My husband slapped me in front of his entire family on Christmas…

They’re stored in three different places now, encrypted and password protected. Mrs. Andrews, who’s now Principal Andrews, taught me about digital security and evidence preservation. She says I have good instincts for justice.

Mum graduated her nursing course last year. She works in the A&E now, helping other people who come in with accidents and falls. She’s good at seeing the signs, good at asking the right questions, good at helping people find their courage.

She tells them about a little girl who saved her family with a tablet and a lot of patience. Grandpa says I have the makings of a good soldier. He’s teaching me about leadership and strategy and standing up for people who can’t stand up for themselves.

Oliver, I don’t call him dad anymore and he knows better than to ask me to, gets out of prison next year. He writes me letters sometimes, asking for forgiveness, asking for a chance to be a father again. I don’t write back.

Mum says I might change my mind when I’m older, when I have more perspective. Maybe she’s right. But right now, I remember everything.

I remember being nine years old and watching my mother shrink a little more each day. I remember making a choice to save us both. And I remember that bullies only understand consequences.

He had three years to learn what consequences feel like. Whether that’s enough time for him to become a better person, well, that’s up to him. But he’ll never get the chance to hurt us again.

I made sure of that. Sometimes at school, kids ask me about what happened. The story made the local news for a while.

«Nine-year-old documents father’s abuse, leads to conviction.» Most kids think it’s cool that I helped catch a bad guy. Some kids ask me if I feel bad about getting my dad in trouble.

I tell them I didn’t get him in trouble. He got himself in trouble by making bad choices. I just made sure those choices had consequences.

Mrs. Andrews says that’s a very mature way to think about it. Mum says that’s a very you way to think about it. Grandpa says that’s a very Sinclair way to think about it.

Sinclairs protect their own and they don’t back down from bullies. I think they’re all right. Last week, a girl in my class told me her stepdad hits her mum.

She asked me what she should do. I gave her my old tablet, the one with the good camera, and taught her how to use the recording app. «Just remember,» I told her, «you’re not tattling.

You’re gathering evidence. And evidence is power.» She nodded very seriously, the way I probably looked when I was nine and making my own plans.

«Will you help me,» she asked. «Yes,» I said without hesitation. «But you have to be very, very careful.»

Because that’s what we do. That’s what our family does. We protect each other and we protect people who need protecting.

And bullies, bullies learn that the Sinclair family doesn’t forget. And we don’t forgive people who hurt the ones we love. We just make sure they face consequences.