“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.

“You can always tell Mommy, me, your teacher or a police officer the whole truth about anything that happens.

You can never get into trouble for telling the truth.”

Maya nodded slowly, reassuringly.

Nurse Marisol gave her a warm smile.

“Your grandpa is absolutely right honey.

That’s what the grown-ups are for, to keep kids safe.”

The words seemed to bring Maya a great deal of comfort.

She reached into her yellow bag and pulled out a battered stuffed animal.