“Come get your worthless daughter and take her back,” my mother-in-law shouted my father as I lay broken at the bottom of the stairs after my husband shoved me down. “Your family will answer for it if she has even a scratch,” was the sole warning Dad offered her. They had no notion who my father really was, so they made fun of him.

“Is that a picture of our stairs at home?“ she said pointing her finger.

I felt a lump in my throat.

“Yes, honey, that’s our stairs.”

“Why did the police take a photo of our stairs?“she asked with curiosity.

Gabriel advanced and spoke in surprisingly warm tones.

“The officers are just writing notes so they can know how your mother was hurt.”

Maya looked back at me with a serious look on her face.

“I already know why Mommy got hurt,” Maya whispered.