Confrontation

Wow, this is getting harder as I go.  But here goes....

Jane Doe pulled into the driveway and I walked outside.  We approached eachother halfway down the driveway and she asked me what was going on.  And I lost it.

Now, I'm going to stop here to point out a few things.  You know how you will read a book and the author will describe certain emotions and the actions that accompany them?  Until you experience these things first hand you never really know how to relate to them.  Case in point:  I never really knew what 'gut-wrenching sobs' sounded like until I heard my mom the night my sister died.  I didn't really know what it was to fall to your knees in shock and grief until the night my step-dad called to tell me my sister had died.  There are certain things that are out of range until they hit you.

My knees gave out.  I clung to my friend Jane and just said that MaKayla said Doug had touched her.  And then came the verbal vomit...  What do I do?  How could she say this?  This was going to destroy him.  And on and on and on.  She told me I had to believe my daughter because otherwise she would never trust me with anything again.  I remember the words 'but I don't believe her' raging in my head but I couldn't stop crying to say them.  That's when John and Doug pulled up.

Doug walked over, setting some kind of shirt thing on the car.  He looked at me and said, 'What's wrong', in the tone of voice that wanted to add the word 'now' at the end.  Again, with the verbal vomit.  I rambled out the words, that he had been accused, that she was at my step-dad's and that I didn't understand how she could do this....  and, God help me, I apologized to him.

I waited for the explosion.  But it didn't come.  He stared into the yard for a moment and then calmly stated, 'This could ruin my life.'

He then picked up the shirt off the car, showing it to me and telling me about his day.  I just stared at him.  That was the moment I realized my daughter could be telling the truth.