Page 71 of Broken Silence
Get it the hell together.
“She’s coming,” Mum said, squeezing my forearm.
“Oakley?” Linda called, striding towards us in an expensive, grey suit. “Are you ready?”
No, not at all.Nodding in a daze, I flattened my jacket and turned to her, putting everyone else in the background. “I am.”
“Would you like a minute with your family?”
“No, I need to just do this.”
“Oakley?” Jasper and Cole called at the same time.
“See you in a bit,” I told them, and followed Linda.
I didn’t want any last hugs or words of encouragement. I’d clad my wall in steel and didn’t need to let in any emotion. At least that was the plan.
I forced myself to keep moving me forward, ignoring the anxiety clawing at my stomach, trying to rip me to shreds.
Linda took me to a small room that had a few chairs and a dark wooden coffee table in it. “This is where we’ll come if you need a break. Remember, you can have one whenever you need it. If it gets to be too much,pleasetell me, okay?”
“I will,” I whispered.
It was already too much. I was in the same building as my dad for the first time since I spoke out.
Someone opened the door. I didn’t look up, but I saw Linda nod and knew that was our cue. Bile rushed up my throat.
Oh God.
Linda smiled reassuringly. “I believe in you, Oakley, and I’ll be there the whole time.”
I followed her out and towards a door that said COURTROOM 1 on a little plaque screwed to the wood.
I stepped inside, and my hands started to tremble.
I was on my own now. My family, Cole, Jenna, David, and Mia were all sitting in the public gallery somewhere. I wantedMum with me. Suddenly, Ireallywanted my mum, but I had to be strong and do this myself.
I immediately scanned the rows of seats in the public gallery. Finally, I found Mum, Jasper, and Cole sitting at the end, closest to where I would be. I drew strength from their reassuring smiles.
“Are you okay?” Linda whispered.
I nodded once in response, my voice not working. That needed to change. They weren’t stealing it again.
My eyes drifted further around the room. Dad’s lawyers were sitting at a table with open laptops and pages of notes, ready to take me down.
My chest twisted in anger as I stared them down, trying not to appear as scared as I felt.
It was now or never.
Sucking in a deep breath, I turned my head, and I looked straight at my dad. He was staring ahead, his dark hair now peppered with grey. He’d put on about ten pounds and had lines around his empty eyes. He’d aged about ten years within four.
I physically couldn’t get enough oxygen in, and my lungs quickly began to sting. Someone was talking to me, but I couldn’t focus. The only noise I could hear was the blood in my ears.
A copy of the Bible was shoved in front of me. I knew what I had to do here. Raising my hand, I placed my palm gently on the worn book. Linda had gone through the process, so I knew what was being said to me, but I couldn’t hear a word of it.
Everything was muffled. The only sound that I could hear clearly was my racing pulse.
“I swear by almighty God that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” I said, and took a deep breath.
