. “Can’t we claim self-defense?”
“Probably not on a double homicide case.”
“Chanel,” was all she could muster as her shoulders dropped in defeat.
“It’s okay. I’ll be fine. Just take the money and put it up. I also need you to go see Dominic and tell him about my HIV-positive status. He needs to get tested, but I don’t have the heart to be the one to tell him, especially with everything else that I’m dealing with.” In all honesty, I was just being a coward. After all the shit I’d put him through, I still was too selfish to want to hear the hurt or see the pain that I’d caused him with my negligence. It was one thing to leave him for someone else. It was a whole other thing to leave him with a reminder as permanent as HIV.
“Okay, Chanel, I’ll do that for you. Do you want to come in and shower or get something to eat before you turn yourself in?”
“No, I got something to handle first, but I’ll turn myself in as soon as I’m finished.” I opened the car door and wrapped my arms around my sister, something I hadn’t done in a long time. “I love you, Kris.”
“I love you too, Chanel. You will beat this, and I will be there for you every step of the way.”
“Kiss Deona for me.” With a face full of tears, I pulled away from my sister, got back into my car, and headed toward my next destination.