Page 2 of Her Fearless Warrior

His dad gave him a funny look. And he strode further into the bedroom and picked Linc up by his Star War pajamas. “You know, I don’t think you’ve got it.” Linc looked up at eyes identical to his own. “If you make one peep, you do one little thing that brings attention to you, I will knock her into next Sunday,” he said as he pointed to Linc’s mom. “She’s my wife. You’re my kid. You both are my property. I can do whatever the fuck I want to each of you. You got that?”

Linc’s father dropped him onto the floor, where he curled up into the fetal position, trying to ease the pain in his stomach.

“Come on, Connie. You better tell them nothing is going on. I want to see you smile, otherwise I’ll start in on him.” Following Linc’s mom out, his dad shut his bedroom door.

Linc could hear them going down the stairs and then the front door opened. He dragged himself to his bedroom window so he could see and hear what was said. He opened the window just a little bit.

“Hello. What can I do for you?” his mother asked.

“We got a report of a domestic disturbance.”

Linc looked at the two men on the porch. They were both bigger than his dad. They could make him stop hitting his mom.

“Are you sure you have the right house?” his mom asked. “My husband and I were just watching TV.”

“May we talk to your husband?”

“Hold on and I’ll get him.”

She shut the door.

“Did you see the way she winced when she turned to close the door? I think she might have a broken rib,” the tall policeman said.

“I don’t know. She seems fine to me.”

The door opened again. “Hi, I’m Bill Edison. My wife tells me you got a report of a domestic disturbance? Would you like to come in? I think there must be some kind of mistake.”

“Bill’s right. We weren’t even playing the TV loud, so I don’t understand.”

“Do you have any children? They said that they thought it was a child who made the call,” the tall policeman said.

“Yes, we have one son, Lincoln. He’s seven years old,” his mother answered.

“But he’s sleeping over at a friend’s house tonight. So, he couldn’t have made any call. If he ever did that, we’d have to ground him for calling the police when there wasn’t anything wrong.”

“Therefore, we can’t talk to your son?”

“If you want to go all the way over to Englewood. That’s where the sleepover is happening.” His dad laughed.

“Bill, would you mind coming out here and answering a few questions while my partner, Officer Gilbert, goes in and talks to your wife?”

“That would be just fine.”

Linc could stand up now. He still couldn’t take a full breath. He pulled up his pajama top and pressed his hand against the spot where his dad’s fist had hit him. It felt really warm, and it hurt when he pressed on it. But Linc refused to cry. He hardly ever saw his mom cry, so he wouldn’t cry.

He went to his bedroom door and slid it open just enough so he could slip out. He wanted to hear what his mom said to the tall policeman.

“Are there any firearms in the house, Mrs. Edison?”

“Only one gun. But Bill keeps it in a safe.”

“Are you sure? Are you sure it’s in a safe?”

“I’m positive. Bill keeps it for protection. Only his or my thumbprint can open the safe in case of an emergency.”

The policeman sighed.

“Has your husband ever hit you, Mrs. Edison?”