Free Aftermath by Tracy Brown

friends had arrived at Dominique’s Upper East Side apartment and Camille had immediately called her mother to tell her about Misa’s arrest. Her mother, Lily, had been understandably distraught, and when she called Misa’s ex-husband, Louis, it had been even more difficult. Louis had at first been dead silent, leaving Camille wondering if he was still on the line. When he finally spoke again, his words were cold.
    â€œI don’t feel sorry for her,” he said. “None of this would’ve happened if she was doing her job as a mother.” He had paused again. “But I would like to be in court tomorrow to answer any questions about Shane.” Louis was secretly relieved that someone had paid the ultimate price for what had been done to his son. But he still held Misa one hundred percent accountable. Camille didn’t argue with him. Instead, she gave him the information for Misa’s bail hearing. She advised both her mother and Louis to watch what they said to the media and to their friends about the situation in the days to come.
    Even as she helped Camille calm down after a long and tragic evening and watched as Dominique paced the floor waiting for word from her daughter, Toya couldn’t get her father out of her mind. She lay across the sofa and exhaled loudly.
    Looking over at Toya, Dominique noticed that her friend looked exhausted. She knew that she personally wouldn’t be able to sleep no matter how she tried, and assumed that the same was true for Camille. But Dominique saw no reason why Toya shouldn’t get some rest.
    â€œToya, are you sure you don’t want to go lay down in Octavia’s room? Misa won’t be in court for hours.” They had agreed that Toya would accompany Camille to Misa’s court appearance that afternoon while Dominique stayed home and waited for word from Octavia.
    Toya shook her head. “Can’t sleep,” she said. “Got too much on my mind. Y’all ain’t the only ones dealing with some bullshit.”
    Camille looked at her, frowning slightly. “What’s on your mind?”
    Toya looked at her troubled friends and felt less embarrassed to share the drama she was dealing with. She sighed. “My piece of shit father came back from the dead tonight.”
    Dominique stopped pacing then, and sat down in the recliner and crossed her legs. Camille seemed rapt as well, since neither of them had ever heard Toya speak much about her family.
    â€œYou thought your father was dead?” Camille asked, confused.
    Toya shook her head. “No. I just wished he was.”
    Dominique’s eyes widened.
    â€œDamn,” Camille said.
    Dominique shook her head. “You’re gonna have to elaborate.”
    Toya filled her friends in on the events of her childhood and noticed that they seemed amazed by what she’d been through. She knew it came as a surprise for them to learn that someone as tough as Toya had endured such abuse. She regaled her friends with story after story of her father’s verbal and physical torment. When she showed them her missing tooth, their facial expressions were priceless. She got emotional at one point as she described the way her father had talked to her, how he had belittled her mother. His words had often been more painful than his blows, although his blows had often been crippling. Toya’s eyes grew sad.
    â€œI used to hear my mother crying in her room at night sometimes when she thought I was asleep. He would fuck her up, but she would fight him back. Don’t get it twisted, she was not the kind of bitch to sit there and be his punching bag. They used to go at it !” She laughed a little at that, though she didn’t really find it funny. Toya became lost in thought momentarily as she thought about how weak her mother still seemed to her despite the fact that she had fought back. She may have struck back, but she also kept returning to the monster she