Children Will Listen

The aftermath of The Crying Child for Vikki.

I love the minor characters in Starsky and Hutch–the people we see in one episode and then never see again. The Crying Child is one of my favorite episodes and I think it is one of the best portrayals of child abuse on TV to this day. I know Guy gets most of the attention–but what about Vikki–the sister? Here’s a little optimistic look at her post episode.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Dave says to me. “It’s gonna be okay.”

I stand back, watching as the other cop, Ken, hands my mother off to some guys in uniforms.

Guy is crying. He shouldn’t cry. Mother doesn’t like it when we cry—especially when he does. He leans into Ken, and Ken puts a hand on his head. Just like Guy is his own kid.

I pretend for just a minute that Mother is holding me that way, her hand running over my hair, all sweet and soft.

“Don’t cry,” I tell Guy, and I walk over and pull him away from Ken.

“Hutch,” Dave says, quiet like he’s upset. “Need to talk to you.”

“We’ll be back. You take care of him, Vikki,” Ken says to me, and then he touches my hair just like he did Guy’s.

“Vikki,” Guy whimpers and I hold him tight. Keep him safe. I wonder what’s gonna happen? I hear other kids talk—about juvie where kids go if their families don’t want them. If they’re bad kids. Daddy loves us, I’m pretty sure, but he’s gotta work lots and lots of time. Maybe he won’t have time for us. Maybe he’ll blame us for them taking Mother to jail.

We tried to be good. Guy tried hardest of all. I didn’t want him to get hurt. I really didn’t. Mother never knew at night, sometimes, after…after she did what she did, I would go into Guy’s room and hold him. I had to be careful because Mother wouldn’t have liked that. And the next day I’d make sure to give him most of my lunch so his belly wouldn’t hurt.

Dave and Ken are talking, and Ken puts his hand on Dave’s arm and shakes his head. But then everything seems to be okay between them—kinda like they are talking but not using words. ESP—I read a book about it once.

My belly feels like it’s doing somersaults, all twisty and turny as Dave and Ken walk over towards us. They aren’t smiling and it scares me.

My mouth is dry. Because I remember what I told them when they came to the house the first time.

“Are you gonna take me to jail?” I say.

Guy turns into me. “No. No. Don’t take Vikki.” He is nearly screaming, and I want to smack him to tell him to shut up.

“Oh, Vikki.” Ken says. He crouches down, looks me in the eyes, and I swear there are tears there. “Why would we ever take you to jail?” He puts his hand on Guy’s back before he looks at Dave. “Starsk?”

Dave nods and crouches down too.

“I lied,” I tell them both. “You aren’t supposed to lie to cops. And people can go to jail for lying. Perjury—I read it in a book.”

“You were trying to protect Guy. You’re a good big sister,” Dave says.

But I’m not. Not really. If I was a good big sister, I would have kept Mother from hitting Guy. I would have stopped her and told her no. But I didn’t. I let her hit Guy because it meant she wasn’t hitting me.

“What’s going to happen to us?” I whisper. I’m afraid of what they are going to say.

Dave and Ken look at each other before they look back at me.

“You’re gonna be safe,” Ken says. “You and Guy.”

My hands are sweating and I walk into the interview room, trying very hard not to let anyone see just how nervous I am. I’m a college graduate for Pete’s sake. I defended a doctoral thesis. Interviewing in front of a bunch of cops to work as a civilian consultant to a new child abuse department can’t be worse than that.

My breath catches as I shake hands and then sit down Because across from me at the table are the two men responsible for me being here today.

“Captain Starsky. Captain Hutchinson,” I say. They look nearly the same to me—a little heavier, a few more lines in the faces, a little less hair on Captain Hutchinson’s side, more gray on Captain Starsky’s.

I wonder if they recognize me. I sit and wait for the interview to start.

“Victoria Rylant…” Captain Starsky says, and then looks at me again. “Victoria Mayer Rylant.”

“Vikki?” Captain Hutchinson leans forward, and his face breaks into a huge grin. “Vikki Mayer?”

I find myself smiling back at both of them. Their joy is infectious. Smiles come way easier these days. Daddy made sure of that. Daddy and Gwen gave us the best life they could. And when Mother got out of the hospital, she never wanted us back. I have no idea where she is—if she’s even alive. I hope to God she never had any more children.

“Doctor Vikki Mayer, Hutch,” Captain Starsky says and tips his chair back onto two legs.

“Doctor Victoria Rylant,” Captain Hutchinson says. “So, Doctor…”

“Vikki,” I tell them both. “If this is awkward, I understand.”

They shake their heads.

“This is terrific,” Captain Starsky says. “What are the chances?”

“Did you know we were in charge of setting the department up?” Captain Hutchinson asks.

I nod. “That’s why I applied. Why I wanted to come back home.” I twist my wedding band. “I wanted to work for the men who gave my brother and me a second chance at life.”

There’s only quiet after I speak. Captain Hutchinson looks away and passes a hand over his face. Captain Starsky gets up and looks out the window for a long time.

“We, ah, well, to tell the truth, Vikki, we don’t often get to see outcomes like this.” When Captain Hutchinson speaks, his voice is hoarse, as if he is trying very hard to keep emotion out of it.

“I suppose we should get the interview out of the way first,” Captain Starsky says.

So we do. It’s all business from then on, and finally we’re done. I think I have a chance at the job but I can’t tell by their expressions.

“Vikki?” Captain Starsky says as I thank them and get up to leave. “About…”

“Guy?” I ask. I smile as I think of my little brother. I know he still struggles with the horrors of what Mother did to him, but I also know how tenaciously he has fought them.

“Guy,” Captain Hutchinson echoes.

“He graduated from film school. He inherited Daddy’s artistic talent. He does special effects for horror films.”

I can’t help but think Guy’s profession was chosen to exorcise his childhood demons much as my choosing social work was. And maybe that’s the best we could hope for. That and making sure we don’t carry them to the next generation.

I look at Captains Starsky and Hutchinson, both standing there, both smiling, and both the reason Guy and I are the people we are today.

“Thank you,” Captain Hutchinson says. “You’ll be getting a phone call in a few days. We’ve got to run it past the chief but as far as we’re concerned, you’ve got the job.”

“Thank you,” I say to both of them. But as I leave, I continue that thanks in my head. Thank you for caring, for fighting for two kids who couldn’t fight for themselves. Thank you for teaching me that strength is as gentle as a sigh and a touch that doesn’t hurt.