"Linda, I have something to tell you," Rosita said a day later. It was decided that Linda stay with Rosita for the foreseeable future. Marni was more than happy to hand her daughter off to someone else. Linda pretended not to care.

"I think it's best if Linda stays with me for a while," Rosita told Marni.

"How long?" Marni wondered, pouring herself a glass of wine.

"Til she graduates and goes to college."

"You wanna take her off my hands?" She laughed out loud in relief. "Oh thank goodness! Go ahead and take her! Do you need help moving all her shit?"

"What is it?" Linda looked up from her homework.

Rosita sat on the bed, "come sit."

Linda put her pencil down and sat next to her grandma. "Something's not right."

"After dinner, some people are coming over to talk to you."

"Who?"

"Two women from child services. They're coming over to ask you some questions about your father."

"About my father?"

"They want to make sure he never hurts you again."

"If I stay here, he won't. He only does it at Marni's house. I think he's scared of you."

"And if I'm not here and you're alone? Then what?"

"I just want him to leave me alone."

"He will, if child services find that he's a danger to you. Which he is."

"I don't want them to ask me questions."

"In order for your father to get what he deserves, they need to ask you questions." Rosita put her hand on Linda's shoulder, "and you have to be absolutely honest with them."

Linda was quiet for a moment, "will you be there?"

"If you want me to be."

She shook her head, "no, I'll be okay alone."

"After that, you'll have to go to a doctor."

"Why?"

"Because it's required by child services. The doctor is going to check your injuries, and you'll talk to a child psychologist about the abuse. If any red flags are raised, then an investigation will happen."

"If I do all this... Tony will be in jail?"

"And he won't bother you again."

Linda looked at the two women at the door. She felt like she was five again.

"You must be Linda," the shorter one said.

"Hello."

She shook her hand, "this is Amy. My name's Gail."

She tried to smile.

"Do you mind if we come and talk to you?" Amy wondered.

Yes, she minded. She minded very much. "No, not at all. Come this way." She led them to the living room. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"No, thank you," the ladies politely declined.

"Should I get my Nonna?"

"Actually, we'd like to talk to you, Linda. Is that alright?"

"Yes," she sat down in a chair. "Of course."

"We've been told that you're having some problems with your father," Gail started. "Two of our coworkers went over to your father's apartment and found nothing wrong or out of the ordinary."

Sounds about right, Linda thought bitterly.

"Has he ever hit you before?" Amy asked gently.

She could either defend her father right now, or throw him under the bus. "No, he hasn't."

"Not at all?"

"No, never."

"What, never?"

"No, never."

Gail glanced at Amy, then back at Linda. "Linda, we're on your side. You do realize that, don't you?"

"Yes ma'am, I do."

"Tell us the truth please."

Linda looked down at her hands in her lap. "It was my fault, really."

"What was your fault?"

"I didn't pour him the kind of whiskey."

Amy raised her eyebrows, "you poured him the whiskey?"

"Yes... was that wrong?" She looked at the ladies, "I've always gotten him a drink."

The ladies wrote some things on their notepads. Amy questioned, "what happened after you gave him the whiskey?"

"He... poured it over my head, and hit me with the bottle. He... tossed the glass at me, and when I ducked, he- he hit me. But like I said, it was all my fault."

"Linda," Gail scooted forward in her seat. "None of it was your fault. Do you understand that? It will never be your fault."

"That's what Nonna says."

"And she's right. We want to help you; we're on your side. Did your father do anything else after he hit you?"

"He went into the family room to watch tv."

"What did you do?"

"I cleaned up the mess like he wanted, then took a shower."

"You didn't do anything besides that?"

"No." She knew what they were asking. She knew that they wanted to know if she scarred her skin. She didn't want to be taken away from Rosita, so she simply lied. "After my shower, I went to bed."

"You haven't seen him since?" Amy wondered, setting her pen against her legal pad.

Linda swallowed; it still felt like her ear drums were going to burst. "Well... I saw him once. Mr. Reagan wanted me to talk to him."

"Mr. Reagan?"

"My boyfriend's Dad. He- my boyfriend and his parents know about- about my parents." She left out an important part, but she was adamant to keep that a secret.

She told them about how Danny came to find out, how she reluctantly told him what had been happening. She hoped it wouldn't put him in a bind. That was the last thing he needed at the moment.

Linda smiled politely and showed the two women to the door. As soon as their cars drove away, she ran up stairs and locked herself in her room. Her vision was blurred by tears as she grabbed the shoebox hidden under the bed. She took out the razor stashed away there, and rolled up her pant leg. The blade was pressed to her ankle when she remembered something.

She was seeing a doctor tomorrow. They'd want to know what happened to her ankle, and most likely, they would already know just by looking at it. So she did the only thing she could thing of. She picked up her phone and called someone.

He let his phone ring, not wanting to talk to anyone at the moment. But when it continued to ring, he gave in and answered.

"Hello?"

No one answered.

"Hello? Are you there?"

Still no answer.

"Is someone there or can I hang up?"

There was a click and the sound of a dial tone. Whoever it was changed their minds.

She should've talked to him, but she just couldn't. Because she knew he wouldn't understand and would try to comfort her with words that fell empty on her ears.

"Coward," she chastised herself. Maybe she'd just lock herself in here and never come out. That seemed plausible.

A knocking on the door scared her out of her thoughts. "Linda, can I come in?"

Linda pushed the shoe box back under the bed and quietly stood up. She did a fast survey of her room- everything was in place. "Come in, Nonna."

Rosita walked in and immediately sat on the bed. "How did it go with those two ladies?"

"Okay."

"What did they ask about?"

"Tony."

Rosita wanted to know more, but she could tell her granddaughter was mentally done for the day. "Your doctor's appointment is at ten tomorrow, and you'll be seeing the psychiatrist at one."

Joy. "Okay... will I be going to school tomorrow?"

"No. You've got an excused absence.

Yeah, I'm batshit crazy.

"I think I'd like to go to bed now." Linda said emotionlessly.

"Okay, Miele. Sleep well." Rosita hugged her and told her she loved her- no matter what.

Linda answered with the usual I love you too while watching Rosita close the door.

She hardly slept a wink that night. Tomorrow was going to be absolute hell- no doubt about it. She wished she could disappear.