evil or something and then she spat! Right on his bare feet. Salena just spat this big glob at him.’ She lapsed into silence, eyes bright with the memory of it. ‘That was so not Salena. We’re not even allowed to wear shoes in the house.’ A little smile flickered at the corners of her mouth. I suspect she was impressed by Salena’s visceral reaction. ‘I made Jasmine leave but she was all “Oh no, let me stay with yooou”, pretending she wanted to be there for, like, me, but it was just because she thought this was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her, which it probably was. She was probably filming the whole thing on her phone …’ She stopped abruptly. The other filming, Justin’s filming of her, smashed into her consciousness. Her eyes were huge with the horror of it.
‘You shouldn’t have been there when the police arrested Justin,’ I said. ‘They handled it really badly.’
‘One of the cops said they hadn’t meant for me to be there. They were supposed to wait until Neo and me had left for school, but they stuffed up.’
They sure had. I didn’t think Fanshaw would have been thrilled by the way the Auckland cops had handled it.
‘Did they take anything from the house?’
‘They took Dad away, to the police station, and Salena and Neo and me had to sit on the sofa with the policewoman watching us while they went through the house. That was when Salena told me what he’d been arrested for and I went to the bathroom and vomited with the policewoman standing beside me checking her make-up in the mirror.’ She leaned forward to place the rice tray on the floor, then tented the blanket over her knees. ‘Salena said they took all our computers, but I don’t know what else they took.’
‘So where did the police get the photos from? The ones he was arrested for?’
‘They were on the computer at the gym. Salena said they told her they were like soft porn. But, well, they would have to be, wouldn’t they? I mean, I’ve never done anything gross. Except undressing and being naked and … and posing, and maybe dancing and all that. But not in front of anyone! Just by myself.’ Her eyes moved, figuring it out. ‘He must have been hiding behind the racks of clothes, where he keeps the new imports. He was always saying I could go in there and try on whatever I liked but not to wear them on the street.’ She buried her face in her hands. ‘It’s so gross to think he was watching me when I was, you know, playing around, thinking I was on my own, and all the time he was taking photos of me.’ She glanced shyly at me, a blush spreading across her face and neck. ‘You know the sort of thing you do on your own … posing and stuff?’ I nodded. I remembered trying out sexy poses in front of the mirror when I was her age. Sunny had lapsed into thought, her eyes darting. It seemed she hadn’t yet considered the possibility Justin had taken the photos not only for his own use but for trading on the internet. It was impossible to know if Sunny would think this was better or worse.
‘What sort of father would take photos of his daughter like that? I’ve had, like, five showers today already. Salena said that’s understandable.’
‘How’s she been?’
‘Who?’ she asked petulantly, not yet ready to relinquish being the centre of attention.
‘Salena.’
‘Oh. She’s grossed out too. Neither of us ever wants to see him again. She is actually being quite nice to me,’ she added, ‘which is a first. I hope he stays in prison for the rest of his life. I hope he dies there.’
‘Has Justin done anything before? Anything that creeped you out?’
‘No way! Dad’s totally old school. He always knocks when I’m in the bathroom and stuff like that. I thought maybe it was Anton who took them. He’s such a creep. I told the social worker. I mean, Anton has keys to the gym. Maybe it was him who took the photos.’
It had occurred to me, too. ‘What did she say?’
‘Just that she was sure the police had got the right person.’
Oh, well, if she thinks that, it must be right then.
Sunny followed me into the spare bedroom and stood, arms crossed, leaning against the wall while I stripped the sheets and pillowcases