Chapter 12 - The school counselor’s question
Dana Pierce blamed herself.
“I should have reported sooner.”
The investigator asked:
“What did you know?”
Eli had not disclosed bruising caused by Simone until after summer began.
He described:
Strictness.
Feeling watched.
Losing phone access.
Being blocked from leaving arguments.
Dana documented.
Asked about safety.
He repeatedly said:
“She doesn’t hit me.”
That distinction delayed escalation.
Reasonably.
Then Dana saw one bruise during the final week of school.
Eli said:
“Basketball.”
Could have been.
Dana asked whether anyone grabbed him.
He said no.
She advised journaling and identifying trusted adults.
Was that enough?
Maybe.
Could she have called child services based on the total pattern?
Possibly.
She did not.
Dana said:
“I was trying not to turn normal stepparent conflict into abuse.”
There.
The same ambiguity everyone lived inside.
Serious cases do not always announce themselves cleanly.
They accumulate.
The lesson was not:
Report every strict parent.
It was:
May you like
When a child repeatedly says they only feel safe around one caregiver, ask more.
────────────────────
