EMBRACE winrina

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

"And how many times has this happened to you?"

I shook my head. "Uh... I don't know. I wasn't counting."

"So these are reoccurring incidents?"

"Yes. Not this specifically, he's never done this before, but the beatings or whatever you want to call them, yes, they are reoccurring."

The man in front of me sighed, running a hand over his face and turning to another man standing by the doorway. He muttered something I couldn't hear and looked back at me with doubt in his eyes. "Listen, I'm going to be completely honest with you here. This sounds to me like your typical case of the parent unknowingly going a little too far with their punishments, and in cases like that, restitution for people like you is rare."

"Unknowingly? With all do respect, sir, he knows exactly what he's doing."

"It may seem that way but that's one opinion, your opinion. He may have a different one, and as much as my sympathy lies with you here, a courtroom is to remain neutral until there is proof that Leo, this man you're accusing of a serious crime, is guilty."

I was quickly becoming frustrated. I had known this process would be almost pointless because the justice system was broken, but I had gained hope and it was being crushed all over again. "Is the proof on my stomach not enough for you?"

"Relax, Winter. I understand how this can be frustrating but there's a process that you need to go through to put this man away. For starters, Leo can deny ever having anything to do with this, and even if he owns up to it, there's still a good chance that he's let off the hook with a few parent-counseling classes."

"So what, am I just supposed to give up?"

"No," the man emphasized. "That is not what I am suggesting. I will personally see to it that a thorough investigation is conducted. I'm sure you know as well as I do that if there is a reason why you shouldn't be in Leo's house, we need to contact child protective services and get you out of there. From there, you'll have the opportunity to testify in court."

I sighed. "Is there anything else I can do? Am I just supposed to go back to Leo's house while you and CPS conduct this 'investigation'?

He made a gesture with his hands. "Stay at a friends' for a few days, so long as it doesn't pose a problem with Leo. He is still your legal guardian until it's decided otherwise. As for something you can do, you can help with the investigation. We need to get in touch with your friends, your teachers, neighbors, anyone that can help to corroborate your statement. If you can point us in the right direction, that'd certainly be helpful."

I simply nodded as he then continued to ask me more questions. He was getting into the finer details now, specific accounts that I hardly remembered. He wanted the details: how long each instance occurred for, when it happened, what I usually did after Leo hurt me, where I went afterwards, who else was involved. That last detail was the tricky part because I had to tread very carefully. I could think of four people who knew what Leo had done: Linda, Taeyong, Emma, and Karina.

I didn't have to worry about Linda or Taeyong, but I could get Emma and Karina in serious trouble if I said the wrong thing. Both of them had technically broken the law by keeping quiet for so long, not to mention Karina had broken the law in another way that I couldn't let the police find out about. If the officer's questioning somehow led to him asking me about Karina and our relationship, I doubted things would go the way I wanted them to.

Eventually, they let me out of the interrogation room. I was told that the investigation would commence as soon as possible and if they had enough reason to believe that Leo had really committed a crime, they would arrest him. After Karina had washed away all of the blood, the cut on my stomach didn't look nearly as bad as it actually was and it wasn't significant enough for him to be arrested on the spot.