Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89840 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
John Bolton is now serving eight months of community service and is on house arrest for an additional six months. It’s a crappy sentence, but I knew from the beginning it would be hard taking John down after so many years had passed.
Is it crazy to say that despite what John had done to me, it still didn’t feel as bad as Dominic’s betrayal? I suppose a part of it is because I couldn’t remember much of what John had done, but what I do remember is the way Dominic watched, the way he negotiated with my body like I was nothing more than an object. Don’t get me wrong, both of them deserve to burn in hell, but the person I wanted to see go down the hardest was Dominic.
My breath stalls as the camera from the news channel pans to Dominic standing and facing the judge. He’s dressed in a decent suit and has clearly had his haircut, but he looks thinner and his face is hollow like he hasn’t eaten properly or slept in months. I hope he hasn’t and that if he does manage to catch a whisper of sleep that it’s filled with nightmares. I have dreams where I take a gun and shoot him in the chest. He comes alive again, just for me to pin him down with another bullet. He feels every ounce of pain and bleeds everywhere. I love that dream.
One of the jurors reads off the criminal charges, and Dominic is found guilty for every single one. I feel a flutter of a relief when I see Dominic’s shoulders sag with defeat. The camera zooms in and there are tears in his eyes. He’s handcuffed and dragged away with a mixture of shock and sadness. I don’t know why he’s so surprised. He had this coming.
After the judge declares Dominic’s prison sentence and the trial wraps up, the camera shifts to Jolene who is instantly swarmed by a flock of journalists. I should be there with her, but I couldn’t bring myself to go. I had a feeling if he was not guilty of any of the charges brought against him, I would’ve thrown a fit of rage, or at least, fled the courtroom to vomit. Shavonne and I figured it was best to avoid the court today, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t watch from somewhere else. Jolene is wearing a white blouse with a black pencil skirt. I’m not sure if it’s the belt with her outfit that makes her appear thinner. Samuel approaches Jolene with his security detail and pushes through the crowd with her until they disappear out of the courthouse and into a tinted SUV.
I haven’t spoken much to Jolene in between the trials. When we were “rescued” by the police, we were taken to the police station in the back of cruisers. We all had our story about Dominic, and we stuck to it, just as we’d planned in the hotel the week we met. Dominic was now going to prison with no insanity plea, despite his shark of a lawyer fighting like hell for it. And sure, Dominic’s lawyer was a good one, but mine and Jolene’s was better.
The hardest part about the night when we set Dominic up was going back to the motel after spending hours at the police station. As soon as Shavonne and I were inside the room, I sat on the edge of the thin, lumpy mattress, dropped my face into my hands, and sobbed. It was finally over. We could’ve died, or Jolene could’ve killed us if she wanted to, just to cover for her husband, but she didn’t. We’d risked everything, shoveled our money together just to get across the country and fulfill my crazy plan. I figured I’d end up in jail or worse, killed, but I was willing to go to jail if it meant Dominic was dead.
I admit, I was upset with Jolene for changing the plans at the last minute, but after having time to think about it, it made sense. She didn’t do it only to protect herself (because she’d have been fine either way) but she did it to protect me and Shavonne too. She must’ve seen how vengeful I was, and I admit that I wasn’t thinking clearly. Shavonne even had moments where she wanted to back out and fly back to New Orleans because I simply wanted to go to Dominic’s house, sneak in through a window, and shoot him point blank. I admit, I was a little unhinged. But Jolene spared me any heartache in the process, I suppose. I guess she figured I deserved better than going to jail and because she thought ahead, we’ve all come out on the winning side. It felt surreal to finally be able to confess it all to the police, in the courthouse during the trials, and to hear the confession Jolene milked out of Dominic through the recording on her phone. I also never felt more alive.