WEBVTT - Alicia | Betrayal Weekly 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:10.400 When it started to go a little too far. He 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:16.480 would sometimes show up the studio wearing bandages on his hands, 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:22.079 and he would say that he was mastering how to 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.840 manipulate and start fire from his hands. 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:44.240 I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:47.360 the people we trust the most and the deceptions that 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:48.360 change everything. 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:57.960 The students reached out to me and they were the 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:00.960 ones who told me that they got out of a cult. 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:06.720 That's Alicia. It isn't her real name. We've had to 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:09.920 anonymize everyone in this episode, and you'll see why in 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:10.480 a minute. 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:14.319 Oh my goodness, I don't know where to start. Let's 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:16.640 go to the beginning. I guess. 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:21.280 Alicia grew up in the eighties in a chaotic home. 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:26.280 One of her parents struggled with addiction, so Alisha ended 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.280 up helping raise her older brothers and in a way, 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:30.720 raising herself. 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:35.039 I pretty much had to be the provider, maybe cook 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:38.920 food or meals as much as I could, so that 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:41.440 was a little stressful as a younger kid. 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:44.640 When she was seven years old, her dad signed her 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:47.319 up for dance and it changed her life. 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:49.880 It definitely saved me. 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:54.360 In one of her very first classes, Alicia remembers feeling 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:55.160 out of place. 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:58.880 I was the little scraggly kid in the back. It 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:00.760 was funny because one time I went to class and 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:03.280 I was wearing jeans, and I was like mortified because 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:04.840 I didn't have my tights or anything. 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:08.320 But the dance instructor put Alicia at ease. 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:12.840 She made me feel seen and like it was okay, 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:14.800 and you know, I was just there to dance and 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:17.000 no one was looking at me to try to judge me. 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:23.919 She was awesome, And then after that I was hooked. 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:28.920 That instructor became a mentor. 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:33.040 She stayed my role model all the way through my 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:36.519 dance career at that studio until I pretty much graduated 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:37.160 high school. 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:41.079 It was a classical studio, so Alicia trained in ballet, 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:45.440 tap and jazz from age seven on. She joined every 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:46.320 class she could. 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:51.080 It was a way for me to escape what was 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:55.040 going on at home. It was my way to walk 0:02:55.080 --> 0:03:01.680 into the studio and just be somewhere else, be something else. 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:05.639 I was able to escape through the music, through the movement. 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:07.840 It just became my safe space. 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.120 When she went off to college, she kept dancing and 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.960 eventually she began teaching it. 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:20.120 It became this full circle moment of being able to 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:23.160 do the things that my mentor had done for me 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:25.960 give that back to a kid that might have not 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:26.800 felt seen. 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:29.880 She returned to her childhood studio. 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:34.359 After college, I wound up venturing back to my old 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:38.680 studio that I originally grew up at. I wanted to 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:42.240 make kids feel empowered, to make them feel good about themselves, 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:44.400 express themselves in the ways that they needed. 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:51.880 Alicia had dozens of students. One of the standouts was 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:53.840 a young dancer named Kim. 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:59.560 One of our students was Kim. I started working with 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:02.200 her when she was twelve or thirteen years old. I 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:05.680 remember her being this fun, quirky, sassy girl. 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:08.320 But Kim was incredibly talented. 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:11.840 She just had this natural ability to her, this natural 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:16.120 flexibility that people only dream of. She was always really 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:19.760 willing to work hard, and I knew she would go far. 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:23.200 I knew she was going to make it. Alicia took 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:27.120 her under her wing. That year, Alisha met another dancer 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:31.040 we're going to call Kevin. He was Alisha's age, just 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:33.360 finishing college. 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.719 Kevin. He was cute and I thought it was pretty 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:41.080 impressive to see someone that could dance as well as 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:45.000 he could. He had that natural ability and that natural talent, 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:50.240 and there's something attractive about that, like especially seeing a 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:51.880 guy dance in that way. 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:56.320 Kevin wasn't trained in a classical studio. He was mostly 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.000 self taught, and he was mesmerizing. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:03.880 Special tea was hip hop, so all the traditional styles 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:08.560 of hip hop, which would be breaking, popping, locking, b boying. 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:13.440 It was something that was new to me, being more 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:19.400 of a traditionally trained ancer, and he definitely made it 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:21.039 seem effortless. 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:26.920 They started off as friends, taking classes, going out and 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:29.240 bonding over their tough childhoods. 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:32.599 He would ask me questions about my upbringing and wanted 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:35.440 to know a lot about what happened growing up, and 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.279 he was very attentive with that. I told him my 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:40.839 life story and that I didn't have the best upbringing 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.960 and Howie had to grow up pretty quickly. And then 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:46.279 it turned out that he wound up having the same 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:47.400 type of family issues. 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:51.560 They both had a parent that struggled with addiction, and 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:57.080 Kevin seemed genuinely interested in hearing about Alicia's background. Alisha 0:05:57.279 --> 0:05:59.919 was amazed to meet someone who shared her love for 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.520 dance and also had a traumatic upbringing. 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:06.760 For the first time, I felt seen and I felt 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:10.200 heart in a way that others couldn't really understand, and 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:14.000 it felt very validating. But I didn't pick up on 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:17.800 his signals about, you know, getting a little bit more 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:19.440 than just friends. 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:22.720 After a few months, Kevin confessed his feelings for her. 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:27.000 He bought flowers, wrote love notes, and made mixtapes. 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:30.479 He even got me this necklace. It was like a 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:34.760 little diamond pendant necklace that he said symbolized me shedding 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:38.560 my last tear and that he wouldn't ever hurt me 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:41.760 so I would never have to cry again. And that's 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:44.560 when I took the leap of faith and we started 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:50.120 up the relationship. He just seemed like this very kind, 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:54.279 very sensitive person, and he seemed like a hopeless romantic 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:58.760 despite all the mistreatment that he experienced at home. So 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:01.080 it was pretty much the same thing as me. 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:09.760 Kevin had big career ambitions. This was the late nineties, 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:12.400 and he wanted to work with pop stars like in 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:15.920 Sync and Britney Spears, but he was struggling to find 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:20.080 long term work. So Alicia brought Kevin into the studio 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:22.040 where she worked to teach hip hop. 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:26.640 I approached the studio owner and he thought that it 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:29.600 would be a good idea, so Kevin had a couple 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:32.160 of classes to start with, and he was great at it. 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:38.080 Kevin's classes became a hit. Alicia's student Kim enrolled. Kim 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:41.600 had her sight set on becoming a professional dancer, and 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:44.400 Kevin saw the same potential in her that Alisha did. 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:48.440 They started to have a bond in a relationship, and 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:50.040 he wanted to help her as well. 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:54.520 The studio was like a little family. Mentoring Kim and 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:58.560 students like her brought them closer. Kevin and Alicia spent 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:02.160 every day all day at the studio. She was really 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:03.000 falling for him. 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.640 He would bring out the best of me, and he 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.800 let me be myself like I was able to be 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:13.000 fun and quirky, and he encouraged that. You know, I 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:16.760 never felt self conscious around him. He would always look 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:18.920 at me in ways that made me feel like I 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:19.800 was the only person. 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.800 A few years into their relationship, he surprised her with 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:29.720 a trip to New York, made a reservation at a 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.760 famous restaurant, Windows on the World. It was on the 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.800 top floor of the World Trade Center, and that night 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:37.640 at dinner. 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:40.920 All of a sudden, he got down on one knee, 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:42.760 and then I look up behind me and my best 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:48.880 friends standing there recording, and he popped the question. He 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:52.680 was very nervous, but he said that he wanted to 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:54.840 be my partner for the rest of my life. I 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:57.320 don't know if I even remember hearing the rest of 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:00.320 what he said, because I just started crying and I 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.360 was just overwhelmed with joy, and it just felt like 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:04.480 such a special moment. 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:12.160 She felt like she was marrying her best friend getting married. 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:15.839 I always pictured having somebody that is going to make 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:18.800 me feel safe, because that's something that you know, just 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:21.960 growing up with childhood trauma is one thing that you 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:23.720 don't always feel all the time. 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:30.000 The wedding day was emotional, even though Kevin had a 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:33.959 tense relationship with his family, they all came to celebrate him. 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.760 I started walking down the aisle and I saw him. 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:39.680 I became emotional because I could just see our future 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:43.800 together and us building this great family, and he started 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:46.760 getting emotional. So it was just us trying to get 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:49.959 through our vows and being so choked up. I was 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:51.640 a little embarrassed by that because I thought I could 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:53.800 try to compose myself, and you don't want to have 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:57.360 like an ugly cry in your wedding pictures, But it 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:58.440 almost felt like that. 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:01.760 Some of their DAN students even came to the ceremony, 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:03.400 like Kim and her mom. 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:06.080 Just looking out and seeing her and some of the 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:09.760 other students that were so excited for us to get together. 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:12.880 It was great to be able to include them in that. 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.960 Once they were married, Alicia encouraged him to visit his 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:24.440 parents more often. They didn't live far, but Kevin still 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:28.800 harbored resentment about his childhood. When he was around his family, 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:31.040 he was a shell of himself. 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:33.600 And he would sulk and he would change his whole 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.440 personality on the way there because he was upset about 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:37.920 even having to go there, and he was going to 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:40.480 have to put on a fake face and pretend that 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:41.760 everything was okay. 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:44.800 So they kept their visits to holiday weekends. 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:47.800 Those were the only times that we would go over there. 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.560 But when he was at home with Alicia, Kevin was 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:56.600 animated and loving. They started daydreaming about raising kids together. 0:10:57.480 --> 0:10:59.680 He always knew that I wanted to have kids and 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:02.720 have a family of my own. That was one of 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:04.199 the things that we always talked about. 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.440 They already knew they both loved kids. They were surrounded 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:12.480 by them every day. One of their star students, Kim, 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.640 had become Alicia's teaching assistant, and Kevin was helping Kim 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.559 get her dance career off the ground, so. 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:21.960 We kind of played the dual role of mentoring her, 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:26.760 and then eventually she started assisting some of his classes 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:27.160 as well. 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.120 By this point, Kevin had been with the studio for years. 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.480 He just became the staple at the studio, and all 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:38.040 these kids just flocked to him, you know, for guidance 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:41.520 and inspiration. The kids loved him, the parents all loved him, 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:45.320 but there was one person that didn't quite love him, 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:49.680 and that was my mentor. They didn't seem to be 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:51.840 clicking for some reason, and I thought that was unusual. 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:56.560 They just were not really on the same page. 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:01.600 Kevin's theory was that this older teature was jealous of 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:03.360 how popular his classes were. 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:08.719 And not too long after that, that's when one of 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:12.680 the kids started saying something to their parents about a 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:16.800 conversation that Kevin had with them in the classroom. 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:20.080 A parent complained about something Kevin said to a student. 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:23.560 We don't know what it is because Alisha never got 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:28.000 the full story. Kevin denied saying anything inappropriate, but the 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:31.600 studio owner decided to keep an eye on Kevin, and 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:32.800 a few months after. 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:36.160 That, the owner decided that he was going to let 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:40.439 him go. He said that there were some artistic differences 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:41.640 and that it was time to. 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.880 Part Kevin called Alisha outraged. 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:47.920 Kevin pretty much made me feel like they were ganging 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:50.480 up on him, and that no one understood him and 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:51.440 they were jealous. 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:56.400 It seemed like a horrible misunderstanding. And she believed Kevin 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:01.640 when he said this was rooted in jealousy, especially considering. 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.440 The parents and the kids were still very supportive of Kevin. 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:08.960 They couldn't believe what happened, and they started attacking the 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:11.960 studio owners, saying to him that he didn't know what 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:14.480 he was doing, he didn't know how to conduct business. 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:15.520 How can he let him go? 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:20.080 At first, Alicia assumed she would keep her job and 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:24.760 Kevin could find a new place to work. But for him, 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:27.800 this was a matter of right and wrong, and he 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:31.000 wanted Alisha to be on his side. 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:34.080 He said, this environment was supposed to be my second 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:37.200 home and like my family, and look how they're treating 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:41.720 my husband. So I had no other choice but to 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.480 support him at that time, so then I had to 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:50.680 leave the studio as well. I was heartbroken because here 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:55.240 was this community that just felt like such a safe 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.920 space for me, someplace that I grew up at for 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:00.760 pretty much my whole life. At this point, everything that 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:04.000 I had worked hard for, you know, now it's all gone. 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:09.000 Heartbroken, Alicia turned in her keys and left the studio 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:10.000 she'd grown up in. 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:13.360 At the time, I felt very hurt because I felt 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:15.520 like no one really came to me and said anything. 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:19.880 Looking back, I realized the only version of the story 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:23.240 I was getting was Kevin's story. So of course I'm 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:26.560 going to believe him. He's my husband, but he was 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:31.800 hiding something from me, something bigger, something darker. 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.360 After Kevin was fired from the studio, his favorite students 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.520 rallied around him. He'd been working with many of them 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.880 for years, and they wanted to keep taking his classes. 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:04.880 The next step seemed obvious for Kevin and Alicia. 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:09.000 That's when I was saying to him, oh, I always 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:12.880 wanted to open up my own dance studio. I decided that, hey, 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:16.240 now we had the opportunity to create that safe space 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:17.960 of our own, so we could do it the way 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:20.520 that we wanted to why not just give it a go. 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:25.240 Their own studio. It would be a pre professional program, 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:29.680 no expensive costumes or recitals, just dance. 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:36.400 We turned this pretty empty warehouse, which was six thousand 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:39.440 square feet, into this beautiful studio. 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:43.440 They wanted to prepare kids for real careers and dance, 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:46.720 and Kevin was perfectly positioned to make that. 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:50.040 Happen since he was one of the only male hip 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:54.240 hop dance teachers at the time. We wound up establishing 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:55.760 his own hip hop company. 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:00.240 They had one hundred students upon opening. Many of his 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:03.240 former students put down a deposit to join Kevin and 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:07.040 Alisha's new studio. With Kevin being the lead instructor, they 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:10.680 needed a plan for oversight and safety for everyone's sake. 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:15.480 I had observation windows. I had cameras because you always 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.000 want to make sure that the parents feel comfortable and 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:20.760 feel safe, especially with a male teacher, because you know, 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:24.360 you always hear stories of different things happening, and I 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:26.560 never wanted that to ever be an issue. He never 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:28.920 wanted that to be an issue, So I always had 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.480 those things in place so we didn't never have to 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:32.080 worry about that. 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.680 Alicia was thrilled when Kim came on board to help 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.760 them open this studio. Kim was now a college student 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:46.520 and she became their first employee. 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:50.800 She started out helping me with the front desk, doing 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.560 those types of things at first. Then we started to 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:56.640 give her some classes of her own, since she didn't 0:16:56.680 --> 0:17:00.560 really have that before, and we definitely became a life closer. 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:05.520 Alicia managed the business while Kevin worked tirelessly to recruit 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:08.440 a hip hop crew, and when the group was assembled, 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:12.200 it was undeniable. The crew had the it factor. 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:16.640 Once we got up on our feet. His hip hop 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:21.480 crew started doing a lot of performances all over the area. 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:27.320 These kids were really turning heads and winning a lot 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:32.560 of different awards and were pretty much neck and neck 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:36.040 with some professional dancers on the scene, and they would 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:38.840 get recognized because they were so young at the time 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.440 and people couldn't believe how good they were. 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:45.320 The kids in Kevin's crew ranged in age from thirteen 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:46.040 to nineteen. 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:50.680 They were a bunch of kids who came from diverse 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:55.600 backgrounds who all were able to rise up above adversity 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:57.920 and beat life's obstacles. 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:02.280 Within two years, the kids were winning national titles, booking 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:06.040 huge auditions even making it onto TV shows. 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:10.240 I didn't even expect it to blow up the way 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:13.560 that it did, especially around this particular crew. I felt 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:16.360 like I was on cloud nine. Things were coming together, 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:20.359 so it was just thrilling to be the studio owner, 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:21.800 like it felt really good. 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:27.960 In the chaos of starting a new business, Alisha and 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:30.600 Kevin's marriage started to drift. 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:37.680 There wasn't any intimacy. I was realizing that we were 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:42.399 more friends than anything, more like business partners than a 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:43.080 married couple. 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.480 Along the way, Alisha had put one of her own 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:47.760 dreams to the side. 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:53.440 At this point. I am now in my thirties and 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:58.200 I just wanted to go back to the original goal 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:00.000 of having children of my own. 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:04.399 But Kevin seemed more interested in his crew than starting 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:05.560 a family with Alicia. 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:09.840 So there came a breaking point, and I built up 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:14.080 enough courage and strength to have that conversation with him. 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:17.359 She finally sat him down and told him that she 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:21.280 wanted to separate. She was bracing for his emotional reaction, 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:24.679 but Kevin seemed completely unfazed. 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:28.919 He pretty much just looked at me and said, Okay, 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:34.480 I'm like, what, how is that possible? I couldn't believe it. 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:37.159 I'm like, well, maybe he didn't hear me, maybe he 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:39.399 just didn't hit him. I just couldn't believe it. And 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:41.960 then he said, okay, well, well, what do you think 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:44.560 I should do? Just move out? I said, okay, yeah, 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:48.040 I guess. I was just still baffled at the fact 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:49.440 that he was just so calm about it, and he 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:50.080 just said okay. 0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:55.160 Kevin moved out that night, and they stayed amicable through 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:59.880 the whole divorce process. It was shockingly easy. 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:03.600 After we decided to separate, I almost had a sense 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:07.879 of calm come over me, and I started to realize 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:11.840 that I didn't need to still be in a relationship 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:13.840 with him in order to keep the studio going. 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:18.560 The dance students and their education was the most important 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:21.320 thing to both of them. There were only a few 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:24.080 uncomfortable moments, Like with Kim. 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:27.439 It was a little awkward for her to be in 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:29.800 the middle of our split because she was really good 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:32.480 friends with him. She just became a little bit more distant. 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:37.359 Alicia felt as though Kim was picking a side, and 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:40.760 she noticed that with the students too. She chalked it 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:42.160 up to them processing the. 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:45.119 Divorce, but then all of a sudden, like a lot 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:48.560 of the kids were starting to fight more, and there 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:52.080 was a lot of tension, and there just seemed to 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:53.560 be something that was off. 0:20:54.320 --> 0:20:56.760 Then one day, one of the younger students came to 0:20:56.800 --> 0:21:00.760 Alicia to talk one on one. The girl was in Kymn's. 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:05.359 Class, so I had a student approach me and wanted 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:09.080 to talk to me. She started saying that she didn't 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:12.240 like the way that Kim and Kevin were acting, and 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:15.560 what they were doing was disgusting. How could they do 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:20.200 something like that? And I really wasn't sure what she 0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:23.240 was talking about, but I let her vent and I 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:26.280 just listened to her, and I tried to just let 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:29.280 her finish what she was saying while not giving away 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:31.439 the fact that I didn't know any of this at 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:34.560 the time. What she was trying to tell Alisha was 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:37.120 that Kevin and Kim were together. 0:21:42.000 --> 0:21:45.560 In the moment, Alicia maintained her composure. She didn't want 0:21:45.600 --> 0:21:48.479 the student to think she'd done anything wrong by coming 0:21:48.520 --> 0:21:48.800 to her. 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:51.800 I just told her, don't worry about it, we'll figure 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:52.120 it out. 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:57.359 After the conversation ended, Alisha was shaken. She assumed the 0:21:57.400 --> 0:22:01.840 girl must be confused. Had known Kim since she was twelve, 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:05.280 or thirteen. They even had her at their wedding. 0:22:06.000 --> 0:22:10.240 I couldn't even process the thought of them being together, 0:22:10.320 --> 0:22:12.199 Like the thought of it just made me sick. I 0:22:12.240 --> 0:22:15.520 just didn't understand, and I didn't know if it was 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:16.040 even true. 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:20.080 But her gut told her to check the security cameras, 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:23.240 so she did. Starting with the previous night. 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:27.119 It was a late night session. Everyone was hanging out 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:29.760 in the lobby, and that was the first time I 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:33.359 noticed him. He was like rubbing her back. But the 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:35.800 way that he was doing it, like very like loving 0:22:36.200 --> 0:22:39.320 that kind of thing. I was like, Okay, WHOA. So 0:22:40.440 --> 0:22:45.280 I was freaking out. It made me start to question everything. 0:22:46.160 --> 0:22:49.919 I was furious, I was nauseated. I didn't know what 0:22:50.119 --> 0:22:51.200 to think or what to do. 0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:56.639 At this point, Kim was in her early twenties, Kevin 0:22:56.760 --> 0:23:00.160 was nearly forty, so Alicia felt like she couldn't do 0:23:00.400 --> 0:23:01.280 anything about it. 0:23:02.440 --> 0:23:05.359 I just had to maybe even step back at this 0:23:05.480 --> 0:23:08.760 moment and say, Okay, well, we're all adults here, Like 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:11.159 she wasn't a minor or anything at the time, and 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:13.920 she was a young adult, and what am I gonna do? 0:23:14.800 --> 0:23:18.359 Kevin and Alicia's divorce had been finalized a few months prior. 0:23:19.480 --> 0:23:23.280 For her own sanity, she needed further confirmation that this 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:26.960 was really happening. So the next night, she followed them 0:23:27.040 --> 0:23:28.560 after rehearsal. 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:33.080 I waited in my car and I followed them to 0:23:34.000 --> 0:23:38.280 the diner and I waited there until they finished eating. 0:23:38.359 --> 0:23:40.639 So I literally sat in my car, like in the 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:43.640 side parking lot, waiting for them to come out. And 0:23:44.440 --> 0:23:48.840