The bus leaves at 6:45, hopefully there will not be many people there. We’re getting ready to go to the bus station to take us to Tucson, Arizona which is one hour and a half away from where we are, Phoenix, Arizona.  It’s a cold winter evening, so it’s a great way to cover 8-year old Aeri and make her unrecognizable. I layered her up by putting her luscious red hair in her hat and a scarf around her face. All you could see were those bright blue eyes. We are leaving with nothing except with $20 to buy the bus tickets. We got to the bus station. The man who sounded like he didn't want to be there said “This bus will arrive in 15 minutes” . I thought there goes $10 of the $20. We are waiting patiently for the bus to arrive and I’m on the lookout and on my toes to make sure everything goes to plan. I think to myself was this even a good idea? I'm just a teacher. While we're waiting I ask Aeri how life is usually at home. She says, “my mom goes to work then drops me off home while her boyfriend, Jake is at home.” “I don’t think he likes me.” when I was about to say why the announcement came on saying “Bus 20C to Tucson, Arizona is here, please start getting on. The bus leaves in 5 minutes.”  

Once we boarded the bus and got settled I planned on going back to our conversation. “Aeri, why do you think that about Jake?” I said. She started saying shyly, “um, he is mean to me and my mom doesn't really do anything to keep him happy.” “He doesn’t like when I make noises and makes me bring him stuff then tells me to go away.” Then I tried to talk to her about her scratches, but she kept changing the topic. She would say,  “Look at those birds”, “What’s your favorite color?”, “What’s your favorite food?” I asked her one last time, “Did you really fall or did something else happen?” All she said was “Jake.” Then she went to sleep. At last we finally arrived in Tucson where my mother would be taking us to her house to stay as long as we needed. Aeri is excited to meet her for the first time.

 It was already the first week staying there, my mom said “We need to talk about all of this because this is straight madness.” Since Aeri was still asleep I thought it would be a good time. I led off the conversation by saying, “It started a little over a month and a half ago when I started substituting for a teacher because she was on leave. I was excited to start my new job so I stood outside the door to welcome the students. As I welcomed the kids I noticed how Aeri’s nails were not too clean. Once she came into the classroom I kept my eye on her. When she took off her coat I saw how she had scratches and little bruises. Once it was time for recess I pulled her to the side and asked if she was okay and she just nodded her head and went to go play again.” “Has she told you what happened to her?” My mom asked. “No, I tried again on the bus yesterday but still nothing.” I said. Back to the story I started saying, “After the day ended I asked the teachers who have been there longer if they know anything about her situation and they all said no.” One teacher started saying, “A couple months ago we called the police and CPS because she was always injured, but she always has excuses. For example, she would say she fell playing outside or she bumped into this and that.” Another teacher added, “CPS even went to their house, but they saw nothing wrong so they dropped the case.” My mom interrupted again, “How could they even let it go so fast, when there are teachers worried and evidence.” All I could say quickly was “I know. I even took pictures and have evidence of her marks.” 

Since we have been here I have been trying to get closer to her. We usually will watch her favorite show or play a game. I try to make sure she is comfortable and having a good time, so every now and then I still ask if she is okay and everytime she tells me that she is having fun, which is relieving to hear. So far her favorite game is Charades because she is so good at it. I also help her practice her reading since she loves it. Her favorite books have to do with fairies or princesses. She would tell me how she usually plays alone quietly and it’s nice to be able to play with others and be loud. I also learned her favorite food is pepperoni pizza and loves ice cream.

 I went out to buy food for tonight’s dinner and my mom stayed with Aeri because it was too dangerous for her to be out now that her picture and information is out. While going I could see billboards that say ‘have you seen her?’ Then what I was scared of happened. There was a picture of me saying ‘wanted’. Once I got to the supermarket I just felt everyone look at me and murmur. I tried to keep my head down and not draw attention to myself. Pretty sure it was just me being paranoid, but I couldn’t take any chances. When I got back home I saw that my sister and her kids were home too. Right when I got inside my sister confusedly said, “What is going on Liz?” “I took pictures of all her bruises and scratches for evidence. I even went back to the police and when they went to her house I also went. The house was not kept clean and when they were interrogating Jake because he’s usually the only one home until her mom, Karina comes back from work.” Then I say, “They did nothing again and I couldn’t stand seeing her not being taken care of and she's so smart. I had to do something.  It’s not like the police are going to be waiting for us outside. ” Then my sister goes on to say, “ This is the best idea you had? When you get caught you’ll go to jail.” All I see is my mom nodding in agreement with my sister. “It’s worth the risk just as long as she is not being hurt and taken care of.” They made me think again if this was all worth it, but it was too late to turn back now, so I just had to keep going. 

It was dinner time and my sister and her kids had left so it was just us three again. Now since it was just us three I decided to try again. I told Aeri sweetly, “What actually happened to those scratches? You can trust us.” After I said that all you could hear were chewing noises, but she finally took a deep breath and with teary eyes started saying, “most of these are from Jake, some of them are from my…mom.” “Most of the time I get pushed and I get hurt when I land on things. They tell me mean things, but I still love her though.” She continued with a sad smile on her face. We changed the topic to not make dinner even more sad and asked, “How do you like it here so far?” Aeri said with a genuine smile, “ I love it here! I have people to play with and you guys are so nice to me.” “I’m having lots of fun.”

It was a whole month of us being here just hiding, but I thought it was time to go somewhere else. There was too much news, billboards and ads about ‘The Missing Girl’ . I knew it was a risk staying, but everything has been a risk since the beginning. We gathered our stuff and some food for the way. I’m not sure where we are heading, but I think it’s time to leave Arizona. As we say our goodbyes Aeri goes up to my mom to hug her and says, “I hope I can see you soon again, bye.” As we go out the door all we hear is, “Put your hands up.” It felt like an outer body experience, the lights blasting in my face, the police saying “we got her, we got her.” I didn’t know what to do so I just froze looking at Aeri’s scared expression. As the police were coming I told her, “I will make sure everything is okay and don’t worry. I know it hasn’t been long, but I love you like my own daughter.” Aeri just stands there confused and says, “I love you too. You’re like a mom to me.” The police handcuffed me and started saying my Miranda rights, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.” All I could think was what was going to happen to her. I don’t want her going back to that environment again. 

It was finally court day and I had one of the best lawyers in town, so I was really hoping for the best. He told me, “There is a high chance you could win this case, don’t worry. She will be able to go back to you.” All I could say from the nerves was, “Thank you.” As I was waiting I saw Aeri come in and be able to see her finally since Tucson was so nice. She waved at me and I waved back. I could not get any information on her while awaiting my trial so seeing her look good made me happy to see. Even if this doesn’t go as planned at least I know she won’t be back at her house which was at least some type of win so everything was worth it. The trial started with the prosecutors saying how I kidnapped her and forced her to come with me which was all a lie because I would ask her throughout the time there if she ever wanted to come back and she would say no. Prosecutors started stating their evidence and calling witnesses to the stand. They called Karina to the stand and she started saying, “I love Aeri I would never put my hands on her and she is the best thing that ever happened to me. I have been very sad since we haven’t been able to find her, but I’m so happy I will do anything to get her back.” After the prosecutors it was our turn and I was so nervous, but I knew we had to convince the judges that I did it for the best and Aeri should be with me. The lawyer started with his introduction then went of to the evidence and said, “There is an abundance of evidence that Aeri was being abused and no one ever did anything. First we have picture evidence taken by Ms. Liz Willams and some other teachers as well. We also have records if you look here that the police and CPS were called multiple times and nothing was ever done to help the situation of this child. Now we have video evidence of Aeir talking about how all the marks she has ever had were caused mostly by Jake and some by her very own mother, Karina and how she was also verbally abused by both of them.” We asked Aeri to the stand, but she was very shy and nervous for all the people looking. I Asked if I could talk to her and surprisingly the judge said yes, but if one of the jurors goes to see that you’re not doing anything. I accept and I go to Aeri and tell her, “You can do this just look at Mr. Brown while he’s talking so you don’t see the other people.” I tried to comfort her as much as possible until the judge said, “So is she coming or not?” Aeri just nodded her head yes and I smiled at her. She went up there and Mr. Brown asked her simple questions, “Do you like Liz?” “Yes.” she shyly said. “Was she nice to you? “She also said yes.” He continued with“Has she ever raised her voice or tried to hit you?” “Never.” Aeri said. Then he said, “Did she ever force you to leave with her and go away from your mom?” Aeri replied, “She always asked if I wanted to back, but I said no.” “Now why is that Aeri?” he said.  “Well, I had fun, I got to play and sometimes my mom can be mean and Jake can be really mean.” Aeri said. He followed up with “How?” “Sometimes they say mean stuff or hurt me.” After asking her other questions from both prosecutors and defense, they asked one final question, “Who would you rather stay with? Your mommy or Liz?” At first she just kept looking at both of us and was silent, but then she said “Liz.” 

It’s been some days since court ended and it was time for the jury to make a choice. We all went back and the Judge said, “we have all come to a decision and have agreed to pardon Liz Willams and she will be able to keep Aeri if Aeri wants that.” I was so happy Aeri and I went running for a hug and when I hugged her I told her, “You will never have to go through this again, you’ll always be safe with me.”