Chapter 5

Michelle Black, Friday, September 10, 2010

I mounted the steps of the Capitol building, being careful to give an impression of confidence and strength. I flashed a smile at one of the photographers climbing up the stairs backwards in front of me. I suppose they get used to doing that. We met two of the Representatives that were sponsoring the bill, Laurie Wright and Bobby Witt, to go over my testimony one last time.

We walked across the street to some sort of office building and into a hearing room. It was full of reporters and I took a deep breath before sitting down in front of the microphone. I read my prepared statement and took a few questions. They were all sympathetic, and covered stuff I'd gone over with Anna. When all of the Democrats on the committee had finished, Mr. Witt asked me a few questions about the girls that had gotten raped before me. Then he turned the questioning over to Representative Foreman of North Dakota, an older man with large glasses.