Chapter 6

The lawyer's office had enormous windows and a bowl of candy on the reception desk.

I took one purple candy.

Then another.

Daddy smiled.

"Save some for everybody else, princess."

I giggled.

For a moment, I felt like a normal kid again.

Then Patricia Greene came into the waiting room.

She wore a dark-blue suit.

Her hair was neatly styled.

And her smile made me feel a little less nervous.

"You must be Maya."

I nodded.

"Yes, ma'am."

She bent slightly so we were closer to eye level.

"I hear you're very good at remembering details."

I looked at Daddy.

He smiled.

"She is."

I felt proud.

But then I remembered Derek.

And the pride disappeared.

Patricia seemed to notice.

She spoke gently.

"You don't have to solve the grown-ups' problems, Maya."

I looked up.

"Then why does everybody keep asking me questions?"

Her expression softened.

"Because you saw some important things."

I nodded.

She continued.

"But none of this is your responsibility."

I thought about that.

Then asked, "Will Grandma lose her house?"

Patricia paused.

"We're working to protect it."

I swallowed.

"Can you promise?"

She looked at me kindly.

"I can promise we're taking this seriously."

I liked that answer.

It didn't pretend everything was easy.

But it made me feel like someone was helping.

Daddy, Mom, and Grandma went into the conference room with Patricia.

I stayed in the waiting area with Uncle Raymond.

He was Daddy's older brother.

He had a big laugh and always brought me silly gifts.

That morning, he'd brought a puzzle book.

We sat together.

But I couldn't concentrate.

Every few minutes, I looked toward the conference room door.

Raymond noticed.

"What's on your mind?"

I hesitated.

Then whispered, "What if Derek comes here?"

He shook his head.

"You're safe with me."

I nodded.

Then asked, "Is Derek a bad person?"

Raymond thought carefully.

"He made harmful choices."

I looked at him.

"But sometimes he was nice."

Raymond nodded.

"People can behave kindly sometimes and still do things that hurt others."

I stared at my puzzle book.

That made sense.

But it also made me sad.

Because I remembered Derek teaching me to throw a basketball.

I remembered him buying me ice cream once.

I remembered him laughing when I told jokes.

Those memories were real too.

And I didn't know what to do with them.

Raymond gently squeezed my shoulder.

"You're allowed to have complicated feelings."

I looked up.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Really."

I felt relieved.

After a while, the conference room door opened.

Daddy came out.

His face looked serious.

I stood quickly.

"Is Grandma okay?"

He nodded.

"Yes."

I exhaled.

Then asked, "What happened?"

Daddy sat beside me.

"The lawyer found some problems with the documents Derek submitted."

I frowned.

"What problems?"

He took a breath.

"Some information doesn't match what Grandma agreed to."

I nodded slowly.

He continued.

"The bank has been notified, and the financing request is being reviewed."

I felt a little relief.

"So he can't just take the house?"

"That's what we're working to prevent."

I smiled faintly.

Then Daddy looked at me.

"There's something else."

My stomach tightened.

"What?"

"The police found Derek."

I stopped breathing.

"Where?"

"He was staying at a motel outside the city."

I stared at him.

"Did they catch him?"

Daddy chose his words carefully.

"He's been taken into custody while the authorities address the incident and related matters."

I felt strange.

Part of me was relieved.

Another part was frightened.

"What happens now?"

Daddy took my hand.

"That's for the adults and the courts to work through."

I nodded.

Then whispered, "Will he be mad at me?"

Daddy's face changed.

He pulled me close.

"Maya, Derek is responsible for what he did."

I swallowed.

"Even if I told?"

"Especially then."

I looked up.

Daddy continued.

"You told the truth. That's never something you should be ashamed of."

I hugged him.

For the first time since the incident, I felt a little safer.

That afternoon, Grandma came home with us.

She'd decided to stay at Uncle Raymond's nearby house while her own property was reviewed and secured.

But before leaving Patricia's office, she wanted to thank me.

She knelt carefully.

Her arm was healing.

But she still moved slowly.

"Maya."

I looked at her.

"Yes?"

"You were very brave."

I shook my head.

"I cried."

She smiled.

"So did I."

I looked surprised.

She continued.

"Bravery doesn't mean you never cry."

I thought about that.

Then hugged her.

"I love you, Grandma."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

For a moment, everything felt warm.

Then Mom approached.

She looked nervous.

"Maya, can we talk?"

I nodded.

We sat near the window.

She took a breath.

"I've been speaking with a counselor."

I frowned.

"Like Mrs. Brooks?"

She smiled gently.

"Yes, sweetheart."

I nodded.

Mom continued.

"I'm learning about things I didn't understand before."

I looked at her.

"Like what?"

She hesitated.

"How someone can make you believe you're responsible for their anger."

My stomach tightened.

That sounded familiar.

Mom looked down.

"Derek used to tell me that if I argued with him, I was making things worse."

I stared at her.

"He said that to me too."

Her eyes filled.

"I know."

I swallowed.

Then asked, "Did he scare you?"

Mom nodded slowly.

"Sometimes."

For a moment, I couldn't speak.

I'd always thought Mom was too strong to be frightened.

She worked in a hospital.

She helped sick people.

She knew how to do things I didn't understand.

And yet Derek had frightened her too.

I reached for her hand.

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"You're not bad because you were scared."

She started crying.

Then hugged me.

"Oh, Maya."

I held her.

And for the first time, I understood that Mom hadn't always known how to protect herself either.

That didn't erase the times she'd failed to believe me.

But it helped me understand why she was learning now.

A few days later, Daddy received another call from Patricia.

I was sitting on the couch when he answered.

He listened quietly.

Then his expression changed.

"Are you sure?"

I looked up.

He walked toward the kitchen.

"Okay. Thank you."

When he returned, I asked, "What happened?"

Daddy sat beside me.

"The bank found another problem."

My stomach tightened.

"What?"

He hesitated.

"Someone tried to use Grandma's signature on a document she says she never signed."

I stared at him.

"Like copying her name?"

He nodded.

"Something like that."

I thought about Derek sitting at the dining table with papers.

The yellow folder.

The phone calls.

The way he'd tried to frighten Grandma.

Then I remembered seeing him practice writing on a piece of paper.

He'd covered it quickly when I entered the room.

At the time, I thought he was doing homework.

Now I wondered whether he'd been practicing Grandma's name.

I looked at Daddy.

"Derek wrote Grandma's name a lot."

His face went still.

"What?"

I swallowed.

"I saw him."

Daddy knelt in front of me.

"When?"

I tried to remember.

Then I told him about the papers.

The pen.

The way Derek hid everything when I came into the room.

Daddy listened.

Then took a slow breath.

"Thank you, Maya."

I nodded.

He didn't ask me to remember more.

He simply called Patricia and shared what I'd said.

That evening, I lay in bed thinking about Grandma's house.

About the yellow folder.

About the writing.

And about Derek.

For months, he'd been making us afraid.

Now the grown-ups were finally finding out why.

But there was one question I couldn't stop asking myself.

If Derek had only wanted money, why had he been so angry when Grandma refused to sign?

And why had he chosen that afternoon to hurt her?

I didn't know the answer yet.

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