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Mary-Anne grabbed Bobby’s hand and walked boldly into the living room. Startled, Lisa jumped off the couch.
“How long have you been there?” she asked with hesitation, as she quickly dried her eyes, "How much have you heard?”
Robert looked away from everyone, clearing his throat several times, struggling to speak and finding it impossible to do. Officer Harris looked with interest at the two approaching youth, then focused directly upon Mary-Anne. He stood up and extended his hand towards her.
“Hello, my name is Officer Harris and I believe you must be Mary-Anne.”
She stepped forward and with a streak of defiant strength, she took the hand extended towards her and shook firmly. Bobby stood to the side, behind Mary-Anne, giving her support in silence. Officer Harris looked around Mary-Anne and offered his hand to Bobby.
“And you must be Bobby, won’t you both sit down. I’m sure you are aware that I have a few questions for both of you.”
Lisa watched the interaction between the officer and children, unable to move – wanting to grab the children and run to safety while the other part of her wanted to stay to hear Mary-Anne’s version of the truth. Officer Harris looked towards Lisa and motioned her to take a seat, then turned back to the children. Still unsure of what to do, Lisa took a seat beside Robert, taking his hand in a tight embrace, as if to will this nightmare to end.
Mary-Anne continued to look directly at the officer, sizing him up. Deciding if trust was warranted or not. Mary-Anne experienced far too many who pretended to support her and believe her then would toss her out to the lions for a grand feast. She learned at a young age to believe no one, trust no one, especially officers of the law and social workers. Officer Harris sensed there was more to Mary-Anne than the file stated and allowed the silence to remain. Mary-Anne stood there, watching him, refusing to sit down despite Bobby’s attempts to have her move to the couch. Finally she broke the silence,
“You want the truth of what happened with Tracey or do you want the storybook version? I can give you either. You know I can,” Mary-Anne stated, “I can either tell you lies and make everyone happy or I can tell the truth and have you call me a liar anyhow.”
Officer Harris smiled to himself and refused to rise to the challenge. Before him stood a young lady who life was certainly not going to destroy despite its attempts. He marveled at the strength of one so young, while allowing silence to work magic that words would not.
With a half-smile, Officer Harris replied, “Well Mary-Anne you do not strike me as a girl who could be bothered with sugar-coating anything. I believe you tell it as it is and unfortunately, I’m sure you haven’t always been believed. Tell you what, you tell me what you choose and I’ll sit right back down and listen. You may stand, you may sit, the choice is yours.”
Mary-Anne scrunched her face as he took a seat. She thought over his words and decided to test the waters. Turning to Bobby, she squeezed his hand and motioned him to sit. Bobby looked at her questionably then seeing her nod slowly, he took a seat beside his parents. Lisa grabbed her son’s hand and squeezed hard. Bobby thought she’d squeeze out all the blood if she didn’t let go soon. He ground his teeth but didn’t say a word.
“You sure you want them in here?” Mary-Anne asked, “I mean, do you really want them to hear everything?”
“I’m getting the impression you and Bobby heard every word spoken over the past 45 minutes,” the officer stated and seeing her nod “yes” he continued on, “don’t you believe they have the right to hear the truth?”
“But sometimes people believe they want to hear the truth but really, they don’t,” Mary-Anne stated “and then they blame the one who tells the truth and before you know it, you are living in a crazy house!”
Mary-Anne’s voice rose as she stomped her foot.
“These are good people! Tracey was a good person too! But I won’t be the one to tell them the truth and then have them yell at me and make me leave! I won’t have anyone call me a liar anymore!”
Lisa gasped and jumped up, wanting to pull Mary-Anne into a protective web and assure her, their love will never leave. Before anyone could stop Lisa, she grabbed Mary-Anne in a hug and started to speak soothing words like “we’ll never stop loving you” and “it’s not your fault.” Mary-Anne reacted immediately, oblivious to who it was, only knowing that someone was grabbing her, trying to stop her words, her anger and in one swift movement, she swung her elbows back and hit Lisa in the chest – first with the right elbow, then the left.
“Leave me alone! Leave me alone!” Mary-Anne screamed as she struggled to escape Lisa’s hold.
Robert finally reacted, jumping off the couch to pull Lisa towards him. Lisa burst into tears, crumbling down upon the couch, pulling Robert with her. Bobby sat frozen, unable to move or react.
“Mary-Anne, you’ve had it very hard,” Officer Harris stated, “I sense you haven’t been believed in the past and from your file, I’ve read you’ve talked to officers before and it’s been pushed aside.”
He looked directly at her and continued, “This time, you have my solemn word it will not be pushed aside. But the choice is yours. We can do it here or we can meet down at the station with your social worker. With or without your foster family. I’ll leave this up to you.”
Robert wiped away Lisa’s tears, while whispering soothing words to her. Bobby sat up, waiting for Mary-Anne’s answer. As confused as he felt, he did not want Mary-Anne to tell the officer the truth unless he was there to support her. But he didn’t know how to tell Mary-Anne how he was feeling, so he remained silent, willing her to remain in the room and tell what she knew.
Mary-Anne stood there. She looked directly at the officer, never losing her gaze. She searched his face for a sign that he could be trusted – that he was capable of dealing with whatever twists she threw out. Tightening her lips, she bit down hard while she decided whether to trust or not. The last time she trusted an officer, he called her a liar and told her to be grateful her father wasn’t as screwed up as her mother. Even when they arrested her father, they never talked with her – they gained all their information from her teachers at kindergarten and day care. No one ever said they wanted to listen to her and no one ever gave her a choice. In fact, no one spoke to her in this fashion. She stomped her foot down hard.
“I’ve decided,” she stated, “I’m ready to tell you the truth and they can stay here to listen.”
With that, Mary-Anne walked into the kitchen to grab a chair. Upon returning, she placed the chair directly in front of the officer and sat down.
“Ok, I’m ready,” she stated, leaning forward towards the officer, “Are you?”
© 2001
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