ADVERTISEMENT
Two weeks later, I got a call from Patricia. “Brandi made it home safe,” she said. “Her mom picked her up. She asked me to give you something.”
She thanked me for seeing her. For asking the question no one had asked in six months. For giving her the chance to escape. She told me she was enrolling in community college to study social work — so she could save women the way she’d been saved.
Inside the envelope was a photo of her and her mom, smiling. On the back she’d written:
That photo still sits in my wallet.
Three years later, Brandi graduated. She works at a domestic violence shelter now, helping other girls find their way out.
That day, I asked.