CHAPTER FIVE
Riley was almost hyperventilating as she tried to grasp what was happening.
Surely I can contest this decision, she thought.
The agency and the lawyer could easily put together some solid evidence of Scarlatti’s abusive behavior.
But what would happen in the meantime?
Jilly would never stay with her father. She would run away again—and this time she might really disappear.
Riley might never see her youngest daughter again.
Still sitting at the bench, the judge said to Jilly, “Young lady, I think you should go to your father now.”
To Riley’s surprise, Jilly looked utterly calm.
She squeezed Riley’s hand and whispered …
“Don’t worry, Mom. This is going to be all right.”
She walked over to where Scarlatti and his fiancée were now standing. Albert Scarlatti’s smile seemed warm and welcoming.
Just as her father held out his arms to hug her, Jilly said, “I’ve got something to say to you.”
A curious expression crossed Scarlatti’s face.
Jilly said, “You killed my brother.”
“Wh-what?” Scarlatti stammered. “No, that’s not true, and you know it. Your brother Norbert ran away. I’ve told you lots of times—”
Jilly interrupted him.
“No, I’m not talking about my big brother. I don’t even remember him. I’m talking about my little brother.”
“But you never had a—”
“No, I never had a little brother. Because you killed him.”
Scarlatti’s mouth dropped open and his face reddened.
Her voice shaking with anger, Jilly continued, “I guess you think I don’t remember my mother, because I was so little when she left. But I do remember. I remember she was pregnant. I remember you yelling at her. You hit her in the stomach. I saw you do it, again and again. Then she was sick. And then she wasn’t pregnant anymore. She told me it was a boy, and he would have been my little brother, but you killed him.”
Riley was staggered by what Jilly was saying. She had no doubt that every word of it was true.
I wish she could have told me, she thought.
But of course, Jilly must have found it too painful to talk about—until this very moment.
Jilly was sobbing now. She said, “Mommy cried a lot when she told me. She said she had to go away, or you’d kill her sooner or later. And she did go away. And I never saw her again.”
Scarlatti’s face was knotting up in an ugly expression. Riley could see that he was struggling with his rage.
He growled, “Girl, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re imagining the whole thing.”
Jilly said, “She was wearing her pretty blue dress that day. The one she really liked. See, I do remember. I saw the whole thing.”
Jilly’s words were pouring out in a desperate torrent.
“You kill everything and everybody sooner or later. You can’t help it. I’ll bet you even lied when you told me my puppy ran away. You probably killed Darby too.”
Scarlatti was shaking all over now.
Jilly’s words kept flowing out, “My mother did the right thing by running away, and I hope she’s happy, wherever she is. And if she’s dead—well, she’s still better off than she would be with you.”
Scarlatti let out a roar of fury. “Shut up, you little bitch!”
He grabbed Jilly by the shoulder with one hand and slapped her across the face with the other.
Jilly cried out and tried to pull away from him.
Riley was on her feet, rushing toward Scarlatti. Before she got there, two security officers had grabbed the man by the arms.
Jilly broke free and ran to Riley.
The judge pounded his gavel and everything got quiet. He looked around the courtroom as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened.
For a moment, he just sat there, breathing heavily.
Then he looked at Riley and said, “Ms. Paige, I think I owe you an apology. I made the wrong decision just now, and I rescind it.”
He glared at Scarlatti and added, “Another sound from you and I’ll put you under arrest.”
Looking at the others in the room, the judge said firmly, “There will be no further hearings. This is my final determination on this adoption. Custody is awarded to the adoptive mother.”
He rapped his gavel again and got up and left the courtroom without another word.
Riley turned and looked at Scarlatti. His dark eyes were furious, but the two security officers were still standing beside him. He glanced at his fiancée, who was looking on in horror. Then Scarlatti hung his head and just stood there quietly.
Jilly threw herself into Riley’s arms, sobbing.
Riley held her close and said, “You’re a brave girl, Jilly. I’m never going to let you go, no matter what happens. You can count on it.”
*
Jilly’s cheek was still stinging as Riley wrapped up a few details with Brenda and the lawyer. But it seemed like a good kind of hurting and she knew it would soon go away. She’d told the truth about something she’d kept to herself for much too long. As a result, she was free from her father forever.
Riley—her new mom—drove her back to their hotel room, where they packed up quickly and drove to the airport. They arrived in plenty of time for their flight home and checked their bags so they wouldn’t have to lug them around. Then they went together to a restroom.
Jilly stood looking in a mirror while her mom was in a nearby stall.
A slight bruise was forming on the side of her face where her father had hit her. But it was going to be OK now.
Her father could never hurt her again. And all because she’d come out and told the truth about her little lost brother at last. That was all it had taken to turn everything around.
She smiled a little as she remembered Mom saying to her …
Yes, Jilly thought. I guess I am pretty brave.