Older Sister (OS) and Younger Sister (YS)

OS: He was a police officer, and he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. He sexually assaulted me when no one was around. I felt like I was on pause my whole childhood. A prisoner—dead. And I didn’t say a word to anybody for seven years.

YS: Who was the first person that you told?

OS: It was you. You, my little sister. And you suffered as much as I did, but I didn’t know that it was the same for you. And when we both spoke out about this together, I felt like somebody pressed play, and I was living. I wasn’t just stuck in my bedroom waiting for the day to pass by.

YS: And how did you feel at the sentencing when he had the nerve to stare you in the face and tell you that he was sorry.

OS: I couldn’t do anything except look away. So I looked at you, and I knew that we had each other. And when he admitted it to everyone else, I knew that it wasn’t my fault. It was him—I was free. I feel more relieved by the day. The more I spend time with you, the more it’s like we’re going to be able to have this life that’s filled with everything that we need: love, hope, happiness and each other. We … we don’t need anything else, right?

YS: Yeah.

OS: Just us.