Chapter 2
I kept my hand on the bedroom lock.
Grandma was right outside.
I could hear her breathing.
But she sounded strange.
Weak.
Like she'd been crying for a long time.
"Grandma?"
"I'm here, sweetheart."
I wanted to open the door.
I wanted to hug her.
I wanted to make sure she was okay.
But Daddy had told me to wait for the police.
So I stayed where I was.
Officer Harris spoke gently.
"Maya, I'm standing beside your grandmother."
I swallowed.
"Is Derek gone?"
"We're making sure the house is safe."
I looked toward the window.
One police SUV was still parked in the driveway.
Another officer was standing beside the garage.
I could hear people talking through radios.
Then Daddy spoke through my phone.
"Maya, can you hear the officer?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
"Give him a moment to make sure everything is okay."
I pressed the phone harder against my ear.
A minute passed.
Maybe two.
Then Officer Harris spoke again.
"Maya, it's safe to open your door now."
I slowly turned the lock.
Pulled the chair away.
Then opened the door.
Grandma was standing in the hallway.
The moment I saw her, I started crying.
"GRANDMA!"
I ran into her arms.
She hugged me tightly.
But when I touched her left arm, she winced.
I jumped backward.
"Did I hurt you?"
She shook her head.
"No, baby."
I looked at her arm.
There were red marks near her elbow.
Her orange blouse was torn at the sleeve.
I felt sick.
"Derek did that?"
Grandma didn't answer.
Her eyes filled with tears.
Officer Harris knelt beside me.
"Maya, your grandmother is going to get checked by the paramedics."
I looked at him.
"Is she going to die?"
His face softened.
"She's talking with us, and we're getting her medical care."
I started crying again.
Grandma touched my cheek.
"Sweetheart, I'm right here."
I hugged her carefully.
Then I remembered Daddy.
I lifted my phone.
"Daddy, Grandma's okay!"
His voice cracked.
"Thank God."
I could hear a car engine.
He was driving.
"Daddy, where are you?"
"On my way, princess."
I swallowed.
"Please hurry."
"I will."
Officer Harris guided us downstairs.
When we reached the living room, I saw broken glass beside the staircase.
A picture frame lay on the floor.
It was a photograph of me, Grandma, and Mom.
The glass had shattered.
I stopped.
That photograph had been taken at my eighth birthday party.
Grandma had made strawberry cake.
Mom had kissed my forehead.
And Derek had been standing behind the camera, smiling.
I stared at the broken picture.
"Why did he do this?"
Grandma squeezed my hand.
"Don't worry about that right now."
But I couldn't stop worrying.
I looked toward the front door.
"Where's Derek?"
Officer Harris answered carefully.
"He left the house before officers could speak with him. Other officers are trying to locate him."
I felt cold.
"What if he comes back?"
"We're taking steps to keep you safe."
I nodded.
But I didn't feel safe.
Not yet.
Outside, two paramedics were waiting beside an ambulance.
One helped Grandma sit down.
The other examined her arm.
I sat close enough to touch her knee.
She kept smiling at me.
But I knew she was hurting.
I could see it.
Every time someone touched her arm, she tightened her lips.
Then Officer Harris asked whether he could speak with me.
Grandma looked worried.
"She's only nine."
He nodded.
"I understand. We'll keep it simple."
I looked at him.
"Am I in trouble?"
His expression changed immediately.
"No, Maya."
I swallowed.
"Because I pushed Derek?"
He shook his head.
"You're not in trouble for telling us what happened."
I felt a little relief.
He asked what I'd seen when I came home.
I told him.
I described Derek holding Grandma.
The shouting.
The way she'd struggled.
The way he'd followed me upstairs.
Then I told him about the bedroom door.
My voice trembled.
"He kept hitting it."
Officer Harris nodded.
"You did a good job staying somewhere safer and calling for help."
I looked down.
"I wanted to save Grandma."
He spoke gently.
"You helped by getting help."
I started crying.
Because I hadn't felt brave.
I'd felt terrified.
Grandma reached for my hand.
"You saved us time, sweetheart."
I looked at her.
Her eyes were wet.
"And you listened when I told you to run."
I hugged her carefully.
A few minutes later, Daddy's car rushed into the driveway.
I recognized it immediately.
A black SUV.
He parked crookedly.
Then jumped out.
"DAD!"
I ran toward him.
He dropped to his knees.
I threw myself into his arms.
He held me so tightly I could barely breathe.
"My baby."
I started sobbing.
"Daddy!"
He kissed my forehead.
Then my cheeks.
Then my hair.
"You're okay."
I nodded.
He pulled back and looked at me.
"Did Derek hurt you?"
I shook my head.
"He hurt Grandma."
Daddy looked toward the ambulance.
His face changed.
He stood quickly, keeping one arm around me.
Then he approached Grandma.
"Evelyn?"
She looked up.
"Marcus."
He gently touched her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry."
Grandma shook her head.
"This isn't your fault."
But Daddy looked furious.
Not at her.
Not at me.
At everything that had happened.
He asked Officer Harris what the police knew.
The officer explained that Derek had left before they arrived.
His car was gone.
The search was continuing.
Daddy listened.
Then asked whether Grandma needed the hospital.
The paramedic recommended further evaluation.
Grandma tried to protest.
"I'm fine."
Daddy shook his head.
"Please let them check you."
I grabbed Grandma's hand.
"Please."
She looked at me.
Then nodded.
"All right, sweetheart."
While they prepared to take her, Daddy looked around the living room.
His eyes stopped on the broken picture frame.
Then on the staircase.
Then on my abandoned purple backpack.
He picked it up.
For a moment, he didn't speak.
Then he held it against his chest.
I watched his eyes fill with tears.
I'd never seen Daddy look like that before.
He was usually so strong.
He worked as an engineer.
He fixed things.
He always knew what to do.
But standing there with my backpack, he looked broken.
I walked toward him.
"Daddy?"
He knelt.
"I'm here."
I touched his cheek.
"Don't cry."
He took a shaky breath.
Then hugged me.
"I love you, Maya."
"I love you too."
He pulled back.
"You're coming with me tonight."
I nodded immediately.
I wanted that.
More than anything.
But then I remembered Mom.
"Does Mommy know?"
Daddy's expression changed.
He looked toward Grandma.
Then toward Officer Harris.
"Not yet, sweetheart."
My stomach tightened.
Mom worked long shifts at a hospital.
She'd married Derek two years earlier.
She always told me he was helping our family.
That he was strict because he cared.
That I needed to respect him.
But Grandma had been afraid of him for months.
I knew that now.
I looked at Daddy.
"Is Mommy going to be mad?"
His face tightened.
"Why would she be mad?"
I swallowed.
"Because Derek says I make trouble."
Daddy became very still.
"What trouble?"
I looked down.
"He says I tell stories."
Daddy knelt lower.
"Maya, look at me."
I slowly raised my eyes.
"Did Derek ever tell you not to tell your mother something?"
My heart began pounding.
I nodded.
Daddy's face changed.
"What did he tell you to hide?"
I stared at my shoes.
Then whispered, "The nights Grandma cried."
For several seconds, Daddy said nothing.
Then he asked quietly, "How many nights?"
I swallowed.
"A lot."
He closed his eyes.
And when he opened them again, I saw something that frightened me.
Not anger.
May you like
Pain.
Because my father was beginning to realize that what happened that afternoon hadn't started that afternoon at all.
