I realized then that Elena wasn’t just an aunt. She was a squatter, a parasite who had likely moved in, and when the mother threatened to kick her out or called for help, things had turned violent. Elena had been trying to keep Sophie quiet until she could disappear.
Suddenly, a loud thump echoed through the car.
I looked up. Elena’s black sedan had blocked me into the parking space. She jumped out of her car, a heavy tire iron in her hand. She wasn’t smiling anymore. Her face was a mask of pure, unadulterated rage.
“Give me the girl and the bag,” she screamed, slamming the iron against my windshield. The glass spider-webbed, a white map of fractures appearing right in front of my eyes.
The girls screamed.
“Get down! On the floor!” I yelled to them.
I grabbed my own phone and dialed 911, screaming my location. But Elena was relentless. She smashed the driver’s side window, glass raining down on my lap. She reached in, her red-nailed fingers clawing for my throat, trying to get to the lock.
“She’s in the garden!” Camila shouted from the floorboards, her voice high and piercing. “We know she’s under the porch! We know!”
Elena froze. The mention of the porch seemed to drain the blood from her face. That split second of hesitation was all I needed. I shifted the car into reverse and floored it. I hit her sedan with a bone-jarring crunch, pushing it back just enough to clear a path. I didn’t care about the insurance. I didn’t care about the car.
I drove like a woman possessed, heading straight toward the police station three blocks away.
The Weight of Silence
Ten minutes later, the parking lot of the precinct was swarming with officers. Elena was apprehended two miles away; she had tried to ditch her car and run, but the smashed front end made her easy to spot.
We were taken into a small, quiet room with stuffed animals and bright posters—a “soft room” for interviews. A female officer, Officer Miller (no relation to the teacher), knelt beside Sophie.
“Sophie, honey,” the officer said gently. “Can you tell me about the garden?”
