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"Hey Izzy. I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. He's just in here in the court room." Liv smiled at Izzy. Barba had been kept updated on the case and wanted to start prepping Izzy. "Hi there," ADA Rafael Barba said. He wasn't entirely comfortable with kids but after hearing what was going on from Liv he agreed to prosecute. "You must be Izabela?" Izzy nodded shyly and whispered "Cześć" meaning hi in Polish. Reverting to her first language with anxiety but Rafael continued jovially. "Cześć, is that Romanian?" He asked and Liv hid a smile. She had told him Izzy was Polish. But Izzy had to talk to him this way. "No Polish."
"Polish," Rafa mused "I can't do that one so you speak Spanish?" He asked her.
"No hablo mucho español. Only Polish, English and a little bit Russian." She said warily.
"Shall we stick with English then!" He smiled.
"My name is Rafael Barba, you can call me Rafa, Barba or Rafael." He smiled.
"Rafael. Like the ninja turtles Noah show me when I at Olivia's flat?" Izzy asked and Liv inwardly cringed but Rafa took it in his stride. "Yeah, I'm not a ninja though just an ADA?" Rafa smiled and Izzy looked over to Olivia "a prosecutor? A lawyer" Olivia provided.
"I not know what those words mean." Izzy looked at Liv eyes wide. "Where's Ola to translate when you need her?" Liv smiled, the question was rhetorical but Izzy answered. "She talk with Amanda."
"Okay so Rafa is a man that needs to tell some people that MrD is a bad man, he needs to ask you some questions in front of those people and he wants to do a practice now." Olivia told her.
"He a very bad man!" Izzy said forcefully.
"I'm gonna ask you some questions okay Izabela?" She nodded. "What is your name"
"Izabela Jones but you can call me Izzy. I told you already."
"How old are you?"
"Eleven." Izzy answered causing Rafa to look at Liv for verification that this tiny girl really was eleven. "Yeah it was her birthday yesterday."
"Happy birthday. So can you tell me what happened when you first came to America?"
"I was given to Mr D. He put me in basement with other girls. Sometime he make us take off our clothes and dance and he make video. Sometime he take me into his bedroom and he make video of me." Izzy said and Rafa looked at her for more but she stayed silent. "Izzy can you tell me what kind of videos he took of you in his bedroom?"
"Will I have to say this to lots of people?" Izzy asked. "Because it a naughty thing and I don't want to get in trouble." Izzy whispered.
"Izzy. Listen to me. Look at me." Olivia said looking Izzy straight in the eyes. "You are not going to get into any trouble. What Mr D did to you was naughty, but he was the one being naughty not you. It's not your fault and no body blames you."
"You said mama and daddy could watch and they'll be mad. Taking off your clothes in front of boys what are not in your family is a sin, and God will be mad and make mama and daddy mad."
"Izzy. What he did to you was wrong and I'm sure God understands that you had no choice. I will talk to your mama and daddy and make sure they know that. And Rafa can ask you if you had a choice and you can tell everyone that he made you. Okay?"
"Okay. He would take off my clothes and he touch my private parts and put his fingers in my private parts. Sometime he put his private parts inside of my private parts and it hurted lots." Izzy whispered.
"Did you have a choice?" Rafa asked.
"Sort of. One time I said I not want to but he started punch and kick me and hitted me with his...pasek...i not remember in English...the thing you wear at top of your trousers." Izzy looked towards Olivia to help. Olivia was aware that trousers was the British word for pants. "A belt?" Olivia asked pointing at her own.
"Yes he hitted me with his belt and then he put his private parts inside of me after."
"What about other men?" Rafa asked.
"Sometime he bring a friend to the basement where we live and the friend put his private parts inside of me. Then he take us to hotel and make us go into bed with other men." Izzy said.
"Tell us who Ruslana is?"
"You okay Ola?" Amanda asked. "I'm fine."
"You look like hell."
"Cheers" Ola said sarcastically rolling her eyes.
"Sorry." Amanda said "tact isn't really my strong pont. You look tired."
"I didn't manage much sleep. Izzy was having night terrors and..." she trailed off.
"And?" Amanda asked.
"It's nothing." Ola shook her head.
"You got 10 minutes? Let's go have a chat up in the cribs." Amanda smiled and led the way. Fin was telling their parents what was known so far. Izzy was being prepped for court with Olivia and Rafa but they weren't allowing Ola in and Anna was exhausted so stayed in the hotel, although she had slept better than her sisters, she was still woken by Izzy's screams a few times.
"What didn't you wanna say." Amanda asked.
"It's going to sound completely ridiculous. You'll think I'm crazy. Ola said and Amanda hid a smile at they way she suddenly sounded like Mary Poppins with her British accent. "Try me."
"Every time I closed my eyes I just saw Ruslana dead on the floor but she had like Izzy's face... see I told you it's ridiculous." Ola shook her head. "It's not ridiculous, you went through some major trauma yesterday. It's absolutely normal to have some flashbacks, I can tell you love your sisters. It's just your brain trying to process what you saw. You could have rang me." Amanda explained.
"How do I make it stop?" Ola asked quietly.
"Time, talking about it, therapy works well for some people." Amanda smiled.
"But therapy didn't work for you?" Ola asked.
"Ola, I'm not the right person to ask. I'm hardly the queen of healthy coping mechanisms." They looked at each other for a moment, a look full of understanding.
"So tell me Ola, what made you leave suburban England for Connecticut?" Amanda said changing the subject.
"I knew I wanted to be an au-pair for a year, between school and university, you call it college here right? I wanted to be doubly sure that I wanted to have a career including kids. I want to be a paediatric nurse, and if I'm being totally frank with you. I'm selfish. I wanted to get out of my house. Out of Bristol. I wanted to go somewhere where I wasn't constantly asked if there was any news on Izabela. It felt like Anna and I were living in Izzy's shadow." Ola tried to explain.
"How do you mean?" Amanda asked.
"Before Izzy went missing in Church and places like that people would say things like 'I saw your mama the other day, congratulations on your exam results' or 'I saw your show, you were brilliant.' I did a lot of drama and dance. They'd ask Anna how she'd done in her latest gymnastics competition and Izzy if she'd learned a new song on her flute. But after Izzy went missing it was always pitying stares and 'any news on Izabela?' Or 'how's your mama?' or 'we're praying for Izabela.' It sounds selfish but it's like Anna and I didn't matter anymore, even though Izzy wasn't here she was the one that mattered. At school I was 'the girl with the missing sister'" Ola continued making quotation marks with her fingers "my friends wouldn't want to tell me about their problems because, well having boyfriend trouble or fighting with your parents is nothing like having a missing sister. However much I told them not to, everyone walked on eggshells around me. Except my best friends. Chloe in England and Zofia in Poland. All my other friends from Poland lost touch after Izzy. They didn't know what to say. And then I had this teacher. She used to take me into her office most days." Ola said until Amanda interrupted "Ola, whatever you want to tell me. It's okay." Amanda took Ola's hands who looked at her confused then took her hands away. "No Amanda it's nothing like that. Don't worry. My biology teacher Miss Carter. When she was about my age her sister commit suicide. So although it's different she gets it in some way. She's never done anything more to me than ask if I want a hug. I just mentioned her because she was another reason I came over here. She told the thing that helped her the most was moving out of her hometown to uni so she was no longer known as 'the girl who's sister killed herself' and she could just be who she wanted. I told her I couldn't because of Anna, she told me I could and there's phones and FaceTime. She's teaches Anna too and will text me to ring Anna if she's had a bad day. She was right though. In Bristol I was 'Olivia- the girl with the missing sister' in Connecticut I was just 'Olivia.' And it was a lot easier to just be 'Olivia.' The Hayes', my employers knew about Izzy. I thought I should tell them because I was looking after their children, but no one else did. I mean I love Izzy, I just didn't... oh I don't know." Ola babbled.
"Ola, I understand." Amanda took her hands "it's obvious what an amazing sister you are and how much you love both your younger sisters."
"I don't know why I'm telling you this. You make me feel..like...I don't know...like you get it...that you're a safe person to talk to, y'know."
"Ola, I've been talking to the ADA" Amanda told her. "Barba right? Liv is with him and Izzy now."
"Yeah. Rafael, he wants to talk to you at some point. He might want to have you testify about Ruslana's murder." Amanda told Ola.
"Okayyy." Ola said processing the information. "I don't know much I'll be able to say. I didn't see all that much compared to the police and some of the Russian girls."
"All you need to do is answer the questions of what you did see. I think they want you as a witness because you're not a cop or one of his victims." Amanda explained.
"Fair enough." Ola replied.
"I think Barba might want to talk to you after he's spoken to Izzy.
"Okay." Ola said stifling a yawn.
"Ola, you look exhausted honey, do you wanna have a nap in here?" Amanda asked. Ola bit her lip and looked around the room. "I've got some paperwork to do and can do it on that table" Amanda said pointing at a small table on the other side of the room she sensed Ola apprehension. "and I'll wake you if we catch a case if you're worried about being alone."
"Thank you. I'd like that. Will you wake me once Izzy's back?" Ola smiled.
"Of course." Amanda smiled and gave Ola a quick hug.