Page 102 of Alessia
“Please sit down, would you perhaps like some iced tea?”
“Yes, please ma’am.” says Alessia. I am too nervous to speak.
“I will call my husband; he is working out back.” says Mrs. Carter before walking out of the sitting area.
I hear her call from the kitchen, “Jonathan, can you come in here please?”
“In a second honey!” I hear Mr. Carter call back.
A few minutes later Mr. and Mrs. Carter walk back into the room to join us, Mrs. Carter holding a shaking tray with four glasses of iced tea.
Mr. Carter walks over to us and holds out his hand in greeting. His hair is starting to gray a bit at the temples, and there are some fine lines on his face, but he carries himself with confidence. He has a thoughtful, mature demeanor, like someone who’s been through a lot and knows who he is. He’s dressed well, nothing too flashy, just clean and put-together, like he’s comfortable in his own skin.
“Hi, I’m Jonathan. Alison told me you wanted to talk to us about Anna?” His voice is a bit shaky on the last part.
“Yes… I met her and I know you just buried her but I needed an opportunity to tell you about the moments she was my friend, even in the darkest place possible.” I begin.
Jonathan takes a seat on the couch opposite from us and puts an arm around his wife to comfort her. Sobs wreck through her.
“As you might have heard, Anna and I were captured by human traffickers and locked up together for weeks. I know she was gone from you for longer than that.” I swallow and give myself a few seconds to catch my breath and form my next words.
“Even though it was a truly horrific place to be Anna kept a brightness that could light up a room. She helped me stay sane through it all. She helped me to clean up wounds and cuts that where inflicted on me and in the small moments we could talk, she talked about you and her little brother.”
Alessia rubs my thigh in encouragement to go on. Mrs. Carter is crying softly, her face buried in her husband’s chest while he rubs circles on her back. Quiet tears stream down his own face, but he holds my gaze.
I go on and tell them all about the few weeks I got to know Anna. When most of the tears have passed Mrs. Carter gets up to show us pictures of Anna and tells us about her life before everything happened.
A few hours later we get up and say our goodbyes.
“You can call me anytime.” I tell them both.
They pull me into a hug and kiss my cheek.
“Thank you for giving us this part of Anna’s story.” Mrs. Carter whispers as she holds me tightly.
I nod and walk out the door.
The door falls shut behind us and I stand on the porch. The sunshine beams on my face and I let out a breath. Bringing them closure has ended this part of my life. I’m finally, truly ready to move on and live my life.
I survived.
I survived for all those women out there who where raped and killed by men who sought out their pleasure on them.
I will never stop advocating for them, for Anna, for me.
We step into the car and we drive. As the road stretches ahead, endless and open, I feel the weight lift, replaced by a fierce, unyielding determination, this is my beginning, and I will not be silenced.
Epilogue - Alessia
