Beautiful misery

Part 3

It was already the next morning and the police were on their way down to the hospital along with my dad...

I started to imagine what it would be like if my dad got arrested. I definitely wouldn’t be sad to let him go but I wonder what would then happen to me. Would I be in a nice foster family or one even worse than my dad...? It worried me. Thinking back to what my dad had told me yesterday night, I decided it would be best to simply listen to him. The police didn't have to know anything it would put me in too much of a risk. But to think my life could get so much better... I could have the perfect family, new loving parents, maybe a big brother to look out for me or a little sister whom I could laugh and play with. I would make new friends in a school far from this place, far away from my dad, where I could feel safe forever more...

Suddenly a voice snapped me out of my day dreaming.

"Good morning, are you Miss Grahams?" Someone asked me.

I looked up and noticed a man and a woman around the age of 40 standing beside me. It was the police. I suddenly looked to see if my dad was already here too and surely enough I saw him walk through the doors towards my bed along with the nurse that questioned him yesterday. I quickly turned back to the police officer whom had asked me the question.

"Yes, I am Maya Grahams." I said a little shakily, trying to ignore my beating heart.

"Hello, we're the police. We would like to ask you a few questions concerning Thursday night's events. We're going to start by questioning your dad and I would like you to listen closely and tell us if there's something you disagree to." The male police officer told me. I noticed he looked at me with a worried face as if he could see through me and know just how much I had been through. I quickly tried to make myself look confident and unafraid of my dad because I had decided to listen to him. He scares me and I knew he was capable of much more than just kicking and punching. "M. Grahams", He continued, "How much can you tell us?" 

My dad cleared his throat and started speaking as if he had planned this all night long. "Well my daughter here was getting ready to go meet her boyfriend in town and she told me she would be home at 10 PM. I told her to bring her mobile phone and I guess she forgot because when I tried to call her a little after 10 to see where she was, she didn't answer. I didn't get too worried because I know just how forgetful my little Maya is", he said fake chuckling and messing my hair up as if we were best friends, "but ten minutes later I got a phone call from the police telling me Maya had been found on the streets unconscious and taken to the hospital. I quickly ran out and drove to the hospital to see how she was, and quite honestly I had never seen her in such bad condition." He took one last breath before turning toward me trying to look as sad as possible. I felt like killing him!!

"Miss Grahams, do you have anything to say about your dad's explanation?" Said the same police officer.

"No." I said, looking down.

"Well then, what do you remember from Thursday night?" He said eying me suspiciously. He definitely suspected something...

"We like my dad said, I was getting ready to meet my boyfriend for dinner and was running a little late so I had to rush and ended up forgetting my phone. My boyfriend was already waiting for me outside in his car and so I ran out and we drove to the restaurant. Everything went well and he drove me back at 9:45, a little earlier than planned because… um... his mom needed help with her baby." I said quickly. "He dropped me off a few blocks down from the house so I had to walk a little while, on the way I ran into a group of 5 guys who asked me to come join them. Of course I didn't want to and started to walk a little faster, ignoring them, but they quickly caught up and surrounded me. Next thing I know they were getting closer toward me and feeling me up. I got mad and punched one of them which made them start punching me back. Of course I was weaker than them and ended up on the ground. One of them started pulling my pants down while the others were holding me down and holding my mouth shut. It all lasted about 5 minutes. Straight afterwards, one of them decided to kick me and after that, I can faintly remember them laughing… and that’s all."

I was surprised at how well I made that all up but still felt like I didn't convince everyone. The male police officer looked just as suspicious as before if not more. He was the only one. The other police officer and the nurse seemed to believe the story.

"Would you care to describe what these young men looked like Miss Grahams?" The female police officer asked.

"Well it was dark outside and I was a little too stressed out to be examining their faces.” I said matter of factually. I honestly didn’t want to make someone up. It would sound too fake and… well it would just be too much. The police officers didn’t look very happy with my answer but moved on anyways.

“Had you seen any of the boys somewhere else before?” The female police officer asked.

“No”.

Suddenly the nurse spoke up.

“What I don’t understand though, is that all over your body you have bruises, but they're not all so new. You have old ones too.” She said looking confused. “Do you know where these ones come from?”

I suddenly had no idea what to answer. What on earth was I supposed to say?! That’s when my dad decided to answer for me.

“She has a bad temper and tends to hit herself on purpose quite often”.

I looked at him shocked. What kind of an answer was that?!  

“I took her to the doctor to see what was wrong with her and he said she has a teenage depression.” He continued.

I was in complete shock and full humiliation. Who on earth was going to believe that bullshit? None of it even made sense!

“Did the doctor tell you the cause of her depression?” Asked the nurse completely blinded by the lies. She actually believed all this!

“He said she doesn't eat enough vegetables”. He answered trying to sound as honest as possible. I could see through him so well. This time the nurse looked shocked as well.

“Well I must say your doctor doesn’t sound very professional in his work sir”. The nurse exclaimed. “It's true, your daughter doesn’t eat enough vegetables, in fact she doesn’t eat enough of anything! But that’s not the reason your daughter is suffering from depression sir. She simply doesn’t have enough of a social life. I highly recommend you put her in a school. It's what's best for both of you”. At that she stood up and told us she had to go. She looked back at me once. “Maya if you need anything don’t hesitate in calling a nurse. Good day to you all”.

When she left the police decided to talk to my dad in another room and let me rest. My heart started to calm down and I felt extremely tired even though it was 11 AM. I thought back to the conversation we had just had, while drifting off into a deep sleep, and remembered the suspicion in the male police officer's eyes. I knew we were going to have trouble convincing him like the others and I was curious as to what he might do... Would it be good?... Or would it be bad?...