I closed my eyes for a moment. I took a deep breath. The rage I felt was like a fire contained in my chest.
“And the candlestick?”
“She hid it before my dad came down. I don’t know where she put it.”
I opened my eyes and looked directly at Spencer.
“Charles, you knew my work for twenty years. Did you ever see me let an innocent person pay for something they didn’t do?”
“Never, Commander.”
“My grandson is telling the truth. And I’m going to prove it.”
Spencer rubbed his face with both hands.
“Elellanena… legally, my hands are tied. It’s the word of a minor against that of two adults. The father supports the wife’s version. I don’t have physical evidence to contradict their story. The only thing I can do is let him go under your temporary custody while the investigation proceeds. But I need you to sign as the responsible party.”
“Do it. I’ll take responsibility.”
Spencer took out some papers and began filling them out. Meanwhile, I watched Ethan. That boy had grown so much in the last year. He was sixteen, almost a man. But at that moment, huddled in that chair with a broken eyebrow and swollen eyes, he was once again the seven-year-old boy who cried in my arms when his mother died.
“How long has this been going on, Ethan?” I asked in a low voice.
He looked down again.
“What, Grandma?”
“Don’t ask me that question. You know what I’m referring to.”
There was a long silence. I could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall. Finally, Ethan spoke, so softly I barely heard him.
“For six months.”
“What started six months ago?”
“It started with insults. Then she started breaking my things—my video game console, my notebooks, a soccer trophy you gave me. She said they were accidents. My dad believed her. Then she started hitting me. Slaps, shoves. Once she locked me in the basement all afternoon because I said I wanted to come see you.”
My heart broke into a thousand pieces.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Because I was afraid that if I told you, my dad would be more angry with you. I thought that if I put up with it a little longer, things would get better. But today… today was different. I saw something in her eyes, Grandma. I realized that she wants me to disappear. She wants to push me away from you. She wants you to see me as a problem. She wants my dad to see me that way, too.”
