Chapter 11 - THE LEGAL CONFRONTATION COUNSEL
I stayed in the library for hours,
reading through old legal books,
trying to understand my basic rights,
as a victim of domestic violence,
around two in the afternoon,
my phone rang again loudly,
startling the quiet library users,
I answered it in a whisper,
hello I said into the speaker,
this is Detective Marcus Vance,
a deep voice replied firmly,
I am handling your brother's case,
I need you to come down,
come down to the police station,
we need to formalize your statement,
and we need to take photos,
photos of your head injury,
before the healing changes things,
I felt a wave of relief wash,
wash over my tired body,
the law was still working for me,
I am at the library downtown,
I told him very quietly,
can you pick me up here,
I think someone is following me,
the detective paused for a second,
I will send a squad car right now,
stay inside the building Miss Carter,
do not go out alone,
ten minutes later an officer arrived,
he escorted me out the door,
I looked for the black SUV,
but it was gone from the street,
replaced by the police vehicle,
with its protective steel cage,
we drove to the precinct quickly,
the building was old and gray,
filled with the sound of typewriters,
and phones ringing constantly,
Detective Vance met me at reception,
he was a tall man with kind eyes,
he took me to a private room,
where a female photographer was waiting,
she took pictures of my scalp,
the flash was bright and painful,
May you like
documenting the violence of my family,
for the whole world to see.
