AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lara left with a swish of hips and a lingering scent of perfume.
“You can back out,” Carmine offered.
“Leave you to face this alone? No!” I retorted, indignant.
“My sweet girl has a fierce side.”
“You’re not facing this alone,” I said firmly.
???
Twenty minutes later, I wished I’d taken up Carmine’s offer. I stood behind a screen with him, and he held my shaking hand. The audience was clapping and cheering as Lara took her seat. Carmine dropped a lingering kiss on my lips and pulled me close as Lara began to speak.
“These two individuals have recently been in the media for different reasons. Some of the headlines and stories have been particularly cruel, forcing family, friends, and colleagues to rush to their defence. In order to deal with the shocks they were handed, both of them retreated from media and refused to comment. However, tonight, Carmine Michaelson, ball player extraordinaire and brilliant volcanologist, Dr Molly Balfour-Cherlyn, have agreed to speak with us. Please welcome Carmine and Molly.”
Carmine gave me a wink, snuck one last kiss, and led me out. The audience clapped, but I did as Carmine suggested and focused on Lara. Lara rose to her feet and offered kisses and handshakes, and we all sat down.
“So, guys, this has to be pretty nerve-wracking for you. A week of sensational stories, some of which touch on highly personal subjects; how are you both feeling?” Lara asked.
“Me? Personally, I’m worried about Molly and the impact that article had on her career,” Carmine replied, holding my hand.
“I’m reeling,” I said honestly. “Having the media focus on me and then Carmine and then all that nastiness was frightening and a violation. I’m not a public person, so it was overwhelming.”
“Molly, you’ve been called a crackpot by the head of the GS and by your own parents. I can imagine that was incredibly hurtful,” Lara said.
I began to settle under Lara’s gentle questioning. With Carmine adding his own comments about what was happening in South Dakota, I thought I gave a pretty good representation ofmyself. Carmine made sure to mention Phoe funded the project and not the GS head office. And he pointed out the team of top-notch scientists working on the puzzle South Dakota was proving to be.
Lara gently ridiculed my parents and Dr White for stating I claimed there was a volcano. She also pointed out that she had read the presentation pack from three years ago and the most recent one. On TV, Lara categorically denied that I mentioned a volcano or any of the other allegations that had been laid at my doorstep.
Lara did point out that both packs stated that there was volcanic activity and that I had the data to prove it. She then questioned the ethics of my parents and Dr White and wondered how many other theories they’d torn down that had merit. All in all, Lara did a complete hatchet job on them and their colleagues while boosting my own self. It was very cleverly done, and I finally felt like I had vindication.
After a break, Lara turned her attention to Carmine. This was the part that worried me. We’d discussed his revelations beforehand, and I knew what he would say and admit to.
Lara started off very gently and began the interview asking Carmine’s thoughts about the recent article. He openly said how upset he’d been at the lies and sheer nastiness behind it. Carmine also mentioned the trolls on his social media and that he’d shut it down due to the overwhelming hate aimed at him.
“The allegations you were a child prostitute?” Lara inquired.
“It’s no secret that I was a street kid that Mom adopted. Without her, I would have died. What many don’t know is that my biological mother was a crack addict. I went days without eating and learned to rely on myself at an early age. When she overdosed and died, I was already virtually living on the streets,” Carmine replied.
“How old were you?” Lara asked.
“Eight.”
“You were homeless at eight?” Lara gasped.
“It was safer for me there than at home. In all honesty, I’d say I started spending nights on the streets at seven, but I was eight when I moved to them full-time. Luckily, I fell in with a group of older men who helped watch over me, and I slept in the middle of them at night, away from predators. When I was ten, I met my brother, Tye, who was the same age. Six months later, Serenity and Harley came along.”
“Serenity would have been…?”
Carmine looked Lara straight in the eyes. “Serenity was eight, and Harley was seven. Their stories are their own. But Tye and I took them under our wing and watched over them. We did our best to keep them warm and fed.”
“You were kids looking after each other on the street?” Lara whispered.
Lara’s horror came through very clearly, and the audience was also reacting. I glanced at the looks on their faces and knew Carmine was reaching them.
“Yeah. As we grew older, the guys we hung with died off or moved away. By the time I was thirteen, I was in charge of us without the protection we’d previously had. That frightened me because men had begun looking at Serenity with lust,” Carmine replied.
“But Serenity was eleven!” Lara said, doing the math.
