I took Valentina in my arms and walked towards the door.
Mariana put herself in front of me.
Diego, stop it.chfar mngoli We can solve this between us.
Get out of the way.
If you take her to the hospital, the questions will begin. Child Protection will come, the police… you have no idea what you’re getting us into.
Then Valentina buried her face in my shoulder.
And I understood that’s exactly why she was afraid of Mariana.
Not the breakdown of the family.
Of the questions.
I left the house without talking anymore.
At the emergency room, the doctor examined Valentina and asked for the necessary investigations for the blow in the lumbar area. Luckily, he had no fractures and no serious internal injuries, but the doctor also noticed that there were traces in different stages of healing.
When he asked me how they had appeared, I told the truth:
“My daughter says her mother pushed her in the door. And it says it’s not the first time she’s been assaulted.
From that moment on, things didn’t depend on me.
The competent institutions were notified, including the police and child protection services. It was explained not to have Valentina repeat the story ten times and not try to get “confessions”. She was to be listened to in a frame according to her age, by people ready for it.
While I was waiting, my phone was vibrating without stopping.
Mariana.
17 calls.
Then the messages.
“You get it wrong.”
“Valentina is exaggerating.”
“It was an accident.”
“Come home and we talk.”
And finally:
“If you do that, you’ll regret it.”
I didn’t answer.
I took the screenshots and kept them.
The next day, in the presence of specialists, Valentina began to talk.
Not all of a sudden.
Not like in a movie.
With breaks.
With “I don’t know anymore.”
With moments when he looked at the floor and asked if the mother would find out what she had said.
That’s when I learned that the episodes had started almost a year before.
At first they were screaming.
Then the clutching of the arm.
The hair pulled.
The Push.
Punishment in which she was sent to the room alone for hours.
But the most troubled me something else.
“My mother says you’re leaving because of me,” Valentina told the psychologist.
I felt I couldn’t breathe anymore.
– What?
