“I had no reason to,” I say idly. They didn’t assault me. Didn’t try.
After crossing paths with Mary-Beth, I find myself wondering why.
“Why did you flinch?” I fire back. “Why didn’t you answer them?”
“Because if I said yes, then they’d ask me to detail how, and I don’t feel like talking about it.”
I narrow my eyes on her a little, stunned that this bullheaded woman would shy away from seeking justice now, of all times. “Even if it means a harsher penalty for them?”
She snorts. “They’re up for trafficking charges already, Jenna. I don’t think what I have to say matters much.”
“Then you think wrong.”
“And what would you know about it?” she snaps, pushing up on the bed with her elbows. “What makes you an expert, huh?”
More than she’d know.I shrug. “I just think that one crime doesn’t excuse another, you know?”
“No. I don’t know.” She rolls to give me her back, slamming back down on the bed with a huff, muttering under her breath, “Don’t even know why I bother with your dumb ass.”
The side-room door opens, and The Kid walks out, followed by Darla. I connect eyes with the older woman, swallowing hard at the resigned sadness in her gaze.
We’re victims. And yet, right now, it feels as though we’re cattle at the sale yards being probed, assessed, weighed, and judged.
I can’t wait to leave.
“Is this done?” I ask the first nurse who passes by.
She turns her head my way, tight ponytail severe against her harsh features. “Not yet, sweetheart. The psychologist needs to come have a quick word with you all before we let you go.”
“Excuse me?” Nandi rolls over, pushing onto one elbow. “I don’t want no shrink.”
“You don’t get a choice,” Ponytail says, tidying away the monitoring equipment. “It’s part of the process if you’d like assistance.”
“Then I’ll go without.” Nandi swings her legs off the bed and drops to the floor, straightening her baggy T-shirt. “I’ll wait for you lot out in the waiting room.”
“Sit down,” I urge in a tired tone. “None of us want to go through this, but some of us need to.” I gesture to Kathy with my eyes.
Nandi looks at the catatonic woman, then at me, exhaling heavily. “Fine. But I won’t be saying anything. They’re wasting their time.”
“Take the goddamn help that’s offered,” Darla bites. “While you don’t have to pay for it.”
Nandi widens her eyes and sits the fuck down, shocked by Darla’s sass. I hide my smile, the amusement fading fast when I catch sight of The Kid sitting beyond Darla on the bed diagonal from mine, feet swinging as she stares at the floor.
Where did she come from? Why won’t she talk? Surely she’d say something if it meant she gets to go home. Doesn’t she miss her parents?
“Hey,” I whisper, catching the arm of a nurse who clears up the discarded packaging from the supplies used. “What happens to The Kid now?”
She glances over her shoulder at the young girl. “I’m not sure.” Her small smile is genuine when she turns back my way. “It’ll all depend on if they can contact family or if there’s space in a home.”
“She’s not going to a home,” I snap, a little too loud given how Darla looks my way.
“It’s protocol,” is all I’m told before the woman departs after her colleagues.
It’s wrong, is what it is.
I fix my attention on The Kid again. On her wavy, dark blonde hair. On the slight dimple on one cheek. Her gently flared nose. The almost invisible peak to the top of her ear. Fairy-like.
The memory of her smile pops into my mind. Familiar.
