the Cops of Maastricht: Eva

10 years old

note: this might have triggers for child abuse read with care end note.

There was a knock at the door. "Eevs Can you get that?" her father asked. "Make Maus do it!" she said. "Now Eevs!" she saw. Her father seemed to be really starting to hate her 14-year-old brother. Not that he was any less cruel to Eva. Maybe even more. She opened the door and saw a red-haired policewoman who often came by. Marion. The same woman she had met 4 years ago at Maurice's career day. "Hello Eva. How are you today?" she asked.

"Oh I'm fine, thank you," Eva lied. She was everything else than fine. She had burned her dinner again and her father was angry. He had hit her again. He had become clever. He never hit her where anyone could see. And the other things her father had done to her. Marion looked at the young girl before her.

"Are you sure you are all right, sweetheart?" she asked. Eva nodded her head. "Who is it Eva?" her father asked,
"Marion, Daddy," she said. She was taught to make it look like he was the best dad ever. "What are the police doing here?" he asked. "I'm not on duty. I just moved in across the street and wanted to say hello," she replied. "Oh well, hello then."

Eva hoped that with this officer across the street, she would be safe from her father's tirany. Over the next few weeks, she and Maurice visited Marion often. They learned that her husband was a baker and wanted to open his own bakery. They were practically newlyweds. "How are things at home?" Marion asked. "They suck." Maurice said. "Dad started beating Eva. Because I got too strong." Maurice added. "But I won't let him. She is my baby sister. I have to protect her. So every time he comes home angry. I make sure he keeps his paws off her." He said. "Mouse, you can't say things like that." Eva said. Maurice was older than her in years, but in intelligence he was slower than Eva.

Sure, Eva was top of her class, she even did classes that were a year above her. But Maus had always struggled with school. And with making friends. The only ones who were friends with him always got him into trouble.
She was lying in bed. There it was again. That awful song. She knew what would happen if he played it.

She hoped no one would ever find out. She wanted it to stop. But she didn't know how to make it stop. He told her that if she told anyone, she would be locked up. That she would have a criminal record and could never be a police officer. So, as she had so many times before, she put up with it. Hoping that one day it would stop.

Her only escape was school. Not that she had many friends. Just 3 Melanie. Jenna and Victoria. They were her gang. But even they started to lose interest in her. They could never play with her. And she would never play with them. She should come straight home after school.
Where he would be waiting for her again. On the rare occasions when he was sober, he just barked orders at her. But when he was drunk. Which happened 9 days out of 10, he would beat her for being 2 minutes late. Or for not having cooked dinner. Even something as simple as looking at him wrong would set him off. How long did she have to stay here? When could she finally leave?