CHAPTER ONE
"Hey, Bindi girl, how was school?" Cat asked as her 10-year-old daughter got into the car.
"I don't wanna talk about it here, can we go home first?" Bindi asked.
Cat nodded. "We can. Is everything okay?"
"No." Bindi rolled the window down, waving at another little girl. "Bye, Alyssa!"
"Bye!" Alyssa called out.
"Who's that?" Cat asked.
"My new friend Alyssa. She's the problem."
"How is she your friend if she's the problem?"
"It's about her," Bindi said, rolling the window up. "Can we just go home? I don't want her to think I'm talking about her."
Cat made her way out of the school's parking lot, glancing at the rear view mirror every so often. The look on Bindi's face broke her heart. She'd never seen her little girl look so destroyed.
As soon as they got home, Bindi ran upstairs to change out of her school clothes and Cat went to the kitchen, sighing as she ran her hand through her hair. Her head was flooded with thoughts. What about Alyssa could be bothering her daughter so much? Was she bullying her? No, that didn't make sense. She wouldn't call her a friend if that was the case.
When Cat hear footsteps coming back down the stairs, she grabbed two water bottles out of the fridge and went to the living room, where Bindi always went to do homework.
"Do you wanna talk now?" Cat asked, handing Bindi a water bottle.
"Alyssa's in trouble," Bindi said.
"What kind of trouble?"
"She's being hurt at home. She has bruises all over."
"Did you ask her about it?"
"Her dad hits her. Her brother and her dad. They do inappropriate stuff to her. She has bruises on her thighs, Mommy. You don't get bruises on your thighs where they're at on her if you're just being hit."
"Okay... Did you tell a teacher?"
"Yeah. She said to mind my business, that she'd handle it."
"Well then, we should let her handle it and see what happens from there. If nothing gets done, then we'll figure something out."
"What if nothing happens?" Bindi's voice cracked.
"I will make sure something happens," Cat said, pulling Bindi into a hug. "I promise you, I will do something if the school doesn't. I won't let her get hurt."
"Her being at home means she'll get hurt. It happens everyday, Mommy."
"We'll have her over for a sleepover soon, okay? It's gonna be okay."
"But it's not okay now," Bindi said with a small sob.
Cat brought Bindi into her lap, running her hand through her hair as she hugged her closer. "I need you to calm down, you're gonna give yourself a panic attack."
"What if something bad happens?"
"Something bad is already happening, honey. We just have to monitor it and we'll keep Alyssa in our thoughts and hearts. When you go to school tomorrow, you tell her that if she needs or wants anything, she can ask us and we'll do what we can to help her. We're not going to let her suffer any longer than we can."
"She suffers everyday."
"I know, honey. It's not fair to her, but all we can do right now is be here for her. Until the police step in, that's all we can do."
"What about Aunt Tori's dad? He'd help her."
"I'll ask him this weekend if there's been any reports made about her."
"Why not now?"
"Because we have to give your teacher time to report it herself. If she doesn't, then after I meet her, I'll make a report myself if I have to. But it's important that you don't tell Alyssa about anyone telling the police. It might be bad if she knows or if her dad finds out. Does she have a mom?"
"Yeah, but she got arrested for pulling a knife and stabbing her dad, so she lost custody and went to jail. She's out now, but she doesn't get to see her."
"Okay. I want you to go wind down, okay? I need you to stay calm. We don't want any panic attacks."
"Can I get in the pool?"
"Yeah. I'm gonna talk to Dad when he gets home. I'll be in the kitchen so I can watch you. Leave the door open so I can hear you, and turn on the intercom in the kitchen."
"Kay kay," Bindi said, wiping her eyes and sniffling as she pulled away from her mother.
"Okay. I love you," Cat said, kissing her head.
"Love you, too."
Cat watched Bindi rush out of the room and she pulled her phone out of her pocket, calling Robbie.
"Robbie Shapiro," Robbie said.
"Cat Shapiro."
"You don't usually call at this time. Is everything okay?"
"Yes and no. When will you be home?"
"I'm headed out of the club right now. What's going on? Is Bindi okay?"
"Yeah, she's okay. Kind of. It's not an emergency, but it is serious. It's about one of her friends. We just need to talk when you get home."
"Okay. I'll be there as soon as possible."
"Don't rush. Be safe. I love you."
"Love you, too."
"Cat?" Robbie called out, closing the front door behind him.
"Kitchen," Cat replied.
Robbie made his way to the kitchen and sat Rex down on the table. "What's going on?"
Cat glared at the puppet. "No funny business, you maniacal jackass," she muttered. "Bindi has a new friend. Her name is Alyssa."
"Okay. And what about Alyssa?"
"Bindi says she's being hurt by her dad and brother. Physically, sexually."
"Oh... god. That poor kid. Is she okay?"
"You should know the answer to that," Cat said, gesturing to herself. "That little girl is far from okay."
"What do we do?"
"Nothing right now. We personally don't have proof. But Bindi has seen the bruises and she did tell their teacher. I'm gonna call David Vega this weekend to see if it's been reported by the school. If it hasn't been, I'm gonna try to get Alyssa over here for a sleepover so we know the extent of the physical situation. Then, I'll make my own report. We can't let that little girl suffer. I'd never forgive myself if something even worse happens."
"What could be worse than what she's already going through?"
"Death."
"I'm Cat Shapiro, I have a meeting with Mrs. Giddings," Cat said to the school secretary.
"I'll call her to let her know. You can make your way to her class," the secretary said.
"Thank you."
Cat walked out of the office and made her way down the hallways, going to Bindi's class room. "Mrs. Giddings?"
The woman looked up from her desk and stood up. "Yes, you must be Mrs. Shapiro."
"I am," she said, walking to her and shaking her hand. "Thank you for meeting with me."
"Not a problem. Bindi is an exceptional student. She's actually at the top of the class right now."
"That's great," Cat said. "I'm not actually here about Bindi, though. You have a little girl in your class named Alyssa Carson."
"I do. What about her?"
"Well, Bindi told me some concerning things about her. She said that she made you aware of the situation and that you told her you'll take care of it. I was just wondering if a report was made yesterday? Since reports are supposed to be made immediately. I just wanted to make sure this isn't being ignored, it's a serious situation."
"I appreciate your concern, Mrs. Shapiro, but it would be appreciated if you let me handle this on my own time."
"Yeah, that would be an issue if it didn't involve the safety of a child and it wasn't a life or death situation. So, did you report it or not?"
"I haven't had time yet, Mrs. Shapiro."
"How? You make time. This is a 10-year-old little girl that's being hurt. It should have been reported immediately after school."
"I have responsibilities outside of these four walls. I'll get to it when I can get to it."
"Mhm," Cat hummed. "Well, if it isn't reported today, I'll take action."
"There's no way of you knowing whether I did or not."
"I have connections."
