Illumine Her by Sieni A.M. Page B

facing her, his face lined with concern.
    Alana took a deep breath and nodded. “I will be once we get this thing over with.” Getting out of the truck, she smoothed down her dress and made her way inside.
    “I’m going to call David,” Manu said and produced his phone from his pocket.
    Alana cringed on the inside. “Let me talk to him.”

    Twenty minutes later Uncle Solo and her brother strode in. Alana was in the midst of being questioned by an officer who appeared to be at the end of his shift. His heavy arms sagged over the desk, and his movements were slow and lazy as he recorded the events of the evening. His face lacked emotion and he kept his eyes averted, only nodding now and then in acknowledgment.
    “Alana, we take assault very seriously,” he said tiredly. “If you want to go ahead with this charge, you have to be absolutely sure you want to do this. Since he did not rape you, I would encourage you to think hard about this. What we can do in the meantime is take your statement and that alone will be a permanent stain on his record for life.”
    It was there Alana learned her attacker was a renowned businessman in the community. The escort to the police station and threatening statement was humiliation enough, and his family begged for the assault charge to be dropped. She knew news traveled fast on a small island, and if the public got wind of his misdemeanor, he would be ruined. The gossip alone was going to cast a negative light on him, his marriage, his family, and his business.
    “He didn’t hurt her! He didn’t touch her!” his wife shouted at the police officers. She was hysterical and shot tearful glares towards Alana. Addressing her she threatened, “If you do this, you will regret it!”
    She swore aloud and cried, her hands pulling roughly at her hair and dress, anger spilling and lashing out towards her husband. Her stricken face was filled with the fierce passion of a woman who just found out what her husband had done—torn between defending him and striking him across the face. The air in the room was charged with tense rage and threats mirroring the flickering florescent lights above.
    “Let this go, Lana,” Uncle Solo said quietly. Never one who liked confrontations, he pressed on. “Thankfully, you’re okay, and you’ve made your point and shaken him up enough...” he reached for her shoulder and tapped it to emphasize his words “...you don’t want to drag this out to the courts—it will take months and will be costly. Let’s just forgive and forget, yes? You don’t want to bring this kind of attention to yourself and our family. I’m sure he’s learned his lesson now that he has been shamed in front of his wife and family. His pride has been hurt, and in this country that is the worst kind of punishment.”
    Alana listened numbly as he droned on. She was a tangled mess of confusion inside, a tempest churning to and fro, torn between the respect she had for her uncle and loyalty towards her father. Her father, who was killed by a drunk and could do nothing to defend himself. Her father, whose life had been cut short by someone’s careless act. She knew it was a long shot connecting the two incidents, but she couldn’t help it. After all of the heartache and nightmares, she needed to take back control, and this was an opportunity to do just that.
    “Your sister’s wedding is coming up. Let’s not darken the mood and bring more stress to your mother. He came on to you, but he didn’t go further, thank God.” He urged her to see and understand from his perspective that his act was small in comparison to what could have been and was not worth the added pain a trial would put her and her family through.
    Alana looked up to her brother’s face for direction. He stood still, his face hard while the muscle in his jaw clenched tensely. His silence spoke volumes, confusion matching her own but implying she should do as their uncle suggested. For all his pomp and flair