I stared at Steven.
“What did you do?”
“She’s lying.”
He answered too fast.
Then Reese said quietly,
“He always says that.”
She reached into her pocket again and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
On it were dates.
Times.
Names.
Locations.
Tuesday — Kayla came home crying.
Wednesday — Steven waited outside school.
Thursday — Kayla had bruises.
Friday — Emily called scared.
At the bottom, Reese had written:
Mom doesn’t know yet.
I looked at her.
“How long have you known?”
She glanced toward Kayla.
“Long enough.”
Kayla started crying again.
But this time, it wasn’t about her hair.
Someone had finally said out loud what she had been too frightened to say herself.
Steven stepped toward the door.
David blocked him.
“Don’t.”
“You don’t understand,” Steven snapped.
