Chiquitita 6/??
"So my brother, he is very cool." Nando swung his feet under the chair. "We went skating. He has to leave soon." He frowned. "I wish he could live with us."
"Nando, I know you're very excited to have Bikky there, and we'll talk more about him later." The psychiatrist, Denise, moved aside some drawings the boy had done. "But I want to talk to you about something else right now, something important."
"Okay." Nando stopped swinging his feet and gave her a serious look. "I ate the last cookie. Ryo thought Dee did it."
"Something more serious than that." Denise laughed. "Nando, sometimes when adults do bad things, they tell us we have to keep them a secret, that if we tell anyone that people will be mad at us, or won't love us any more. That's a lie. So when someone does something bad to us, we have to make sure we do tell."
She watched him carefully, and a veil seemed to fall behind his eyes, darkening them, and he looked more like Miguel than ever. She'd definitely hit a nerve.
"I want to talk to you about the monster, Nando."
"Okay." Nando said happily. "He lives in a closet, and one day a little girl went into the closet and all the monsters were scared of her."
"Nando, you know what I mean."
He stopped smiling and looked away.
"I know it's very hard to talk about, but we need to. Not just for you, but for Miguel as well. We need to know as much about the monster as we can so we can make sure he never comes back and hurts anyone else."
He didn't answer.
"It's okay to talk about him, even if he said you couldn't. Even if he said he'd hurt you if you did. We won't let him hurt you. Can you tell me anything about him? What he did to you and Miguel, or what he looked like?"
"No."
"Can you draw a picture of him for me?" She held out blank paper and crayons.
"No."
"Nando, this is very important. We can't put the monster in jail if we don't know how to catch him."
"Stop it!" He jumped out of the chair. "I don't want to talk about monsters! You can't make me!"
He yanked open the heavy door and ran out before Denise could stop him. When she reached the lobby he was already on Ryo's lap, sobbing. Miguel was in the next chair rubbing his brother's back, giving her a steady and unnerving stare. She knew that it would be useless to try and talk to either child again today.
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Dee's POV:
When someone says the word "Grandmother" to me I immediately think of Granny from the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons. A little old lady with white hair in a bun baking cookies. Never knew my own grandparents of course, or my parents either for that matter, but that to me is what a grandmother is supposed to look like.
This woman, Mrs. Mendelez, was only 52, and her hair was salt and pepper. She was thin inside of the clothing she'd been issued, and her fingernails were cracked and yellow. Behind her stood her lawyer, ready to have us thrown out if we said a word. She was outside of our jurisdiction for one thing, even if we hadn't been involved with the case directly. But the commissioner had pulled some strings and gotten us permission to sit in on the interrogation today. She's already been arraigned and was being held over for trial. They'd set bail for her, but she'd been unable to make it. She still maintained that she had no idea how the boys had been injured, and had the nerve to insist that Nando had probably burned himself and Miguel.
"Mrs. Mendelez, I want to talk about another issue concerning the boys." The officer running the show, Eric, began. He had a pile of notes we had given him, and he was trying hard to keep the anger out of his voice. "We have some concerns that while in your care, the boys may have been sexually abused as well."
"Never!" She hissed. "To imply such a thing! Bad enough you take them away from me, little boys who lost their mother. Bad enough you lock me away from them in here, with criminals! I never hurt them!"
"Mrs. Mendelez, did you ever let anyone else punish the boys?" He said the word lightly. "Maybe as a lesson to them to keep quiet?"
"Not ever!" She looked up at Ryo, and then me. "Their Mama is rolling in her grave to think of her babies taken from me, given to men like that! It's them who probably touched them. They should all be locked in jail, not me."
"You shouldn't be in jail." I spat the words out. "You should die for what you did to them!"
"Dee." Eric warned.
"Tell me about the monster." Ryo cut in. "The boys are terrified of a monster that they said came to hurt them. Please. If you loved your daughter, if you know something about what happened to them, tell us what it was. Tell us how to help them. Miguel won't talk at all."
"Miguel is a good boy." Mrs. Melendez nodded. "He's like his Mama. Fernando is like his father. Lots of big talk, lots of crazy ideas." She sat up straighter. "He killed my daughter. Talked her into buying a new fast car and drove it right into a tree. He's probably talking the devil's ear off now."
I felt sick to my stomach listening to her. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be small enough for her to hurt, and I very nearly did kill her in that moment. Was she the only monster, or was there another one?
"Mrs. Melendez, let me lay it on the line for you." Eric sat closer to her. "We have enough evidence right now to put you away for a long time based on the cigarette burns. You'll be laughed right out of court if you try and claim a four-year-old did that. We'll also introduce testimony from a well- respected child psychiatrist that in her professional opinion the boys were sexually assaulted. Do you know what they do to child molesters in jail, Mrs. Melendez?" He held up his hand to stay her angry response.
"We know you did the burns. But if you didn't do the rest of it, you need to tell us and tell us now. Because otherwise you're going to be doing extra time for a crime you didn't commit. That's not a scare tactic, that's a fact."
For a second, fear crawled across her face, but I didn't think it was fear of prison. She knew she was headed there anyway. I thought maybe she was going to talk then, give us a name and an address of someone to go arrest, but she shook it off.
She ignored the next few questions, and Eric finally gave up, thanking her and motioning for the guard to lead her back to her cell. She turned around before the door closed, and her black eyes fixed on Ryo, and then me.
"A little boy isn't such a big thing to eat. Maybe the monster is still hungry. Maybe he'll come after bigger boys this time."
"We're not kids." Ryo was disgusted. "You can't bully us like you could them."
"It never gets really dark in here, did you know that?" She asked. "Always a light on somewhere. You should keep a light on too." She vanished through the doorway.
"Jesus." I collapsed in a chair. "I can't even imagine. living with that for half a year? It's a wonder they're not both insane!"
"Do we really have enough to nail her on the other abuse charges as well?" Ryo asked heavily.
"I believe we do. We're going to try anyway. But I don't think it's her any more than you do. She's either protecting someone, or she's afraid of retaliation if she gives up a name. If only we could get the boys to just tell us what was done to them."
"We can't even get Miguel to tell us what color shirt he wants to wear." I put my hand on Ryo's shoulder and he reached up to squeeze my fingers. "And Nando throws a tantrum if you try and talk to him about it. Maybe when they're older it will be okay, but we're running out of time."
"So my brother, he is very cool." Nando swung his feet under the chair. "We went skating. He has to leave soon." He frowned. "I wish he could live with us."
"Nando, I know you're very excited to have Bikky there, and we'll talk more about him later." The psychiatrist, Denise, moved aside some drawings the boy had done. "But I want to talk to you about something else right now, something important."
"Okay." Nando stopped swinging his feet and gave her a serious look. "I ate the last cookie. Ryo thought Dee did it."
"Something more serious than that." Denise laughed. "Nando, sometimes when adults do bad things, they tell us we have to keep them a secret, that if we tell anyone that people will be mad at us, or won't love us any more. That's a lie. So when someone does something bad to us, we have to make sure we do tell."
She watched him carefully, and a veil seemed to fall behind his eyes, darkening them, and he looked more like Miguel than ever. She'd definitely hit a nerve.
"I want to talk to you about the monster, Nando."
"Okay." Nando said happily. "He lives in a closet, and one day a little girl went into the closet and all the monsters were scared of her."
"Nando, you know what I mean."
He stopped smiling and looked away.
"I know it's very hard to talk about, but we need to. Not just for you, but for Miguel as well. We need to know as much about the monster as we can so we can make sure he never comes back and hurts anyone else."
He didn't answer.
"It's okay to talk about him, even if he said you couldn't. Even if he said he'd hurt you if you did. We won't let him hurt you. Can you tell me anything about him? What he did to you and Miguel, or what he looked like?"
"No."
"Can you draw a picture of him for me?" She held out blank paper and crayons.
"No."
"Nando, this is very important. We can't put the monster in jail if we don't know how to catch him."
"Stop it!" He jumped out of the chair. "I don't want to talk about monsters! You can't make me!"
He yanked open the heavy door and ran out before Denise could stop him. When she reached the lobby he was already on Ryo's lap, sobbing. Miguel was in the next chair rubbing his brother's back, giving her a steady and unnerving stare. She knew that it would be useless to try and talk to either child again today.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Dee's POV:
When someone says the word "Grandmother" to me I immediately think of Granny from the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons. A little old lady with white hair in a bun baking cookies. Never knew my own grandparents of course, or my parents either for that matter, but that to me is what a grandmother is supposed to look like.
This woman, Mrs. Mendelez, was only 52, and her hair was salt and pepper. She was thin inside of the clothing she'd been issued, and her fingernails were cracked and yellow. Behind her stood her lawyer, ready to have us thrown out if we said a word. She was outside of our jurisdiction for one thing, even if we hadn't been involved with the case directly. But the commissioner had pulled some strings and gotten us permission to sit in on the interrogation today. She's already been arraigned and was being held over for trial. They'd set bail for her, but she'd been unable to make it. She still maintained that she had no idea how the boys had been injured, and had the nerve to insist that Nando had probably burned himself and Miguel.
"Mrs. Mendelez, I want to talk about another issue concerning the boys." The officer running the show, Eric, began. He had a pile of notes we had given him, and he was trying hard to keep the anger out of his voice. "We have some concerns that while in your care, the boys may have been sexually abused as well."
"Never!" She hissed. "To imply such a thing! Bad enough you take them away from me, little boys who lost their mother. Bad enough you lock me away from them in here, with criminals! I never hurt them!"
"Mrs. Mendelez, did you ever let anyone else punish the boys?" He said the word lightly. "Maybe as a lesson to them to keep quiet?"
"Not ever!" She looked up at Ryo, and then me. "Their Mama is rolling in her grave to think of her babies taken from me, given to men like that! It's them who probably touched them. They should all be locked in jail, not me."
"You shouldn't be in jail." I spat the words out. "You should die for what you did to them!"
"Dee." Eric warned.
"Tell me about the monster." Ryo cut in. "The boys are terrified of a monster that they said came to hurt them. Please. If you loved your daughter, if you know something about what happened to them, tell us what it was. Tell us how to help them. Miguel won't talk at all."
"Miguel is a good boy." Mrs. Melendez nodded. "He's like his Mama. Fernando is like his father. Lots of big talk, lots of crazy ideas." She sat up straighter. "He killed my daughter. Talked her into buying a new fast car and drove it right into a tree. He's probably talking the devil's ear off now."
I felt sick to my stomach listening to her. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be small enough for her to hurt, and I very nearly did kill her in that moment. Was she the only monster, or was there another one?
"Mrs. Melendez, let me lay it on the line for you." Eric sat closer to her. "We have enough evidence right now to put you away for a long time based on the cigarette burns. You'll be laughed right out of court if you try and claim a four-year-old did that. We'll also introduce testimony from a well- respected child psychiatrist that in her professional opinion the boys were sexually assaulted. Do you know what they do to child molesters in jail, Mrs. Melendez?" He held up his hand to stay her angry response.
"We know you did the burns. But if you didn't do the rest of it, you need to tell us and tell us now. Because otherwise you're going to be doing extra time for a crime you didn't commit. That's not a scare tactic, that's a fact."
For a second, fear crawled across her face, but I didn't think it was fear of prison. She knew she was headed there anyway. I thought maybe she was going to talk then, give us a name and an address of someone to go arrest, but she shook it off.
She ignored the next few questions, and Eric finally gave up, thanking her and motioning for the guard to lead her back to her cell. She turned around before the door closed, and her black eyes fixed on Ryo, and then me.
"A little boy isn't such a big thing to eat. Maybe the monster is still hungry. Maybe he'll come after bigger boys this time."
"We're not kids." Ryo was disgusted. "You can't bully us like you could them."
"It never gets really dark in here, did you know that?" She asked. "Always a light on somewhere. You should keep a light on too." She vanished through the doorway.
"Jesus." I collapsed in a chair. "I can't even imagine. living with that for half a year? It's a wonder they're not both insane!"
"Do we really have enough to nail her on the other abuse charges as well?" Ryo asked heavily.
"I believe we do. We're going to try anyway. But I don't think it's her any more than you do. She's either protecting someone, or she's afraid of retaliation if she gives up a name. If only we could get the boys to just tell us what was done to them."
"We can't even get Miguel to tell us what color shirt he wants to wear." I put my hand on Ryo's shoulder and he reached up to squeeze my fingers. "And Nando throws a tantrum if you try and talk to him about it. Maybe when they're older it will be okay, but we're running out of time."