“Will they take me away if I tell you?”

I sat back on my heels with her zipper in my hand.

“Nobody takes you anywhere without me in the room.”

“Daddy says there’s a place for children who tell.”

“Then Daddy hasn’t met Dr. Aris.”

She dug in her pocket and put something in my palm.

A red plastic hair clip with three teeth missing.

“Hold that,” she said.