The Child-Molesting Octopus

I just finished a new Francine Rivers novel, and in it there's a child molester character named Dock who made my skin crawl.  I was terrified by the way Dock controlled his victim simply by telling her that her daddy would be angry with her and kill Dock if he found out about their games.  It reminded me of so many stories I heard from victims when I volunteered with the Right to Write Poetry Project.

After I closed the book, I vowed never to let my husband or father tell the kids "If anybody ever messes with you, I'll kill them."  Then I turned the Dock chapter into a santitized bedtime parable to teach the kids that it is always okay to tell Mom and Dad.

In the story, two octopi (we call them octopuses, because we're three) named Cal and Amari (did I mention I make these stories up at 9:30 pm after a glass or two of wine?) get dropped off at the underwater home of their neighbor, Mr. Dock, while their parents go to the grocery store.  Mr. Dock wants them to play some games that don't feel right.  Cal and Amari don't know if they should along with the games, but in the end, they do, because Mr. Dock says he's so lonely, and because they don't want to make Mr. Dock angry or sad.

Then Mr. Dock makes them promise they won't tell their mom and dad what happened.  He says that if Cal and Amari tell, their daddy will kill Mr. Dock and they will get in so much trouble.  ("Is that true?" I interject.  "No!" Cody says.  "A lie!  Mr. Dock is naughty! He needs to go to jail!"  That's my boy.)

On the way home, Cal and Amari argue over whether to tell the truth.  Later that night, their mom says that if a grownup ever makes them feel weird or not-right, it's safe to tell her.  The octopuses share how Mr. Dock made them play some games that didn't feel right and how he made them promise not to tell.  They are scared that Mommy will be angry and that Daddy will hurt Mr. Dock.  But Mommy hugs them and tells them what so many girls in Right to Write told me they wish their mothers had said (and what not one of them did): that she loves them so much, and that telling her was the right thing to do, that she will not let Mr. Dock hurt them anymore, and that they do not have to see him ever again.

Then Liv asks for the one where Cal and Amari borrow a dump truck at the Berkeley Marina and help out on a construction site, so I tell that one, too.