Chapter 4

The fresh air felt great. I took a few deep breaths and enjoyed how clean it smelled. I wanted to feel clean. I still had the taste of semen inside my mouth and my panties were getting sticky, but I did not go back into the house.

I walked and walked, all the way to the police station. Going up to the sergeant's desk, I looked up and waited. He stared down and me and also waited. Then he asked me if he could help me.

"I was just raped," I said.

He looked aghast and jumped out of his seat and ran around the desk. Dropping to a knee he held my arms and asked me if I was okay.

"I'm not hurt. I mean, it hurts down there but he didn't beat me or anything."

The sergeant took me into a back room. On the way he whispered to a police officer and soon the room was filled with his lieutenant and a policewoman. The policewoman took me into another room and told me to lift my dress. I did and she leaned close to my crotch and backed away. When we returned, she whispered into the lieutenant's ear. He nodded.

"We're going to take you to the hospital now," the lieutenant said.

"Sir, can I say something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

I looked at the others and then back to the lieutenant. "I'd like to make a deal with you."

"A deal?" The lieutenant looked suspicious.

"If I could help you get a big drug dealer in jail, will you help me?"

"Help you how? We are going to take you to the hospital."

"More help than that." I again looked at the others and remained silent.

"Leave us," the lieutenant said to the sergeant and policewoman.

When they were gone, I said, "My mom's a junky and I hate my life. If I help you, will you help us? Will you give us that witness protection thing and give us some money and get my mom off drugs?"

I thought the lieutenant was going to cry. He was a big, strong man in his late forties or early fifties. He had been a cop for a long time and was street smart and used to the scum that he dealt with every day. But his eyes watered and he found it hard to speak. And then he dropped to a knee and hugged me tight.

"I will talk to the D.A. I can't do it, but he can. But let's get you to the hospital now and make sure you're okay. Um, the doctor is going to, um ... he's going to take some of the stuff out of your ... um ... we need a sample for DNA testing."

"I know, that's why I didn't shower. Can we go now?"

I was taken to the hospital and treated like the child I was, something I wasn't accustomed to -- it felt great.

Later, lying in the hospital bed, a man wearing a dark navy suit and white shirt came into the room. He pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down.

"My name is Mr. Freedly," he said. "I'm the District Attorney. Tell me about it."

I did. I didn't give names, but told him about my mother and the drug supplier and what they did to her. His face was stoic, but his eyes gave his true emotion away. He cared and was deeply moved. At the end he said we had a deal and he would put my mother and me in the witness protection program which meant he would get her clean and find her a job and us a place to live. He said that while Mom was in rehab I'd have to live with a couple who took care of girls like me. I agreed.