Chapter 2 - Derek
The back door opened three inches.
Then stopped.
Derek looked out.
Gray shirt.
Work pants.
No shoes.
His face did something strange when he saw me.
Not surprise.
Calculation.
“Michael?”
I held Emily tighter.
“What did you do?”
He opened the door farther.
“Put her down.”
I laughed once.
“Stay where you are.”
“She’s having a meltdown.”
Emily buried her face against me.
I felt her shaking.
Derek took one step onto the patio.
Mrs. Harris said:
“Police are coming.”
He looked toward her.
“What the hell did you call police for?”
That answer told me enough.
I backed toward the gate.
“You locked her in a cage.”
“It was temporary.”
“She was padlocked inside.”
“She kept running off.”
Emily whispered:
“No.”
Derek heard.
His face hardened.
“Emily.”
I turned my body so she was farther from him.
“Don’t talk to her.”
He raised both hands.
“Michael, you’re trespassing.”
“You can tell the police.”
“You broke my property.”
“Not yours.”
Laura owned the house.
Derek lived there.
Another mistake in his language.
Then sirens.
Derek looked toward the street.
Something changed in him.
He stepped backward.
I thought he might close the door.
Instead he said:
“You have no idea what she’s been doing.”
Emily whimpered.
I said:
“She is ten.”
Derek’s jaw tightened.
Then:
“She lies.”
Two officers came through the side gate.
One immediately moved toward Derek.
The other toward me.
“Sir, put the child down if you can.”
“I’m her father.”
“I understand. Is she injured?”
“I don’t know.”
Emily would not release me.
Officer Rebecca Mills crouched slightly.
“Emily, my name is Rebecca. You don’t have to let go of your dad. Are you hurt?”
Emily nodded.
“Where?”
“My arms.”
“Anywhere else?”
“My stomach hurts.”
“Did someone hit you?”
Emily looked at Derek.
He said:
“Do not answer that.”
Officer Mills stood.
“Sir, step back inside.”
Derek said:
“I live here.”
“Step back.”
The second officer separated him from us.
An ambulance was called.
Mrs. Harris gave her name.
Then one of the officers noticed the pool.
“What’s in those bags?”
Emily began breathing quickly.
“No.”
I whispered:
“It’s okay.”
“No, Dad.”
“We don’t know what they are.”
“He said…”
She stopped.
Officer Mills looked at me.
“Don’t ask her right now.”
Good.
I did not.
Paramedics arrived.
Emily still refused to leave my arms until they let me climb into the ambulance beside her.
As the doors closed, I saw Derek standing at the back of a patrol car.
Not handcuffed yet.
Talking.
Pointing.
Trying to explain.
May you like
For years I had thought explanations made people safer.
That afternoon, I learned they can also be used to delay reality.
