Safety

Chapter 5

        Adam was the first thing I saw as we walked through the doors of the police department. He sat on the waiting bench his arms were folded smugly across his chest, his face turned up making an ugly smirk as if he was saying “you tried to run from me? You should have known better.” My heart beat accelerated and I looked away as quickly as my head would turn. I looked down at Aria who was holding onto my arm. The policeman tried to pry her away when we arrived but she threw a hissy and would not have it. They decided it would be better to leave her be. 

        The policeman led me to a small room with a table and three chairs around it. There were no windows but there was a large mirror on the far wall and I knew I was about to be interrogated. There were probably three officers in there now getting ready to record every word that I said. They un-cuffed me and sat me down on one of the chairs. I found myself thinking of Paul and how much I wished he were there to give me some kind of confidence or reassurance. I felt a lump in my throat I choked it back. I wasn’t about to let them see my weakness. I was going to stay strong. 

I saw a woman standing in the doorway talking to one of the officers. She was very business-like. She was wearing a white blouse and grey cardigan and a gray straight skirt and black flats.  Her blonde hair was tied back in a bun and she was holding a black briefcase. She walked into the room then and looked over me and then Aria. She walked over to my daughter and whispered something about needing to talk to me alone and that someone had brought their new puppy in and she could go and pet it. She hopped up and looked at me hopefully. I nodded and watched her skip out of the room. She got to the door and I watched another policeman escort her away from my eyesight. 

“Nina, how are you today?” The woman asked me as she sat down in the chair next to me. I didn’t say anything and sat there waiting for her to get on with it. I wasn’t here for pleasantries. “Okay… Well I am your public defender. We need to talk about your case. You do not have to tell them anything. But I would recommend that you do tell them the whole truth if you are innocent. Do not, under any circumstances, change your story because If you are innocent and your story isn’t consistent than you will be found guilty and we don’t want that.” Her voice was serious but I thought I heard a hint of boredom in it, I decided to overlook it. I nodded in response and she put her briefcase on the table and opened it revealing a lot of paperwork and a few manila envelopes and a tape recorder. 

        “Now a police officer is about to come in here and ask you a few questions. I encourage you to answer them honestly okay?” She looked at me with pity in her eyes and I noticed that she was talking to me as if I were a child. I nodded again and looked at the door as an older man in a police uniform and holding a briefcase came in. He sat down across from us without saying anything. He handed me a glass of water and stared at me as I took a swig of it. “Nina? How old are you?” He started the questions right away and I answered them as honestly as I could. Some were pretty simple and irrelevant but I answered them anyways. “Why did you attack your husband with this pan?” He asked as he took the iron skillet out of his briefcase. I looked at it as I remembered all too well what happened that night. “I was afraid for my daughter. I didn’t want him to hurt her anymore.” I replied matter-of-factly. “What do you mean?” He asked me. I told him my whole story. I told him about all the years of abuse and the night when he hurt Aria. He nodded his head and so did my lawyer as she wrote something down on her notepad. 

        After the questions he went out of the room for a few minutes and when he came back he was hand in hand with Aria. “Mommy! The puppy was sooooo cute. Can we get one? Please mom oh please.” She exclaimed, her little mouth turned up in the most adorable smile. “Sure sweetie.” I replied and let her climb on top of my lap. I rubbed her back and felt the bumps of her lashing wounds. “Show us.” I looked up to the man unsure of what he was talking about. I’m sure my face was filled with confusion because the man stated, “Show us where he hurt your daughter.” I looked hesitantly at him and shifted my gaze to my daughter. “Sweetie, can you face me for a second. I’m going to show this man your owies okay?” I asked her as to not make her feel uncomfortable. She nodded innocently and put her arms around my neck as I lifted up the back of her shirt. “He beat her with his belt when I didn’t punish her for making a mess with the bubbles in the bathroom.” I told them looking down at the little girl resting against my chest. The man looked at me trying to hide the sadness from his face. He stood up then and walked out of the room, my lawyer following him out. They closed the door and I saw their shadows through the door’s window as they conversed. 

        When they came back in they asked if Aria could wait outside while they talked to me alone. I nodded and sent her to the cop that was waiting outside of the room. The door closed behind her and the two people in the room sat back down, looking at me seriously. “Alright, we need to speak with your husband about this and see if his story has changed at all. This all is very difficult because there is a child involved but we have called in Officer Linden and he will be here soon. It is to our knowledge that he has given you permission to stay with him and his mother until we get this figured out so if everything goes as planned with your husband than you will leave here with Paul.” I looked at the officer as he spoke to me. Does this mean they believe me? Does this mean I’ll be safe again? I asked myself these question as the two people talked to me. I nodded every once in a while. I broke out of my trance when Paul walked in. I stood up immediately and went to him. My knees almost buckled as his arms went around me. His arms were the only thing in this world right now that I actually felt safe and comfortable in. “Come on lets go find Aria, and then we will wait to see if we can go home okay?” He said softly into my ear making me shiver. I nodded and followed him out looking one last time at the people in the room, the people who believed me. 

        I walked up to the policeman that I recognized from escorting Aria out of the room. “Sir, may I have my daughter back please?” I asked him curtly. He nodded without looking up at me and pointed over to a bookcase that was next to the secretary’s desk. “She is over there.” He told me before going back to the paper he was reading. I looked over to where he pointed but I didn’t see Aria. I looked around frantically, my panic catching up to me and I yelled her name. “Aria! Aria where are you?” I walked quickly back to the room I came out of to see if she was there but she was nowhere to be found. At this point all of the police that were in the building was on a search to find my daughter. Than a thought hit me and I turned to Paul, “Where is Adam?” I asked him. His face filled with panic and he looked around the room to the seat where Adam had been sitting. He was gone, and so was Aria.