Black Promises (Blackwoods College)

I leaned back and nearly threw up. Detective Bates studied me very carefully as I took a deep breath and let it out.

“He’s a chiropractor,” I said, not pretending like I didn’t know him. That’d be stupid. She clearly knew that much already. “My parents took me to see him when I was younger.”

“Did you see him often?”

“A few times.”

“Why’d you stop?”

I looked away. “I didn’t think he helped.”

“When you saw him, what sort of treatments did he do?”

“I’m not sure why this matters, Detective Bates.”

“Call me Lynn, and please, I’m getting there. Just humor me a bit. I’m sure you heard the news.”

I nodded and glanced back at her. “Someone killed him.”

“Well, we’re not sure about that yet.” She scowled down at her hands. “Media sure thinks so, though.”

“He did basic chiropractor stuff. Cracked my back and my neck. It really scared me when I was little and my parents stopped making me go.”

“What about your brother? Did he go?”

“For a little bit. Same thing though, he stopped.”

“And your parents liked him? They saw him often?”

“They used him for years, but I don’t think they’ve been in a while.” I cleared my throat, adjusted my position. “Are you interviewing all his former patients?”

She laughed and shook her head. “Goodness, no. That’d take much too long. The thing is Cora, we confiscated some records from his office, and your name appeared on a particular list.”

I went very still and met her gaze. “A list? What does that mean?”

“There were a few dozen names on the list. Mostly little girls, a few little boys. We’re still trying to figure out what the list means, which is why I’m here.”

Silence fell. My mind continued to race. I tried to put what she was saying together and the ends barely fit. Dr. Silver had a list—and my name was on it—and it was mostly little girls—

“Was my brother’s name on that list?” I asked, my voice a choked whisper.

She stared at me evenly then stopped the recording. “I shouldn’t say, but in this case, I’m going to break the rules.”

I closed my eyes. “It was, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, Cora. His name was on the list too.”

“Oh, god.” I looked up at the ceiling, barely blinking back tears. “How many others?”

“A few dozen. I can’t say exactly. We’re contacting them one by one, but since both you and your brother showed up, you’re one of the first we’re reaching out to.” She took a slow breath and let it out. “I’m going to start this recording now.”

She hit the red button again. Tears rolled down my cheeks.

“Cora, when you went to see Dannis Silver, did anything out of the ordinary happen?”

“Yes.” I wanted to scream. I wanted to sob.

For so long, I kept this secret. I never spoke of it to anyone in the world. I was ready to take it to my grave, down into Hell where I knew I’d find my abuser.

Now though, it was spilling out into the open.

“Can you tell me what?”

I squeezed my eyes shut. The tears wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t control my breathing. I couldn’t control my voice.

But I spoke anyway, because fuck him. I hated him so much, and everyone needed to know what he was.

“He touched me. He put his fingers inside of me.”

“How many times did this happen?” Her voice was steady and calm. She was a professional.

I was on the edge of melting down.

“Once. I wouldn’t go back afterwards. My brother saw him a couple more times, but he stopped too.”

“Did your brother tell you what happened to him?”

“He told me that Dr. Silver did the same thing to him that he did to me.”

“So your brother knew what happened to you.”

I nodded and met her gaze. “I told my parents. They didn’t believe me.”

That cracked the facade. She glanced toward the kitchen where my parents were a few minutes ago. I caught a glimpse of anger.

“Did you report it to anyone else?”

“No, just my parents. I was eight years old. I didn’t understand.”

“It’s okay, Cora. You did the right thing, telling them. Your parents should’ve talked to someone.”

“They didn’t believe me.”

“I believe you, Cora.”

I wished I could hug her. Even though she was the enemy—

Those words meant the world to me.

I drifted through my days like a ghost, forgotten and ignored. My parents saw me as a fraud and a liar, and I’d internalized that feeling much deeper than I liked to admit. Now, finally, at long last, someone was validating me, and it felt so damn good, I could barely control myself.

More tears came. I totally lost it. Lynn waited patiently until the sniffling, ugly crying subsided, and I wiped my eyes and nose with a tissue. She cleared her throat and gathered her things.

“That’s all I needed from you for now. I might have more questions in the future, and you might be asked to give testimony—”