The Magician's Witch

A Witch Walks into a Church

A uniformed police officer showed up the next morning at Bakhita's house. Eilis had just gotten up and was walking Aria into the kitchen when the knock sounded on the front door.

"Let me handle this," Malid insisted.

Eilis stood in the background, listening to the conversation from around the corner from the front door. Malid handed the officer a copy of her signed statement, attesting to why she felt the need to up and leave in the middle of the night.

"She is not a danger to herself or her daughter," Malid was informing the cop. "She felt threatened and afraid for her safety and the safety of her daughter. We will keep her here until such a time when she can find a place of her own."

The officer seemed to shuffle from foot to foot. "May I speak to the young lady? This is her aunt and uncle we're talking about. I know them personally. Why she feels threatened by them..."

"You may speak to her through me," Malid stated firmly. "I am her legal representation, as stated here." Malid showed the officer another signed document.

"As for her former guardians, I understand that tensions have been running high since Eilis returned from her ordeal. While I am not a doctor, I can understand how while their desire to care for their niece is noble, perhaps the way they went about doing so was the incorrect strategy and caused her to feel unsafe."

There was a bite to Malid's tone. After Eilis had relayed her story to him and Bakhita in its entirety, both he and Bakhita had completely changed their tune about Matthew and Nancy Craven.

"They want to talk to her," the officer insisted. "It's just a conversation."

"And they may do so...through me," Malid stated. "Miss Craven is a grown, stable-minded adult, and if she does not wish to speak to her relatives who have no legal control over any aspect of her life, she does not have to speak to them directly."

The cop huffed, exasperated. "Alright. We gotta take the car, though. Technically, that can be construed as grand theft auto."

Eilis came around the corner then, directing a glare at the cop. "The title of the car is in my name, as is the insurance," she hissed, bouncing Aria on her hip. "The car belongs to me."

The officer scowled at her...Eilis knew her uncle had friends on the police force, and they all probably thought the worst of her now for leaving her guardians as she had.

"Ma'am," he stated formally. "They've been paying the property taxes and insurance on your vehicle for the last two years."

"They were very generous in that, but that doesn't make them the owners," Eilis growled. "If they want me to reimburse them, they can send me the bill."

Eilis watched the cop walk away frustrated a minute later, soundly defeated. Malid shut the front door and locked it.

"How does he not know that the title is in my name," Eilis wondered aloud. "All he had to do was run the VIN number. Don't they have access to DMV records?"

"My guess is he was doing your aunt and uncle a favor by coming here. They wanted to twist your arm into returning to them."

Eilis grimaced. "They can fucking bite me."

Malid smiled. "There's the Eilis I love," he said affectionately, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her into the kitchen. Bakhita was cooking breakfast.

"Thank you both so much for helping me," Eilis told them sincerely. "I don't know what I would've done last night without you two to back me up. I don't have any money to pay you, Malid."