He Has a Heart

Chapter Fifteen

Everything was a blur. The instigation, the questioning, the police. Everything.

I felt numb. I answered all the questions monotonously. I stuttered every two seconds, and I could tell the detective would get annoyed by the way her eyebrow twitched, but I really couldn't handle it.

With speech therapy, I'm sure I'll get better.

Jared came over everyday and he would stare at me. Observing me. Asking me questions. Until finally I would ask him to leave.

Of course, he would leave, but not before giving me a gentle hug. That's when he would leave.

At first it shocked me. I didn't think he was capable of being at all gentle. Then after a while I got used to it.

I guess Jared wasn't that big tough guy he made himself to be.

When my mom found out, she cried. She had sobbed and hugged me and apologized over and over again. I remember her salty tears wetting my Tshirt, and I remember how tight she was holding me.

It's safe to say I'm not grounded anymore.

José didn't understand what was happening. He would ask what was going on, but we didn't know how to answer him.

One night I heard as he asked my mom.

"¿Mami, que le paso a Nina?" I heard him ask my mom what had happened to me. That was a few nights after the police had entered our home and when I had began to feel numb.

"Someone hurt her," my mom responded after a slight pause.

After that, José was cautious of talking to me. I feel like he understood that I was fragile. I appreciated it at first, but now I don't want to be treated like a porcelain doll.

At the moment, we were getting ready to go to the police station again for more questioning. They needed more evidence.

As soon as we stepped out the front door, the news reporters started flashing their cameras and asking questions rapidly. They all spoke at once, I could hardly understand them all.

I ducked my head and followed my mom to the car and got in as soon as she unlocked the door. I slumped in my seat as I watched the reporters desperately swarm the car.

This was highly overwhelming and I just wanted it all to stop.

My mom began to drive slowly out of the driveway and as soon as we hit the street, she was picking up speed and I saw her watch the reporters slowly disappear as they couldn't keep up.

"Presentados," I heard her mumble and I smiled amused at the fact that she called them nosey.

She finally slowed down at the normal speed and stopped at a red light.

"Nina?" I heard my brother hesitantly get my attention and breaking the silence in the car. I turned towards him sitting next to me and he stared at me for a moment before leaning over to wrap his arm around me in a hug.

"Te amo," I froze at what he said for a few seconds before embracing him and muttering back, "I love you too."

******

"So, how come you never said anything?" I sighed inwardly at the fact that I've already answered this question yesterday.

"I-I was mu-mute," I responded again. The detective's eye twitched once again and I tried to hide my smirk. I wasn't trying to annoy her with my stutter, but 12 years of not speaking and you expect me to speak normally?

"Why?" she questioned and I noticed that even if her facial expression was one of annoyance, her voice was still calm.

"H-he told me n-not to spe-speak or he-he'd come after my f-family," I choked on my words and tried to hold in my tears at the thought of my family dead.

Her cold, blue eyes finally softened at my tone of voice and she cleared her throat before continuing with the interview. I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw a tissue being handed to me and I smiled gratefully at one of the police officers before taking the tissue and wiping my eyes.

"So because of your fear of your family dying, you kept silent for twelve years?" she questioned and I nodded my head.

"Yes, h-he had other people o-on his si-side and I knew wh-what he was cap-capable of," this was true. Once he brought two of his men to keep watch as he did his 'checkups'.

"How often did you see him?" she asked after she finished writing my answer in her notebook and although there was a tape recorder on the table, she still wanted to take notes I suppose.

"Every s-six months he would ch-check up on m-me and make s-sure I wasn't spe-speaking. H-he called them che-checkups," I answered this part monotonously, I hated speaking about it as it brought back bad memories.

"Now i'm going to ask you a question I haven't asked you yet. How did he hurt you the first time?" She inquired slowly and I took a deep breath, before jumping into the nightmare.

"My f-family and I went to m-my favorite pa-park when I was yo-younger. At th-that time, my f-four other siblings we-weren't born yet. We were hav-having a barbeque and m-my cousins and I were pl-playing hide and go s-seek," at this point my hands were shaking and it was hard to take deep breaths, but I continued on, "I de-decided to hide in the f-forest surrounding the park. I was behind a tr-tree and I was trying to ke-keep quiet. I had he-heard a sound from next to me. I looked ov-over and h-he was standing there. H-he was just looking at me. Just l-looking," at that point, tears were flowing freely down my cheeks, "he got s-so close to me, a-and he told me that we we-were going to pl-play a game. H-he wanted me to ru-run and if he ca-caught me, he was goi-going to make me 'feel good'. I r-ran," I began sobbing at the memory, the fear, and the anxiety I had at that age, "I ran as f-fast as I could, b-but he caught m-me. He was laughing, b-but I wasn't. H-he picked me up and I screamed for m-my dad. B-but he never came," I whispered the last part and used the tissue to wipe my eyes.

"H-he never came. And h-he picked me up and th-threw me on the ground and st-started touching me. I was so scared. H-he ripped my panties off and un-unbuckled his belt and h-he hurt me so bad," I covered my eyes and sobbed into my hands at the terrible memory, "I screamed for m-my dad to h-help me, to s-save me. W-why didn't he save m-me?" the hurt and pain that I could never express was finally coming out. Why didn't he save me? He said he would always be there for me and that he wouldn't let anything happen to me.

I was sobbing and I didn't want to talk about it anymore, but I continued, "wh-when he finished, he told me th-that if I spo-spoke about it to anyone, he was go-going to kill my fam-family," I whispered and the room was silent except for my sniffles and occasional hiccups.

"Okay," the detective said softly, "let's take a break. I can see how this has been hard on you, so we'll call you back in tomorrow, alright?" she continued to speak in the softest voice possible. I nodded my head and she stood up.

I stood up as well and walked through the now opened door and followed the police officer as he lead me back to my mom and brother. My mother immediately stood up upon seeing me walking back and her eyes filled with tears seeing my puffy red eyes. I was pulled into her embrace and kept there for a few moments in silence.

"Come, there is a surprise for you at home,"

******** 

So readers! i'm keeping my promise huh? of updating every week haha im so proud!

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