Justin sat down on the sofa and let out an exasperated huff. He brushed his long bangs away from his face, and looked Brian squarely in the eyes. He paused to prepare what he was going to say, and then disclosed the truth, as he knew it, to his therapist. "When they handcuffed me, I was still in a haze, and not fully aware of what was going on. My stepfather was on a stretcher, and they were questioning him. I could hear him tell them that I had taken revenge on him for punishing me. He made it sound like I was troubled and out of control. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't speak." My mother just kept yelling at me, "How could you do that?" I remember thinking, "hadn't she heard me screaming earlier that night?" "Why isn't she defending me, or at least asking what my stepfather did to me to deserve that?" At that point, I acknowledged that my mother wasn't going to help me, and that I was on my own."They read me my rights, and brought me down to the police station. The detective who was taking my statement sat there and read off my list of delinquencies. When he finally got around to asking what had occurred, I refused to talk. I thought about what would happen if I told the truth. I figured no one would believe me, so why should I cooperate? The detective was snarling at me with disgust. I could see that he had already deemed that I was guilty. Not even my own mother would support me." "I decided that nobody really wanted to know the truth, so it would be better for me to keep my mouth shut. I knew I would probably go to jail, but at that moment, I didn't care. In fact, I welcomed it because it would get me away from him." Justin took a deep breath. "So they booked me for attempted murder, and placed me in a holding cell." Brian just sat there tensely waiting for Justin to finish. He didn't want to interrupt the boy's rendition of his story. However, he was anxious to respond to what the kid was saying. Justin continued, "When I was waiting to talk to my public defender, I gave it some more thought. Did I really want that dick to get away with hurting me like that? But again, I realized even if I told my side of the story and they believed me, I would have to testify in court. Then everyone would know what happened to me. And besides, I knew I was partly to blame. In a way, I asked for it. I felt so ashamed." Shaking his head Justin added, "There were just too many reasons to keep quiet and accept my punishment." Justin put his hands up to his head and smoothed his hair back. Brian took that as his cue that Justin was finished talking. He cleared his throat, and asked him, "What about your lawyer, didn't he advise you to tell the truth, and testify on your behalf after you told him what happened?" "I never told him anything, I never said a word", Justin stated. "And he just left it at that?" "He didn't give a shit about what happened to me, he got paid one way or another." Brian was pissed. "Okay, what about your mother? Surely she didn't want to see you go to jail." Justin let out a chuckle, "My dear mother said that maybe I would be better off in jail. That way I could get the help I needed." "And then she reasoned that maybe things would get better between her and my stepfather without me around." Brian could see the hurt look in Justin's eyes. He was holding back tears that were threatening to spill. If only Brian could erase his pain, he'd gladly do it. "Listen, are you listening to me?" "Yes", Justin exclaimed. "None of this was your fault. You were the victim here Justin. You were just a child, he was the adult, he betrayed your trust." "He violated you and forced you to do things against your will. When you stabbed him, you were reacting to his raping you." "No one would blame you for what you did. I certainly don't." Justin's tears of relief started to fall. Brian wanted to comfort the boy by taking him into his arms, but he didn't.