“I need an officer here.”
The operator asked whether I was safe enough to stay on the line.
“No.”
Aaron turned toward the hallway.
Douglas said, “Nobody needs to come to this house.”
The operator asked me to stay where I was and keep the line open.
At 3:12, the kitchen clock showed 3:16 because it had always run four minutes fast.
That ordinary mistake bothered me more than it should have.
Aaron reached for the phone again.
I stepped back.
“Do not touch me.”
He stopped.
The operator asked for my name.
“Madison Kensington.”
Douglas
said, “This is a family disagreement.”
The operator did not answer him.
She asked me where I was in the house.
“The living room.”
Aaron picked up a cushion from the floor and put it back on the sofa.
Douglas adjusted the lamp on the side table.
Then the front door sounded.
Aaron went still.
Douglas smoothed his pajama sleeve.
Two officers entered, and the woman in front introduced herself as Elena Brooks.
She looked first at me, then at the hallway.
“Where did the incident begin?”
“My bedroom.”
Elena wrote that down before asking another question.
“Show me.”
I walked ahead of her.
The bedroom door had a split near the latch, and the lamp lay beside the bed.
Elena crouched near the lamp without touching it.
“Was this here before tonight?”
“No.”
She wrote that down too.
