As Alix heard her own name, one of the cameramen looked up with bright eyes and began to dramatically count down from five with his right hand. Alix’s pulse went into her ears, and her toes seemed to numb as she watched him go from three, to two, and then point directly at Laney.
“Alix, Emira, thank you for sitting down with us.”
Emira nodded and Alix said, “Absolutely.” Her voice came out a bit too eager. She sounded as if she were being interviewed for a job and not by the news. And so she tried to silently sit deeper and find her normal register. Briar, still hung up on the cameraman’s sudden countdown, raised both her hands in the air and announced with an air of defensiveness, “I can count too.”
“And thank you, Briar,” Laney said. She gave a kind kids-say-the-darnedest-things expression, and then got right back to business. “Alix, let’s start with you. Could you have ever foreseen this happening when you called Emira late that night?”
“Ohmygosh, not at all.” Alix felt herself start to breathe. Laney was smooth and curious in a way that implied the four of them had never met, much less rehearsed. Her conviction made the room seem less staged, their words much less studied. “We were very new to the city and it seemed like a no-brainer to call Emira to see if she could help out. I think other parents can understand that life gets messy sometimes, and that the grocery store is typically an excellent place to kill time with a toddler.”
“So, Emira.” Laney turned thoughtful and grave. “You and Briar are at Market Depot. What happens next?”
Unprompted, Briar sadly put her hands to her cheeks and said, “What happen?” Alix smiled and smoothed Briar’s hair down her back.
“Well . . . we were walking around and about to go look in the nut section . . .” Emira said this more to Briar than to Laney. “And then a security guard asked if she was my child.”
As if Emira had just recited an ancient proverb, Laney put her elbow to her knee. She squinted, cocked her chin, and intoned, “Hmm.”
“I told him that I was her babysitter, but he said that I didn’t look like I’d been babysitting, and then he refused to let me leave.”
“I think it’s important to point out that Emira had been attending a birthday party, which she left to come and help us out.” Alix transferred her hand from her daughter’s back to Emira’s shoulder. This remark had not been practiced, but the gesture came to her so naturally that she didn’t want to stifle it. “And since it also seems to be a source of confusion, this video was taken way back in September. Emira was dressed very appropriately for the evening she planned on having.”
“So I take it that this wasn’t your typical babysitting outfit,” Laney responded with a small laugh.
“Oh, yeah no,” Emira said. She grinned at both Laney and Alix as she added, “I usually have, like, a babysitting uniform.”
Alix inhaled quick and doubly. She looked into Laney’s green eyes to ground her in the space, and she told herself, Calm down. She means that figuratively. She means jeans or leggings. Alix tightened her ankles against each other. She chose you. Emira and Kelley are no longer together. Stay with it, Alix. You’re almost there.
“So this interrogation begins, they refuse to let you leave.” Laney recounted the night’s events. “What’s going through your mind?”
Alix turned her head to face Emira straight on as Emira tried to find her words. She had already touched her once; she couldn’t do it again. But she tried to give her space and positivity, thinking, Come on Mira, you can do this. Emira picked up Briar from under her armpits and readjusted her on her lap.
“Ummm, I felt pretty confused and upset?” Emira upspoke. “We weren’t being loud or anything, so it was weird that they came over. And then I was just really afraid that they would take her away from me.”
From Tamra’s arms, Catherine let out a very cute yawn that was slightly audible. Tamra tiptoed over to where Zara leaned against the living room entrance in case the yawning continued and she needed to relocate. As Emira finished speaking, Briar looked at one of the cameramen and said, “I’m not a baby, okay?”
“Looking back on the accusations placed against you . . .” Laney said to regain the room, “Emira, do you feel that justice needs to be served in terminating the security guard’s position?”
This was not a question they had rehearsed. Was that purposeful on Laney’s end? Alix couldn’t tell. She held her breath as she watched Emira secretly react to the surprise, recover, and deliver.
“Oh. No no.” Emira shook her head casually as if she were refusing dessert after a large meal. “I was pretty upset, but now I’m more mad that this video got out without my permission. I didn’t want that at all, and . . . umm, whoever released it obviously doesn’t really care about consent. And I think that is . . . a pretty sad thing.”
Alix’s closed-mouthed and listening smile became taut and tired against her face. There’s no way, she thought. There’s no way that anyone could know. But even more important than this video and the way in which it found its way to the Internet was the fact that even if Kelley hadn’t betrayed Emira’s trust by now, it would only be a matter of time. Briar touched her toes and looked up at Emira. With a piqued interest she asked, “Somebody crying?”
“And Alix.” Laney turned. Her voice had a slightly joyful lilt in it and Alix could tell she was preparing to conclude. “You’re no stranger to women sticking up for themselves. Coincidentally, you’ve made a career out of it!”
“I have.” Alix turned toward Laney as she spoke. Alix realized that this might be the one circumstance where she could freely admit that Emira meant the world to her, and she could say this without a cloud of reticence, or a concern that Emira was on the clock. “Emira embodies much of the spirit in my business LetHer Speak,” she said. “Not only did she stick up for herself, but she listens to herself, and this is exactly the kind of person Peter and I want around our girls, especially at this important time of their lives.”
“And I hear that Emira will be around a lot more often in the New Year?” Laney looked for confirmation from both Emira and Alix. “As you continue to write your first book?”
Alix chuckled. So Laney’s plug wasn’t as subtle as Alix had hoped for, but it made her feel more like a small-business owner than she had in months. “That’s right,” Alix said. “As I finish my book and go back to work, Emira will be joining us full-time. And honestly . . .” Alix looked at her daughter and said, “We couldn’t be happier.” Out of the corner of her eye, Alix watched Emira bite the side of her cheek.
“And lastly, Emira.” Laney sighed. “Is there anything you’d like to add? Do you have any advice for other caretakers who might run into a similar situation?”