"Yes, I think we do," I reply. "How do you know anything about my father or that he would try to call me?"

Emma looks back at me. "Don't be angry, Maya. Your uncle informed me that your father has been trying to contact you for quite awhile. He apparently expects to be released from prison after he has his trial. But, I guess he told you that when you talked to him."

I shake my head as I bitterly laugh. "All this time I thought you and my uncle cared about me."

Emma rises from her chair and kneels in front of me. "Maya, we do. We were just trying to protect you. You're uncle thought that it wouldn't be good for you to know about him. He said that if you found out about what he was trying to do, you might have a panic attack or forget about how far you've come in these last few months."

With my old sarcasm, I snap, "So, you both thought that I would just go back to my old self. Thank you for having faith in me."

I stand up and lean forward against the balcony railing with my eyes closed and my face feeling warm. Emma places her hand on my back and softly tells me, "Maya, you need to understand that we were just trying to do the right thing. We do have faith in the new chapter you've started, but how were we supposed to know how you would react?"

I sigh and look down at my hands. "He wants me to go to New York for the trial."

"You're not even thinking about going? Are you, Maya?" she asks me.

I take a step away from her and turn to face her. "You don't understand. He's threatened to hurt Uncle Sam, and he'll probably threaten more people once he knows about you and Alli. I can't let him do this."

Emma sighs. "Maya, you're uncle is in New York because of this. He's making the case against your father."

I squeeze my eyes shut and then open them again. "He has no case without me as a witness. I have to go, but I can't go alone. Please go with me."

Emma shakes her head. "It won't be safe."

I shake my head back at her and softly tell her, "It's not safe if I go alone. It's safe when someone comes with me. Emma, please. I can't let him win or get away with what I know he'll try to do. He has more evil in him than you can imagine."

Emma closes her eyes and then opens them again with a deep breath. "If he's so evil, then how can you even consider going to that trial? He could do more horrible things to you if you show up. I will not allow you to get hurt."

"Don't you see?" I plead, "I have to do this! I can't break free from him if I don't put him back inside that prison. I won't be able to ever sleep peacefully if I don't go. He has something up his sleeve if his case has somehow been reopened."

"Maya," Emma sighs again.

"Please. My uncle doesn't have a good enough case without me as a witness. I am the only one who was there. I am the only one who actually knows the extent of my father's cruelty. Nobody lived with him besides my mother and me, and she's not here to send him back inside those prison walls. I have to do this for her," I explain with a pleading voice.

Emma takes a deep breath and heads for the door as she carefully replies, "I'll get the tickets. We'll leave after the festival tomorrow. Don't think this means that I'm happy about this or agree with you."

"Thank you. Thank you so, so much. I'm so grateful," I respond, knowing that she's doing something extremely kind for me.

Emma stops and turns around to look at me. She gives me a small, soft smile. "Go to bed."

I smile back. "Will do."

She shakes her head and walks out of my room. I take a deep breath and walk back inside, turning the balcony lights off as I go. I walk back to my bed and slip underneath the covers. I lie down and close my eyes, but I soon open them again because my thoughts are still racing.

What I'm doing might be slightly crazy, but I believe it's what my mother wants. I can't let her death be in vain, despite it being around five years ago. I need to place my father back in that cell to learn his lesson. He can't get away with murder. I won't let him.

I sigh again as I feel my face warming. Thinking about the idea of him being let out of prison sickens me. How could anyone let anyone that cruel be placed back into the streets? I understand that people can change. I mean, I changed. But, it's obvious that he's still his cruel self. Just from that phone call, I can tell that he's just as vile as he was five years ago.

I take a deep breath and try to get my tense body to relax. I have to get at least a few more hours of sleep. I close my eyes again and try to think of peaceful thoughts. It takes awhile, but I'm soon drifting off to sleep while on the last word of a prayer.

~•••••~

The next day, I get up, put a smile on my face, and go to the festival stage. I try to ignore my restless thoughts about my father, but I should know better. Nothing that major can leave my mind, no matter how much I want it to. I hate it.

"Maya? Maya?" Nicole asks as she waves a hand in front of me.

I jump as I shift back into what's currently happening. I quickly apologize, "Sorry, Nicole. I just have a few things on my mind right now."

Nicole looks at me with concern on her face, and she questions, "What's up?"

I sigh and look down at my hands and then back up at her. "It's just something personal. Oh, I need to tell you something, and it may or may not cause your plans to be changed."

"You mean, our plans. But, anyway, what is it?"

I take a deep breath. "I have to fly out to New York City tonight after the festival. It has something to do with this personal matter. I'm sorry if I've messed up anything, but I have to go to this thing."

Nicole nods her head slowly and bites her lip. "Okay," she starts, "I think we can handle it. Don't worry. Go and do what you need to do. Just remember to tell me that you get there safely, or I might send out a search and rescue team."

I laugh. "I will. Emma is coming with me, so I think I'll be okay."

Nicole smiles. "I'm sure you will be. Maya, please don't keep me in suspense for too long."

I give her a small smile at her seriousness and reply, "One day you will know. In fact, one day everyone will know everything there is to know about me and my past. I just need to do this."

She nods again and turns her attention back to the stage. "Okay. Today, we need to once again introduce all the different events happening today. I think you'll do that again, and then we'll start the performances about ten minutes after the announcements. Sound good?"

I nod. "I think so."

"Alright. I need to get you the list of what you need to say, and I'll make sure Eric gets you a mic," Nicole tells me as she begins to walk away from me to go the the other side of the stage.

I stand where I am and suddenly feel a shove on my back, propelling me forward. I fall down and almost hit my head on a chair. I sit up and turn around to see Cassandra standing behind me with one of her familiar glares on her face.  I sigh and rise to my feet.

"What do you want?" I ask with annoyance.

She glares harder at me and takes a step closer. "I'm the one who's going to do the talking. No matter who you think you are, you're worthless. It's a wonder how you're still here. Don't you think your time is up yet?"

I give her one of my deepest glares and demand, "What have I ever done to you? Why do you keep treating me like dirt? Nobody has given you the power to treat me the way you do, and I'm tired of you acting like I'm nobody."

Cassandra takes another step closer to me and pushes me against the chair which moves forward as soon as my weight is placed on it. I fall down, and she does too. But, she rises quicker than I can, and she manages to kick me in the side. I let out a small groan and scramble to my feet.

"Stop. Give up this game," I tell her.

She takes a deep breath, and it looks like she's about to scream at any point. "You can't tell me what to do! I hate you, Maya Walker, and you don't deserve another second on this earth. You're worth nothing to anyone. Nobody actually cares about you."

"Stop!" I exclaim with exasperation. "What have I ever done to you? Just tell me!"

She glares even harder at me and forms her hands into fists by her side. Her face grows crimson as she spits out, "Like you don't know."

"No, I don't know," I calmly reply.

"He killed her."

I look at her with confusion. "Who killed who?"

"Your father killed my mother, and it was because of you. It was all because of you!" she shouts as she makes a run toward me.

My eyes widen as I realize she might possibly try to really hurt me. I run around her as she comes closer, but she manages to grab my shirt and pull me back. Just when I think she's going to hit me or something, somebody grabs her and pulls her away from me. I see Tanner holding her with Nicole standing beside him.

I take a deep breath, and Nicole rushes over to me. "Are you alright? What happened?"

I just shake my head at her. "Find Mr. Beckham and get him over here, so he can take her home. I think they need to talk."

Nicole nods and hurries away. When I look back at Cassandra, she's slightly calmer, but I can tell that she still really wants to hit me. Tanner is still holding her gently yet firmly, but he's looking at me with a quizzical expression. I sigh and sit down in the chair Cassandra pushed me against earlier.

Soon, Nicole arrives with Mr. Beckham, and he has a confused look on his face. He sees Cassandra being held back by Tanner and swiftly takes her out of Tanner's grasp and puts her in his own grasp. He looks in my direction and gives me a questioning look. I take a deep breath and stand up as he walks toward me.

I carefully tell him, "I think Cassandra needs to have a talk with you."

He furrows his eyebrows and questions, "What happened, Maya?"

I look at Tanner and Nicole. Both of them are staring, waiting to know what's happened, so I gesture for him to follow me out of the stage area. He follows closely behind me with Cassandra still in his grasp. Once we get outside of the stage area, I turn around, and he looks really confused.

I clear my throat and carefully choose my words, "Cassandra has had something against me, and she brought up her mother today."

He raises his eyebrows and looks back and forth at Cassandra and me and questions, "What are you talking about? My wife died in an accident. How does that have anything to do with you and her?"

I take a deep breath and look at Cassandra. "Cassandra, please explain this to your father."

Cassandra gives me a glare as she spits out, "It wasn't an accident. Her father murdered Mom."

He turns to Cassandra and commands, "I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth. You can't go around accusing people."

She looks at him straight in the eye and angrily replies, "I see how it is. You'll listen to anyone's side of the story but mine. I'm not crazy, and I'm not wrong about this. He murdered her, and when the truth comes out, you'll be sorry you ever doubted my word."

"Not another word. I deserve respect. I'm taking you home, and we'll sort through this all. I'm sorry, Maya, for any inconvenience," he tells her and then me.

I give him a small smile and tell him that it's fine. He gives me an apologetic smile and leads Cassandra over to the parking lot. I sigh and go back to the stage. I ignore Nicole and Tanner's questioning looks and focus on the show. It goes smoothly, despite having to rearrange the show because Cassandra isn't there to do her act.

At the end of the day, I say quick goodbyes to Nicole and Tanner and hurry back to the house. I hurry up to my room and toss some clothes into a suitcase. I grab a jacket and my cross body purse and slip my phone inside it. I go into my bathroom and stuff my toiletries into my toiletry bag. I place that inside my suitcase and take it downstairs.

Emma rolls her suitcase out at the exact same time I get downstairs, and she asks, "Well then, I guess we're ready to go."

I nod, and she sighs. "It'll be fine."

She shakes her head and leads me out to her car. She places the suitcases in the trunk, and we both get inside her car. We begin to drive out of Clearwater Bay to a neighboring town where the small airport is. She doesn't say a word to me until we're on the plane and about to take off.

When she does speak, I'm a little surprised at what she says because it's so unlike her.

"I'm so getting fired for this," she mutters.

______________________________
This chapter is dedicated to all of you who never fail to vote and leave nice comments :) Thank you for all the support!

I can't wait to share my exciting news once this book is closer to being completed! Stay tuned for the news and please keep voting, commenting, and sharing this book!

Y'all are amazing,
~CGirlyGirl