“He puts his hands on me. Here and here.” She pointed to her stomach and buttocks. She swung her legs in the chair and twisted her hair.
“I see. What happened next?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. He put something in me.” The girl’s face looked bright and earnest. “Can I have some water?”
“Just a few more questions.” The forensic interviewer tried to sound happy. The child groaned, jumped out of her seat, circled around the interview room.
“I want to go. Can we go?”
“Can you tell me what he stuck in you?”
“Awwww. Maybe Legos.”
“Did you see him take his pants off?”
The girl rubbed her face. “No, no, no. Why do you people ask all the same questions?”
The girl opened the door. “I want to leave.”
The girl was led to the playroom at the Child Advocate Center. The forensic interviewer went back to the interview room where a police officer and a child abuse investigator now sat.
“This is the third interview. I can’t get any specifics on the dad. We can’t keep doing this.” The forensic interviewer tapped her fingers on the table.
“The mom keeps making reports. We have to investigate.” The child abuse investigator was sweating slightly on her upper lip. “The Legos is something.”
“Or nothing,” said the police officer.
“He stuck Legos in her.” The forensic interviewer was thinking. “Nasty divorce?”
The police officer rolled his eyes. “One of the nastiest. Mom’s a news anchor and Dad is an attorney. We’re at ground zero with this girl. Father won’t talk to child services.”
“It’s his right. The girl says the same thing every time. Legos. Penetration with Legos. That’s still sexual abuse.”
“So we arrest the Dad?” The police officer seemed doubtful.
“Yeah, get him.” The forensic interviewer stood up. “We can’t take chances these days.”
The child abuse investigator found Mom in the waiting room. “We’re filing charges.”
“Finally, good. So she doesn’t get visitation with Dad?”
“No. I’ll ask the judge to block it.”
“Good.” The Mom made her way to the play area. The girl was playing with Legos.
“Look, Mama. The things you told me about.” The girl held out two handfuls of Legos. “They’re not at Daddy’s house either.”
The Mom quickly dumped the Legos and pulled the little girl from the room. “Of course, they’re at Daddy’s house. Daddy always has Legos and does bad things with them.
The little looked deflated. “Okay.”
The Mom drove happily home. She had won the divorce. If only she didn’t need to make her daughter a pawn in the game. But she was a woman cheated on by her husband and she had a score to settle.
THE END