Mandie's Testimony
"Do you know what I want to talk to you about, Mandie?"
"Yes, Doctor. You want to ask me 'bout Danny. It won't do no good, though. I'm not 'posed to tell you nothin'." She stopped and examined the small office. Recently re-decorated, the room smelled of paint and wall paper paste. Mandie had smiled when she first walked in. It reminded her of grandma's house and she hadn't been there for a while.
Her gaze halted at a jar of big, round suckers. Mandie shifted her eyes over to the doctor and flashed her a tooth-less grin.
"I sure do like lollipops, Doctor."
The doctor smiled in return. "Is that so? What's your favorite flavor?" she asked.
"Grape! Grape's really good." The doctor searched through the glass jar, coming upon a purple colored sucker. She handed it to Mandie, who eagerly popped it into her mouth. "Yum!" she giggled in between licks.
The doctor sat back in her chair. "Mandie, do you remember Danny?"
Mandie paused and brought the sucker out of her mouth, her eyes beginning too fill with tears.
"'Course I 'member Danny," she said angrily. "Danny was my brother. I miss him, Doctor. But we can't talk 'bout him, We ain't 'posed to." REalizing she was crying, she quickly swiped her balled fists across her face. "It's okay, though. Daddy 'splained it to me."
"What did he explain to you, Mandie?"
She sat up straight in her plush, burgundy chair. As if she were an adult and the doctor a child, she began:
"He 'splained how Danny was sad here with us. But that he's in a better place. A place where he'll be happy and won't cry no more."
The doctor's heart broke for the child who sat before her, clothes ragged and dirty. She had been dealt too much pain in her six years and had to grow up way too quickly. "Do you know how Danny died?" she questioned gently.
Mandie nodded and handed the doctor what was left of her sucker. The doctor threw it away and turned her attention to the child, who sat there patiently.
"Danny woke me up in the middle of the night. He said his tummy hurt real bad. I told him to tell daddy. And he did. But daddy didn't 'lieve him and told him to go back to bed. Daddy said he was liein', but I knew that he wasn't. His face was all green.
"He sat on my bed and started crying, telling me he was really, really sick. And that's when he started throwin' up yucky stuff. I closed my eyes and yelled real loud for mommy and daddy, because if I looked, I'd be pukin' up the yucky stuff too."
"What did your mommy and daddy do, Mandie?"
She shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "Daddy started yellin' at Danny for pukin' everywhere. He was mean sometimes. He always made mommy cry. He'd make Danny cry sometimes, too."
"How did he make Danny cry?"
Mandie lowered her eyes to her lap. Barely above a whisper, she said, "He hurt him."
"And how did your dad hurt Danny?" the doctor asked, gripping the edge of her desk tightly. She felt so close to the truth.
"Danny was stupid. 'Least that's what daddy always said. He would get mad 'cause Danny wasn't as smart as me. He'd do bad things and have to be punished."
"How would your dad punish him, Mandie?"
"He deserved it," Mandie cried defensively. "He was bad and stupid."
The doctor frowned. "Do you really think that?"
"No," she answered quietly. "But daddy did."
"Did your dad kill Danny?"
Mandie shook her head violently. "He said I can't talk 'bout it."
"I understand, Mandie. And it's good to listen to your parents. But you're brother is gone. For good. And it's important for me to find out why. I'm sure Danny's happy where he is, but I don't want the same thing to happen to you." She smiled. "You're a special girl, Mandie. And a smart one. Which is why I know you'll tell me what your dad did to Danny."
Mandie stared at her, obviously frightened. Her fright caused her to shut down and she sat there silent.
"You and Danny were twins, right?" The doctor knew they weren't. but she desperately needed to get Mandie to open back up to her.
"No, me and him just share a birthday. I'm a whole year older, though."
"I see. And it was your birthday that Danny died, wasn't it?" Mandie nodded. "And did you get lots of presents?"
Her head perked up a bit. "Mommy and daddy says we're poor. So we never get too many presents. But me and Danny really wanted bicycles, 'cause we learned how to ride them without trainin' wheels at school. And guess what? We got 'em! Mine was red and sparkly and Danny's was green. I told him that mine was more prettier and he said, 'Oh yeah? Well, I bet mine's faster.' I didn't believe him, so we racd down a big hill. Only..."
"Only what, Mandie?"
"Danny wasn't as good a bike rider as me and as we was comin' down the big hill, he couldn't work his bike right and he boomed into daddy's truck real, real hard."
"And what did your dad say?"
"He said, 'Damn you, Danny.' And he punished him."
"What did he do to punish him?"
Mandie sighed. "He took off his belt - he has to wear one because he's pretty fat like and his pants don't stay up - and hit Danny really hard with it."
"Did he only hit Danny once?"
"No. I can only count to nine, because my teacher hasn't taught us how to count to a billion yet."
The doctor smiled at the child's sincerity. "So he spanked Danny more than nine times?"
Mandie nodded her head. "He might have done it a billion times." She screwed her face into a frown. "I'm not sure. But afterwards, daddy made hom go to his room for the rest of the night. He locked him in there."
"He didn't let him have any dinner?"
"No. When daddy went to sleep, mommy gave Danny some special soup. She said that it was special for only Danny and that I couldn't have any."
The doctor's mind went blank. That couldn't have been what happened. "Did your mom make the soup?"
"Uh-huh. Mommy and daddy fought 'bout the soup when Danny was pukin' up everywhere. Daddy call 9-1-1 and screamed at mom a lot. He asked her, 'What happened? What happened?' Mommy said that she was sick of daddy hurting Danny." Mandie choked on a sob. "Mommy said that she poisoned the special soup. Daddy didn't say anything to her 'bout it. He just looked at me and told me not to tell. But I did and now daddy's gonna be so mad at me."
Mandie was crying hysterically and the doctor pulled her into her arms. "It's okay, sweetie. Mommy and daddy can't hurt you anymore."
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