Hood Lemonade Jamika's Vendetta by T.J. Hope Read Free Book Online Page B

talk about, but you have to go ahead and let it out.” It’s not the getting it out that I am worried about; it’s the getting out in one piece that scares me, Jamika was thinking.
    “Trust me; I’ll kill that motherfucker if he ever touches you again! Why won’t you say anything, Mika? Did that bitch Millie know about this?”
    Jamika finally spoke up. “Ma, what are you talking about?”
    “That damned Hubert, tell me what happened baby, please!” Felise begged, close to tears.
    It was then Jamika realized that somehow the can of worms had been freed. She never wanted her mother to hurt, or to have to face the horrors of what Hubert had done to her. Jamika slowly started to speak. Jamika started from the very first time he had touched her when she was six years old, until the very last time he had penetrated her at age eleven.
    It turned out that Hubert had gotten drunk, and raped his girlfriend’s nine-year-old daughter. He had told the girl that he had two nieces that he used to have sex with all the time. When the girl told her mother what had happened and what had been said; she called the authorities. They knew about Jamika, and that he’d been molesting her cousin, Shaquita, over the years as well. She had recapped to her mother about the nights that they used to hold each other, crying, scared to lose their lives by telling on Hubert. So, when he moved away, they buried the secret, and began to move on with their lives.
    Now, everything was out in the open. All of Jamika’s cousins had been taken from Millie, pending an investigation. The whole summer was filled with detectives, depositions, vaginal examinations and courtrooms. The girls were eventually given back to Millie. She wasn’t keeping many of the appointments and had been coaching Shaquita to say that it all never happened.
     
    Jamika sat in the witness chair with sweaty palms. She looked at the big, white man to her left, who was the judge. He looked at her as if she was the criminal. She turned to look at the jury, and all twelve sets of eyes were on her. She swallowed hard, but her throat was too dry to bring any relief.
    She looked straight ahead to see her mother, her Grandmothers Millie and Marjorie, Uncle Hubert, her cousins Monie, Shaquita and Peaches, Big Momma, Hubert’s ex-girlfriend and her daughter, the detectives and a host of people she’d never seen before. Jamika felt sick. Her stomach was doing somersaults and her mouth tasted salty.
    The prosecutor began, “State your name for the record please?”
    “Jamika Tyler.”
    “How old are you, Jamika?”
    “Thirteen.”
    “Do you know the man sitting at that table over there?” the prosecutor asked, pointing to the table where Hubert sat.
    “Y-y-yes, sir.”
    “Could you tell the court who that is?”
    “H-he’s my uncle, Hubert.”
    “How is he your uncle?”
    “He is my daddy’s brother.”
    “Was there ever a time when he touched you in a manner that made you feel uncomfortable?”
    “Yes sir.”
    “Could you tell us about one of those times?”
    Jamika had been coached to tell them about how it all started, but she couldn’t seem to get it out. She felt hot and dizzy, and even hotter tears began to sting her eyes. All of these people would think that she did something to make him do these things to her. She started to cry hysterically, forgetting that she was in court. She started to yell at Hubert, “Why did you do that to us? Do you know what you’ve done to us? After you left us, we’d hold each other and cry, with white stuff on our coochies and in our panties!”
    “Objection, Your Honor!” shouted the defense attorney. “This witness is—”
    Before the judge could rule on the objection, Jamika was up on her feet. “I’m telling it all! I’m telling it now! You can’t kill me and throw me in the river now!”
    Jamika then vomited violently all over herself and the front of the witness stand. The judge called a recess, visibly upset by both