Chapter 5 - THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
The aftermath was a whirlwind of sirens and flashing lights.
I sat on the bumper of an ambulance,
a grey blanket draped over my shoulders.
The rain had stopped,
and the air was crisp and clean.
I watched as Frank was led away in handcuffs,
his head bowed,
his power stripped away like old paint.
Brian was next.
He looked at me as he was pushed into the back of a police cruiser.
There was no love in his eyes,
only a pathetic,
whining desperation.
“Hannah,
please!”
he cried.
I looked away.
He was a stranger to me now,
a ghost of a man I never truly knew.
Martha was taken in for questioning as an accomplice.
She was still clutching her rosary,
her lips moving in a silent prayer that I knew would never be answered.
The detective,
a woman with tired eyes and a kind smile,
approached me.
“You’re very brave,
Hannah,”
she said.
“Most people would have just kept running.”
“I was tired of being a ghost in my own life,”
I replied.
“What happens now?”
“Now,”
she said,
“We rebuild the cases.
And you,
you get to start over.”
A few months later,
I moved to a small town on the coast.
Far away from Topeka.
Far away from the smell of beef soup and the sound of clicking locks.
I changed my name.
I cut my hair.
I started working as a consultant for an advocacy group that helped victims of domestic abuse.
Every Saturday,
I wake up.
I look at the clock.
I am alone.
I am safe.
My blouse is buttoned perfectly.
My wrists do not hurt.
I make my own coffee,
strong and black.
I sit on my porch and watch the sunrise over the ocean.
Sometimes,
I still hear the echo of Frank’s voice.
Sometimes,
I still feel the phantom weight of the drug in my veins.
But then I look at my hands,
steady and strong.
I am no longer the girl in the guest room.
I am the woman who brought down a kingdom.
The soup is gone.
The nightmare is over.
And for the first time in my life,
I can breathe.
The air is salty and sweet.
The world is wide.
And I am finally,
utterly,
free.
The numbers finally add up.
The debt is paid.
May you like
The ledger is closed.
Forever.
