A/N Just decided to spoil you guys with another chapter. This whole being in quarantine thing is giving me plenty of time to write. Hope you enjoy this one!
Chapter 18: The Interview
"Mitchell." The voice stopped Beca in her tracks.
What. The. Fuck. Beca closed her eyes and turned around to see none other then Stacie fucking Conrad.
"What can I do for you, Conrad?" Beca asked. She didn't like being a bitch, but she needed this girl to back the fuck off of her.
Stacie walked up to her, unaffected by Beca's clear lack of wanting to talk to her. "We need to talk."
"No. No we don't." Beca crossed her arms.
"Look I get it, okay. You don't know me, and I don't know you but I know something is going on and it's clearly a big deal if all our teachers are freaking out about you." Stacie stated. "Look, my dad is the District Attorney, okay. I know about your mom."
Beca's heart dropped in her stomach. Of course he was…
"And?" Beca asked still wondering how this had anything to do with the tall brunette.
Stacie looked at her for a moment like she hadn't expected that answer. "And, I was wanting to make sure you were okay. That you had somewhere safe to go."
"I'm fine." Beca stated. "Thanks for the concern but I don't need your help."
With that Beca turned around and started to walk, she prayed that would be enough to get Stacie off her back, but she knew it most likely wouldn't.
"Beca, wait a second." Stacie called. Beca stopped and turned around, ready to blow up.
"Back off! I don't need your help! I don't need my teachers help. I don't need your dad's help. I'm fine. I've got all the help I need from people who actually know me and give a shit about me." Beca yelled. "So just back off, already!"
Stacie stood, unfazed by her outburst. She stepped forward and extended a card toward Beca. "This is for a support group for kids with parents who are in jail or awaiting trials. You should give it a look."
Beca hesitantly took the card but didn't say anything.
"My number is on the back of the card if you need anything." She stated simply. "Good luck, Mitchell."
With that Stacie turned around and walked down the street, leaving a stunned Beca in her tracks.
What the hell had her life become?
Beca looked back up to see Stacie's form fading back down the street. She rolled her eyes and stuffed the card in her back pocket, knowing that she wouldn't use it.
Police Station
Beca nervously walked into the unfamiliar building. She'd never been in here before and prayed she'd never have to come back. She knew that wasn't likely though.
"Hi, can I help you?" The blonde woman at the desk asked.
"Yeah, I'm here to see Officer Carter?" Beca explained.
"Do you have an appointment, dear?" She asked.
"Uh, no. Can you just tell him Beca Mitchell is here to talk to him?" She asked. The woman nodded.
"Give me a minute, I'll go see if he's busy." She explained.
Beca nodded and watched as the woman walked back into the station.
She had to fight the urge to run away while she was left alone. She didn't want this. She didn't want to be standing here, about to tell this random guy about her issues with her mom. She didn't want to tell anyone about what Theo did to her. She didn't want any of it.
"He said you could come on back." The woman explained as she stood in the doorway just to the left of her desk. Beca nodded awkwardly and followed her in.
The receptionist walked her back and into a small room in the back of the building. There windows that filled the entirety of one wall and a small table sat in the middle of the room.
"He'll be right in, in just a moment, Ms. Mitchell." The woman smiled before making her way out of the room.
Beca took a seat at one of the chairs in the room. Her leg started to nervously bounce and she wondered how long she would be left in here until the officer arrived.
This didn't look like an interrogation room, at least not like the ones from all the movies and shows she had been forced to watch over the years. It didn't help that her girlfriend was weirdly into true crime… It was adorable actually but that meant she was subjected to a lot of things like that.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." A kind looking man walked into the room and put his hand out for Beca to take. "My name is Thomas Carter. You're Beca?"
"Yes, nice to meet you Officer." Beca stated awkwardly.
"Please, call me Tom." He smiled at her. She hadn't exactly expected him to be so…young. Like he had to be Chloe's age. "How was your spring break?"
"It was good." Beca nodded, not saying anything more.
"That's good to hear." He nodded.
"So uh, what do you need from me?" Beca asked, just wanting this to be over with.
"Right, so uh…" Tom began. "First of all I would like to let you know, I know how hard this whole thing has to have been for you. I want you to know we're here to support you in any way we can. I really appreciate you coming in to talk to me today. I do need to ask, do you mind if I record our conversation?"
Beca nodded her head, not sure what to say. "Yeah, that's fine."
Tom pulled out a voice recorder and put it on the table. The red light blinking.
"So, just to verify it's you, what's your full name?" Tom asked. "Do you have a form of identification on you?"
Beca pulled out her license and handed it to him. "Rebecca Mia Mitchell."
"Date of birth?" He asked still writing down the information.
"November 12, 1995." Beca stated.
"Can you verify the final four numbers of your social security number?" He asked.
"1127." Beca stated.
"Great, thank you." Tom commented. "So Rebecca or Beca? Which do you prefer?"
"Beca. No one calls me Rebecca." She explained.
"Alright, Beca. So we're here to talk about your mom, Janelle Mitchell, are you talking to me about all of this willfully and with no one forcing you to, including me or anyone else?" He asked.
"Yes," Beca nodded her head. "I'm doing this willfully."
"You are aware that you have the right to end this conversation whenever you feel as such and that you have the right under the fifth amendment to not answer questions that you do not want to answer." He explained. Beca nodded her head. "I need a verbal answer, sorry."
"Yes." Beca explained, understanding that it needed to be on record.
"Alright, perfect." He smiled at her. "So tell me about your relationship with your mom."
"Um well Janelle and I don't really have a relationship anymore." Beca explained. "We fought a lot after the divorce. But things got worse about three years ago."
"Why is that?" He asked.
Beca looked down. This was the moment she had to decide. Was she going to be open and honest, or was she going to save her secret?
The tears began to sting her eyes as she chocked the words out. "That was the first time she sold me to someone."
She couldn't look up to meet his eyes. She saw a box of tissues slid into her view.
She looked up and met his eyes and saw how broken he looked at her confession. "I'm sorry to have to do this, Beca, but can you be more specific?"
Beca nodded her head. "She sold me to have sex with someone." She explained.
He nodded his head. "You said the first time, has it happened since? How old were you the first time?"
"I was 14." She stated, no emotion in her tone. "I don't know how many times. It happened a lot."
"With the same person, or were their many?" He asked.
"There were the regulars, but it varied." She explained.
"Do you know this man?" He opened his folder and slid a paper across the desk to her. It was a picture of Theo… She shuttered at his image.
"Yes." She stated.
"Has this man ever been one of the people your mom has sold you to?" He asked.
"He was the first and the most often." She stated bitterly. This was the mad who took her virginity. Her innocence. It made her sick.
"His name is Theodore Barns." Tom explained. Beca nodded. "Beca, has he ever asked you to sell or transport drugs for him?"
"Him personally, no." Beca stated. "but my mom has made me before. I'm not sure if it was for him."
"Do you know what kind? Or did you ever personally see the drugs?" He asked.
"No." Beca stated honestly. "I just took the bag to where I was supposed to."
"How often did that happen?" He inquired.
"Um only like 2 or 3 times." She explained.
"How old were you when that happened?"
"Like 16, I think?" Beca wasn't sure but she knew it had been at least a year ago.
"Alright, Beca, have you ever used drugs before?" He asked.
"No." She stated with no hesitation. He seemed to study her for a minute but nodded his head and wrote that down.
"Good, good." He smiled reassuringly at her.
"Beca, has your mom ever physically abused you?" He asked, changing the subject back to her mother.
"Yes." She stated.
"Can you tell me a little about that?" He asked but didn't seem to be pushing her.
"Uh yeah, she uh can get pretty angry when she's drunk." Beca explained. "I try really hard not to uh get in her way. But sometimes I didn't do that so well."
"I'm sorry to push Beca, but what kind of things would she do?" He asked. She could tell he was just trying to do his job and that he didn't want to make Beca uncomfortable. She was uncomfortable but him being nice about it all did make it better.
"Mostly slapping but uh once she threw an empty bottle at my head. I ducked but the glass, when it shattered, it hit my back. I have a small scar there." Beca explained. "Other times she's like punched my stomach."
"What about Theo, other then the sexual assaults, has he ever physically hurt you?"
"Uh, most of the physical abuse came during the sex. He's slapped me a few times but during sex he's very…aggressive." She explained. "I uh don't really want to get into it, I'm sorry."
"That's okay, I understand that this is hard for you." He explained. "Do you want to take a break? Maybe get some water?"
Beca nodded her head. "Yeah, thank you."
He stood up and excused himself to get her some water.
Beca felt her heart racing. She didn't know how much longer this was going to last. She just wanted it to be over. But hopefully wouldn't have to do this again after today.
Tom came back in after a minute and put the cup of water down infront of Beca.
"You doing okay?" he asked her. She could tell her genuinely wanted to know.
"Yeah. It's just I've never told anyone about this stuff before." She explained.
"That makes sense." He nodded his head. "You just let me know when you're ready to continue."
"I can continue." Beca nodded her head.
He reached over a turned on the voice recorder. "Alright, let's continue. Beca just out of clarification, are you willing to continue to talk to me?"
"Yes." Beca nodded her head.
"During the time the voice recorder was off did you feel pressured by me or anyone else to continue this interview or were you coached in any way on the things to talk to me about?" He asked.
"No, I don't feel that way." She explained.
"Great." He nodded his head. "For the record, this is Officer Tom Carter talking with Rebecca Mitchell about Janelle Mitchell and Theodore Barns."
He looked back up at Beca. "Beca we were just talking about your experience with Theodore, is that still something you don't want to talk about? It's okay if you don't."
Beca thought for a moment. "Uh, okay. I will talk about it."
Tom nodded his head. "Okay, tell me whatever you feel like telling me."
"So Theo uh he chocked a lot during sex as well as he hit." She explained.
"He chocked you? To what extent? Did you ever pass out?" He asked.
"Yes." She stated simply. "Multiple times."
She waited a moment before speaking again. "He would sometimes sneak into my room while I was asleep. I would wake up to him hitting me or uh stripping me, to force me into more sex."
He nodded his head. "Beca, thank you. I'm sorry to have to make you relive those experiences. I want you to know that none of that was your fault."
Beca nodded her head, she wasn't sure if she was right or not but didn't want to push it.
"Beca, if need be, would you be willing to testify of the things we talked about today in open court?" He could see Beca physically tense up.
"I uh…" Beca stopped for a moment. She wasn't sure that was something she wanted to do. Hell, that wasn't something she was sure she'd be able to do… "I uh don't know."
Tom nodded his head. "You can think about that, I know I'm asking you to do something really hard."
Beca nodded. "Can I give you an answer later? I just uh, I don't know and I need time to think about it."
He nodded. "Of course. You can come into the station at any point or just call me. Whatever you're most comfortable with."
"Beca, I also need to ask you. Are the things we talked about today things you would like to press charges against?" Tom asked. "Again, that's something you are welcome to think about."
Beca nodded her head. "Thank you. I'll uh think about it."
"Thank you for coming in and talking to me, Beca. You're a really remarkable young lady." Tom sent her a reassuring smile. "I'll keep you updated on the case and if I have further questions can I call you?"
"Yeah, that's fine." Beca nodded.
Tom turned the recorder off and stood up. "I'll stay in contact with you Beca, thank you for your time."
"Thank you officer." Beca shook his hand once again and walked out of the room. He followed her out into the main lobby of the office.
She smiled again and waved before walking out.
Her mind was full of thoughts about what her conversation with Tom was about. She knew that she would want to talk to Chloe about it. She wasn't sure she would be ready to talk about it publicly. Especially in front of her mom and Theo.
Beca pulled her phone out and saw she had a missed call from Chloe. Quickly pushing on her contact she called her girlfriend.
"Hey, yo okay?" Chloe asked as soon as she answered the phone.
"Yeah, I just got out of my interview with Officer Carter." Beca explained. "Are you home yet?"
"Yeah, I am. Come over." Chloe invited.
"K, I'll head over now. I need to talk to you about what he said." Beca explained.
"Are you okay?" Chloe asked, clearly concerned.
"Yeah, I'm okay. It was just a lot, you know." Beca explained.
"I know, baby. I'll have dinner ready and we can sit and talk about whatever you want." Chloe explained.
"You're amazing," Beca sighed. "I love you."
"I love you too, Becs." Beca could hear her smile and she immediately felt better. It was crazy how Chloe had that effect on her.
