Mosaic

l o c k e d / u p / 2

Mercy

As I was in the middle of writing a poem, I hear loud knocking on my door. "It's the police! OPEN UP!" I threw my pencil down upset because I was really feeling this.

I opened the door and Bronx came running with me. "Is there a problem officer?" I asked

"Are you Mercy Grey?" He asked me

"Yes" I answered confused

"Are you aware that Terrance Wills has raped Terry Wills?"

"He raped her too?!" I asked, on the verge of crying

"Yes ma'am. We would like you to come down to police station, because she has informed us that he's done the same to you" He said

"Alright, I'm okay with that" I said grabbing my keys from the table by the door.

"Thank you" He said leaving my doorstep

I walked back in the house and poured some dog food in Bronx's dog bowl.

*

(At the police station)

I followed the officer into the back of the station. I looked into a room window to see Terry and her mom sitting there talking to a detective. The officer led me into a different room with a bottle of water and a metal table and chair.

I sat in the chair and stared into the mirror, that we all know people are behind looking at me.

A black man and a Hispanic looking woman walked in. "Mercy Grey?" She asked me.

"Yes" I said

"I'm Detective Gomez, and this is Detective Mason. We're here to talk about the rape of you and Terry Wills" She said sitting on the table

"Okay. What do you want to know?" I asked leaning back in my chair

"We took the clothes Terry gave us, but we're not sure that they're yours. Terrance, your rapist, hasn't admitted to raping you. And since you're a minor. Seventeen, right?" She asked

"Yes" I nodded

"He would get major jail time. We found him raping Terry, and that's about 4 years. But if you admit to him raping you also, and tell us your story, he'll get that and more years added on. So we would like you to tell us from your perspective, what happened to you." Detective Mason said, standing in the corner.

"Okay. I might cry, so is it possible for you to bring in some tissues?" I asked. All of a sudden, a police officer came in with a box of Puff tissues. "Thank you" I said to him.

"Well, my mom died when I was 3, at a gas station. At the time, she was married to him, Terrance. He started raping me when I turned 12. He lost his job, and he started drinking. Honestly, I don't know how he's been keeping a roof over our heads, but he has. But um. One day in July he came home from being out with the boys, drunk. I was in my room, sleeping. He barged in my room with a broken bottle in his hand. He turned me over and got in between my legs. He choked me and held the sharp piece to my neck and said,' If you scream, I will slice your fucking throat'-"

I choked on my own spit thinking about it. I started crying and Detective Gomez came behind and started rubbing my shoulders. "It's okay, sweetheart" She said

"Keep going" Mason said. I gave him a death glare. I took a tissue and blew my nose, and wiped my tears away.

"He started raping me and touching on me. I got tired of it, and I wanted him to get off of me. So I pushed him off, but he sliced my arm with the broken part of the bottle, and it cut my arm deeply." I pulled my right sleeve up to show them the permanent mark on my arm.