We Know What You Did

7: Taking it Too Far

For the next month, Sonny made sure to check in with Chelsea at least once a week. Although he tried to pass the phone calls off as a friendly conversation, Chelsea knew he was trying to find out if Tyler was abusing her. The conversations all went the same way: a casual greeting, update on Chelsea's week, and Chelsea reassuring her uncle that everything was fine at home. For the most part, things were. Chelsea did her best to keep a low profile and tried not to do anything that would upset Tyler. Minor "transgressions" would earn Chelsea a slap on the cheek or pulling of her hair. There was one night Chelsea dropped a plate and it shattered, to which Tyler responded by beating her with a belt. The most recent incident occurred during an argument about allowing Chelsea to go to NYC with her soccer team. Chelsea's soccer team had won a statewide award for excellence and was invited to NYC for the award ceremony. After yelling and throwing Chelsea around, Tyler finally gave permission to go with the one caveat that he would chaperone.
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Once at NYC, Tyler kept a close eye on Chelsea. When the girls went to lunch, Tyler made sure to be a few tables over. He watched them when they went to the pool. Finally, the evening rolled around.
Before joining her teammates in getting ready for the ceremony, Chelsea went to talk to Tyler about going out with her friends after the reception.
"Not a chance, Chel" Tyler told her.
"But dad, it's a club literally meant for high schoolers. No alcohol, no drugs. Plus I'll be with like 10 other girls." Chelsea tried to reason.
"I said no. That's the end of it." Tyler stated.
"This isn't fair!" Chelsea argued. "If you weren't here, I'd be going!"
"That's why I'm here!" Tyler was getting angry.
"I wish you weren't here!" Chelsea raised her voice.
Tyler took a step toward her and grabbed her hair. "What'd you say to me?"
"I said I wish you weren't here!" Chelsea quickly regretted talking. Tyler threw her to the floor.
"I told you, you listen to me!" He kicked her in the side.
Chelsea looked up at him with anger and fear. "You said you wouldn't!"
"Wouldn't what?" Tyler growled.
"You said you wouldn't treat me like mom!" Chelsea stood up.
Tyler pinned her against the wall. "You think this is how I treated your mom?" Chelsea nodded. "I'll show you how I treated your mom." Tyler firmly held Chelsea by the chin and threw her on the bed. He rolled her onto her back and climbed on top of her. He started to unzip his pants. Chelsea screamed but Tyler hit her across the face. Chelsea tried to get away but Tyler overpowered her and proceeded to rape her.

Twenty minutes later, Chelsea entered the hotel room she was sharing with 3 of her teammates.
"Chels, there you are! We have to get ready!" Maya said. Chelsea kept looking down but nodded. "Are you okay?" Maya took one look at her friend and knew something was wrong. "Did your dad do something's to you?" Maya was one of Chelsea's oldest friends and Chelsea had confided in Maya about Tyler's behavior toward her and her mom.
"I'm fine," Chelsea lied. She went to her bag and pulled out her skirt and sweater. Chelsea went into the bathroom, changed, and did her hair and make-up. Despite her friends sensing something was wrong, the girls headed to the ceremony.

Since the ceremony and reception were taking place in the city, Sonny was attending to support his niece. Although he still hated Tyler for what Chelsea had confessed a month ago, Sonny did his best to be pleasant toward him, for Chelsea.
"Congrats Seabug" Sonny went over to the table where Chelsea and her teammates were seated.
"Hey, Uncle Sonny!" Chelsea stood up and hugged her uncle. "Thanks for coming"
"Anything for you kiddo" Sonny congratulated the rest of the girls and continued toward the men's room. When he opened the door to leave the restroom, he was surprised to see 3 teenage girls waiting outside for him.
"You're Chelsea's uncle, right? The detective?" one girl asked. Sonny nodded, still confused. "You need to talk to Chelsea."
"About what?" Sonny asked.
"We think something happened to her" the girl continued.
Sonny waited for more details. "Like what?" The girls nervously looked at one another, none of them wanting to speak up. "Girls, I want to help Chelsea but I'm going to need a little more information."
"We think Tyler hurt her" Maya blurted out.
Sonny tried to hide his anger. "Thank you, girls, for telling me. I'll take care of it." The girls nodded and headed into the women's restroom.
Sonny walked over to Chelsea with his phone to his ear. "Hey, Chelsea" he tilted the phone downward. "I have Amanda on the phone, she wants to congratulate you." Chelsea put her hand out to take the phone. "How about we go into the hall. It's a little loud in here." Chelsea looked over at Tyler who was watching the whole interaction. Sonny followed her gaze, "it'll only be a minute. She just wants to say a quick hello." Sonny looked at Tyler when he spoke. When Tyler looked away, Chelsea and Sonny went into the hall and stood in a quiet corner. Sonny slid his phone into his pocket.
"Um, Amanda?" Chelsea asked confused.
"Look, Chels, I just needed to get you out of the room" Sonny told her. He wanted to ask his questions quickly, in case Tyler came looking for them. "You're friends told me they were pretty concerned about you." Chelsea wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion. "They thought Tyler may have hurt you tonight."
Tears sprang into Chelsea's eyes and she did her best to blink them back. "No" she shook her head and her voice cracked.
"Chelsea, I can help you. But you need to tell me the truth" Sonny told her.
"I'm fine" Chelsea bit her lip and couldn't stop the tears that ran down her cheeks. She quickly wiped her face.
"Chelsea, you're not fine" Sonny said. "Let me help you, please." He hated seeing his niece this upset.
"I can't say. He'll be mad. I screwed up" Chelsea cried.
"What happened?" Their conversation was cut short when Tyler came into the hallway.
"There you are" Tyler said. "Chelly, baby, what's wrong" Tyler appeared concerned when he saw Chelsea crying. "C'mere, it's okay" he hugged Chelsea. The girl tensed and cried harder.
"Hey." Sonny said sharply. "Get off her." He pushed Tyler away from Chelsea.
"What? She's my daughter. She's upset." Tyler defended himself.
"Chels, how about you go into the bathroom, wipe your face." Sonny suggested. He wanted to get Chelsea away from Tyler.
"I'm just going to go up to the room." Chelsea ran off without waiting for either man to reply.