Chapter 3

3: 3

Captain Lambert leaned in fast.

"Well?"

The forensic tech wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"This blood, it's definitely not human."

"It's animal blood. Best guess, poultry."

My stepfather and my mother couldn't get the words out fast enough.

"Officers, you've been played!"

"I told you my daughter isn't right in the head, and you insisted on believing her. You wouldn't even let me speak, you went to all this trouble running tests."

"Would it have killed you to check the family records? I already told you, I only have one daughter!"

The officers' faces darkened.

Captain Lambert made a call.

"Run a check for me. Unit 1002, Building A, Brookside Gardens, Edgar Chavez. Who's registered in the household."

"Only three people? No older daughter named Norma Dickerson?"

He hung up and looked at me, displeased.

"Young lady, how could you lie like this? You don't have a sister at all!"

I shook my head wildly.

"I do have a sister. Her records aren't here, they were under my real dad. She was only brought over here after he died!"

My mother shoved me hard. "Claudia, are you ever going to stop with this nonsense?"

She dug a document out of the cabinet.

"Officers, look. I only ever gave birth to this one child!"

I stared at the paper in her hand, unable to believe it.

"It's fake, that's fake!"

"Officer, that's a forged document!"

An officer took it and scanned it with his phone.

"The document's genuine."

Something inside me broke completely. I grabbed my mother's arm, my face a mess of tears and snot.

"Where did you get that? Are you going to erase my sister's existence just to protect this man?"

"She's your daughter too. She was so good, she cooked for you, did the laundry, how could you let her die for nothing!"

"Are you even human!"

My mother threw me off, her voice shaking.

"Claudia, what are you talking about!"

"Officers, she's sick in the head, please don't believe a word she says!"

I shoved my sleeves up high. My arms were covered in scars, patch after patch of them, ugly enough to stop the breath.

I dropped to my knees in front of the officers, past caring.

"My stepfather is violent. Officer, he did all of this, my stepfather beat me, I'm not lying!"

"My mom's afraid of him. That's the only reason she keeps covering for him!"

"I'm begging you, please help me find my sister, please…"

The officer looked at my wounds, then cut his eyes to my stepfather.

"You did this?"

My mother rushed to stand in front of him.

"No, officer, the child doesn't listen. I lost my temper and smacked her a few times."

"Her stepfather would never lay a hand on her. We agreed when we married, my child is mine to raise."

She lifted her chin, sure of herself. "She's the daughter I gave birth to. Am I not even allowed to discipline her?"

The officer's face was stern.

"What you're describing is domestic abuse."

"You don't teach a child by hitting them. You reason with them."

My mother nodded again and again.

"You're right. I promise I'll never raise a hand to her again."

Tears running down my face, I shook my head desperately.

"That's not it. It was my stepfather. Every day he's in a bad mood, he beats me…"

My mother's glare snapped to me. "Are you ever going to run out of lies?"

"Officer, you see how it is. Every other word out of her mouth is a lie. How am I supposed to not be angry?"