Chapter 4 - My own report
Detective Lena Morales called the next morning.
I went to the station voluntarily.
My attorney came.
Dana Ruiz.
Forty-four.
Family friend?
No.
That was deliberate.
I did not want one of my parents’ lawyers.
Dana asked me before the interview:
“Will you tell the detective about kicking Victoria?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“She already has witnesses.”
“That’s not why.”
I knew.
The detective asked about Arthur first.
I described the ribbon.
The slap.
His statement.
Gigi crying.
Victoria stepping between us.
Charles’s comment.
Then:
“What happened next?”
“I kicked my mother.”
“Where?”
“Hip or thigh.”
“Why?”
“She was blocking me and defending Arthur.”
“Was she attacking your daughter?”
“No.”
“Attacking you?”
“No.”
“Did she threaten you physically?”
“No.”
“So why kick her?”
My throat tightened.
“Because I was furious.”
Dana did not rescue me.
Good.
“Then?”
“I left.”
Detective Morales looked at her notes.
“You also said something about everyone paying?”
“Yes.”
“What did you mean?”
“I meant I was done allowing the family to minimize Arthur’s behavior.”
“Were you threatening physical harm?”
“No.”
“Financial harm?”
“No.”
“Property?”
“No.”
“I meant consequences.”
She nodded.
Not agreement.
Documentation.
Then:
“Do you know of prior violent behavior by Arthur?”
Dana had warned me.
Do not turn family rumor into fact.
I answered:
“Yes.”
I identified only incidents I personally witnessed or where the involved person had spoken directly to me.
The broken door.
Emma.
The wineglass.
The valet aftermath? I did not witness the shove but Arthur admitted it to me later.
I said that.
Detective Morales asked:
“Any prior violence toward children?”
“Not that I know.”
Important.
May you like
No retroactive monster mythology.
Arthur’s slap of Gigi was serious enough without inventing a lifetime of child abuse.
