Callista
One of the toughest parts of Officer Tancredi’s job was getting normal people to believe the unnatural. It was a deeply-held belief that fathers loved their children, but that was not always the case. Tancredi needed years to understand the meanness of some souls, so he understood when others couldn’t believe it either–or more correctly, couldn’t let themselves believe it. Tancredi was assigned to investigate Callista Jones, age seven. Callista was coming to school with bruises. When asked, she said a ghost gave them to her. Tancredi knew what was really up when he visited Callista’s horrible house. The slovenly father drank during the day. His wife had bags under her eyes big enough to hold eggs. The place felt desperate with tension, like a bear trap. Tancredi had the father arraigned on child endangerment charges. Dad blamed a ghost, too, conveniently, and said it abused all of them. No one wanted to take responsibility. Callista’s bruises and black eyes continued, even though dad was separated. Damn shame: the mom was in on it, too. Tancredi arranged a restraining order for the mother as well. Normally, Callista would be thrown into foster care. But that would hurt Callista worse than her parents, Tancredi felt. Instead he arranged for an aunt and uncle to move into the house. This would give Callista the continuity of her old home in her life. Yet the bruises continued still, and Callista now refused to speak about it. She knows the ghost story isn’t playing, Tancredi thought. This poor little girl is abusing herself now just to keep her parents out of trouble. Scarred kids like this have a hard time trusting adults after their abusive parents. Tancredi would bend over backwards to help Callista, but not until she stopped lying to him about the ghosts.
