Left and Right in the Dark - A Julian Casablancas fanfic

Chapter 25: New York City Cops

Sophie's POV:

The three of us look at the police officers. They seem pretty young themselves, probably just a little older than Julian.

I come closer to Mom and whisper to her while Julian talks with the police officers at the front door.

"I might as well introduce myself to them. They're going to ask about me anyway."

She allows me to go ahead. The officers walk in and sit at the dining table before I walk up to them.

"I'm Sophie, by the way. I'm his girlfriend."

"Sophie, as in Sophie Martin?"

"Yes."

"I take it your father was the one that brought in the complaint."

"Yes," I say while looking down, swinging one of my legs from side to side.

"I'm her mother, Geneviève Martin. You can address me as Jenny," Mom introduces to the officers.

"May I ask what the complaint was about?" I ask to make sure that I am thinking about the same thing as the police.

"Well, your father has made an allegation of sexual assault against you by Julian."

I sigh in annoyance.

"How old are you, by the way?"

"16," I say, truthfully.

"Ok, we will have to speak to you as well."

"No problem."

"We will start with Julian and ask him some questions about what happened two days ago. For privacy reasons, I'm going to need you and your mother to step outside."

We both comply and step out, closing the front door.

_____________

The policemen finish their questioning with Julian. Now it's my turn to go through a somewhat uncomfortable ten minutes. Julian leaves me with one piece of advice: "Be truthful to them. Don't make anything up."

Something seems different about him. He doesn't seem nervous; it's almost like he feels very cool and calm about this whole thing. Mom and I go inside and he closes the door behind us. Mom and I sit at the dining table; she rubs my knees for comfort.

_____________

"Thank you for responding to everything, Sophie," Officer Davenport says after I finish answering his last question and Officer Lance writes some notes on a notepad.

"Yeah, I know this must have been hard for you, but you did really well," Mom slightly smiles at me. I don't feel anything except anxiousness and some anger towards my Dad.

She tries to place her hand on my knee again, but I don't let her.

She shakes her head. "Sophie, I know that you are angry with me and your father. But this is a serious issue. If Julian did anything like pressurizing you-"

"For the last time, he didn't pressurize or force me at all! Like I said before, I wanted him to do it," I raise my voice a little, irritated.

"But you are only 16."

"So? That doesn't mean I don't have feelings or don't know what I'm doing."

"But it does mean you are still too young to consent. The age of consent in New York is 17, and the 4-year rule doesn't apply since Julian is 24," Officer Davenport chimes in.

I turn to one side and sigh, crossing my arms.

"So what happens now?" Mom asks the officers.

"Well, as both Sophie and Julian confirmed that they had sexual intercourse with protection, and they both confidently said that there was no abuse or coercion involved, we'll have to get back to the station and decide what to do. I know this is difficult, but Sophie will have to come down to the station with us so we can take a formal statement."