The court is empty, except for me, Rachel, her grandmother, the judge, Fisher, and the defendant.
Rachel sits by her grandmother, twirling her stuffed hippopotamus's tail. I lead her to the witness box, but when she sits down, she cannot see over the railing.
Judge McAvoy turns to his clerk. "Roger, why don't you run into my chambers and see if there's a stool for Miss Rachel."
It takes a few more minutes of adjustments. "Hi, Rachel. How are you?" I begin.
"I'm okay," she says, in the smallest voice.
"May I approach the witness, Your Honor?" Closer up, I won't be as intimidating. I keep smiling so hard my jaw begins to hurt. "Can you tell me your whole name, Rachel?"
"Rachel Elizabeth Marx."
"How old are you?"
"Five." She holds up the fingers to show me proof.
"Did you have a party on your birthday?"
"Yes." Rachel hesitates, then adds, "A princess one."
"I bet it was fun. Did you get any presents?"
"Uh-huh. I got the Swimming Barbie. She does the backstroke."
"Who do you live with, Rachel?"
"My mommy," she says, but her eyes slide toward the defense table.
"Does anybody else live with you?"
"Not anymore." A whisper.
"Did you used to live with someone else?"
"Yes," Rachel nods. "My daddy."
"Do you go to school, Rachel?"
"I'm in Mrs. Montgomery's class."
"Do you have rules there?"
"Yes. Don't hit and raise your hand to talk and don't climb up the slide."
"What happens if you don't follow the rules in school?"
"My teacher gets mad."
"Do you understand the difference between telling the truth and telling a lie?"
"The truth is when you tell what happened, and a lie is when you make something up."
"That's right. And the rule in court, where we are right now, is that you have to tell the truth when we ask you questions. You can't make anything up. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"If you lie to your mom, what happens?"
