but the truth was, I was freaking the fuck out.
Zack and Teensy arrived while I was on the phone with 9-1-1. Zack ordered, “Keys”, took them from me, and opened the door to my place. He and Teensy arranged towels around Moira to keep her stable and try to make her more comfortable. I saw Teensy at her face with a washcloth, but before she could clean her up, Teensy told Zack to take photos and said it would be important for evidence.
Zack and I took my truck and met them at the private hospital up the road. Teensy stayed with Moira in the ambulance and somehow convinced them she was her cousin. We sat in the waiting room and stared at 109/510
the frosted doors hoping someone, any-fuckin’-one, would come out and tell us something.
After the police finished interviewing the paramedics, they came to Teensy and me.
Zack had gone to get coffee. Since Teensy and I had sat in a tense silence, I hadn’t known until that moment, that Moira had told her everything. “Her mom called her two months ago. She and her parents have been estranged for years now.”
“You mean your aunt and uncle?” the officer enquired.
“We’re thrice removed,” she replied, and I could see the confusion on the officer’s face as he scribbled on his note pad.
“Please continue,” he said, eyes setting on her hair and make-up.
Teensy told the story relayed by Moira, in a discreet, quiet voice. “Moira now has a niece who is about five. The grandma was noticing a change in her behavior, one that 110/510
was familiar because she’d seen it in her own daughter years before. So she offered to babysit a few days ago and took her to their family doctor. He said there was evidence she’d been… well…” She stopped and looked at Zack approaching us with three cups balanced in his hands, little red, plastic stirrers and sugar packets threatening to fall from his fingers.
“It’s important we get the entire story while it’s fresh in your mind,” the officer said.
As she continued, I learned that Moira’s mom, Judy, called her daughter-in-law, Stephie and said it was important she come over to speak to her right away… without her son. The next call she made was to Moira.
Her dad, Aaron, couldn’t believe his son was capable of such a thing. An appointment was set up for the daughter-in-law with the same family doctor and child protective services, and she didn’t need any more convincing.
111/510
She had known for months that something just wasn’t right with her little girl.
Moira filed a statement, explaining there was a history of abuse from her brother, then mother and daughter moved to a hotel. Now, not only was CPS involved, the police were also involved. When the police had gone to gather evidence and interview Scott, he snapped. It didn’t help that Stephie had asked for a divorce, and that Moira had shared her history.
Moira’s tattoo was a beautiful mural of the Swallows returning to Capistrano. I loved transforming the blank canvas of her back into the Mission, with palm trees, roses, and bougainvillea climbing around. It was her hometown, and the Mission held some of her happiest memories as a kid. But every now and then, she would come in and get a new Swallow.
Teensy’s statement ended with Scott following Moira after work. She just happened 112/510
to be coming down to the shop. The knowledge of her little niece suffering like she did had brought all that pain to the forefront again. He chased her into the alley next to my garage and violently beat her for having his wife and child taken away from him. If there was any silver lining at all, he was definitely going to be arrested.
I had just finished giving my statement when Moira’s parents, Aaron and Judy, arrived at the hospital, the police spoke with her father while her mother spoke to a staff member. With all my women, all the broken birds that came to see me, not one of them had ever led me to the situation I currently found myself in. I had
Zack and Teensy arrived while I was on the phone with 9-1-1. Zack ordered, “Keys”, took them from me, and opened the door to my place. He and Teensy arranged towels around Moira to keep her stable and try to make her more comfortable. I saw Teensy at her face with a washcloth, but before she could clean her up, Teensy told Zack to take photos and said it would be important for evidence.
Zack and I took my truck and met them at the private hospital up the road. Teensy stayed with Moira in the ambulance and somehow convinced them she was her cousin. We sat in the waiting room and stared at 109/510
the frosted doors hoping someone, any-fuckin’-one, would come out and tell us something.
After the police finished interviewing the paramedics, they came to Teensy and me.
Zack had gone to get coffee. Since Teensy and I had sat in a tense silence, I hadn’t known until that moment, that Moira had told her everything. “Her mom called her two months ago. She and her parents have been estranged for years now.”
“You mean your aunt and uncle?” the officer enquired.
“We’re thrice removed,” she replied, and I could see the confusion on the officer’s face as he scribbled on his note pad.
“Please continue,” he said, eyes setting on her hair and make-up.
Teensy told the story relayed by Moira, in a discreet, quiet voice. “Moira now has a niece who is about five. The grandma was noticing a change in her behavior, one that 110/510
was familiar because she’d seen it in her own daughter years before. So she offered to babysit a few days ago and took her to their family doctor. He said there was evidence she’d been… well…” She stopped and looked at Zack approaching us with three cups balanced in his hands, little red, plastic stirrers and sugar packets threatening to fall from his fingers.
“It’s important we get the entire story while it’s fresh in your mind,” the officer said.
As she continued, I learned that Moira’s mom, Judy, called her daughter-in-law, Stephie and said it was important she come over to speak to her right away… without her son. The next call she made was to Moira.
Her dad, Aaron, couldn’t believe his son was capable of such a thing. An appointment was set up for the daughter-in-law with the same family doctor and child protective services, and she didn’t need any more convincing.
111/510
She had known for months that something just wasn’t right with her little girl.
Moira filed a statement, explaining there was a history of abuse from her brother, then mother and daughter moved to a hotel. Now, not only was CPS involved, the police were also involved. When the police had gone to gather evidence and interview Scott, he snapped. It didn’t help that Stephie had asked for a divorce, and that Moira had shared her history.
Moira’s tattoo was a beautiful mural of the Swallows returning to Capistrano. I loved transforming the blank canvas of her back into the Mission, with palm trees, roses, and bougainvillea climbing around. It was her hometown, and the Mission held some of her happiest memories as a kid. But every now and then, she would come in and get a new Swallow.
Teensy’s statement ended with Scott following Moira after work. She just happened 112/510
to be coming down to the shop. The knowledge of her little niece suffering like she did had brought all that pain to the forefront again. He chased her into the alley next to my garage and violently beat her for having his wife and child taken away from him. If there was any silver lining at all, he was definitely going to be arrested.
I had just finished giving my statement when Moira’s parents, Aaron and Judy, arrived at the hospital, the police spoke with her father while her mother spoke to a staff member. With all my women, all the broken birds that came to see me, not one of them had ever led me to the situation I currently found myself in. I had
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