Without a Word by Carol Lea Benjamin Page B

Sally had left shortly after Madison’s diagnosis. What other conclusion could this kid have come to given the timing of her mother’s departure?
    I stopped by Miyagi on the way home and got some sushi to go. I was anxious to get to the computer and find out more about the disorder that might have been part of what made Sally run.
    Chronic motor tic disorder, which Madison might or might not outgrow, was considered to have a genetic cause despite the fact that the gene or genes that caused it had not yet been identified. I wondered if Sally had had a tic disorder as a kid. The more common kind was transitory, lasting only weeks or months. The kind Madison had lasted considerably longer, usually for years and sometimes for a lifetime.
    Or was it Leon who’d had the disorder?
    I stopped reading what little I’d found online when I got to a part that was particularly painful for me. All the symptoms common to the disorder, muscle spasms, tics, grimacing, odd recurrent movements and blinking, exacerbated during times of stress. I had gone to spend time with Madison in the hope that someway, somehow, I could make some connection with her, that she would be able, one way or another, to feed me some information about her missing mother. Instead, I vented my frustration, most of which had nothing to do with her or with this case, ranting at the poor kid while her face twitched, her eyes blinked and both arms began to shake and tremble, reminding me of the autistic kids I used to work with and what happened when you first tried touching them.
    I owed Madison, I thought. But perhaps it wasn’t that simple. Perhaps there was another side to getting her upset. Perhaps that would be the way I would find out what it took to get her to act violent. The question was, how far did I dare go and what would it do to Madison and to me if I pushed her again, if I pushed her even harder than I already had?
    I printed the rest of the pages on chronic motor tic disorder and put them on the side of the desk to finish reading later. Then I wrote some notes and questions on file cards, tacking them up over the desk. It was early evening by the time I called Leon. “I have a few more questions,” I told him.
    â€œShoot.”
    â€œAre there any of your neighbors that Sally was friendly with, another young mother perhaps?”
    â€œThree-H,” he said. “And four-F. There was another one, but she moved. And Ted. He’s downstairs, the apartment under us.”
    â€œNames?”
    â€œThree-H is Nina Reich. Four-F, the Goodmans. They have a girl Madison’s age.”
    â€œDo the kids still see each other?”
    â€œNot anymore. Not since the accident.”
    â€œWhat accident?”
    â€œIt was a couple of years ago. Madison accidentally pushed Alicia when they were on the stairs.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œAlicia broke her arm. They haven’t played since then.”
    â€œWas anyone with them? Were you there, or one of Alicia’s parents?”
    â€œYeah, Nancy, the mother, she was there. She said it wasn’t an accident. She might not even want to talk to you.”
    â€œI see. What did she say happened?”
    â€œThat Madison shoved Alicia down the stairs.”
    â€œI mean before that. What was the reason for her anger?”
    â€œWhatever the reason, there’s no excuse for that kind of behavior.”
    â€œAgreed. I’m just trying to understand. The kid, Alicia, did she make some comment about the tics? Is that what happened?”
    â€œThat’s my guess.”
    â€œYou mean Nancy wouldn’t say?”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œLeon, has Madison had any therapy to help her deal with her disorder?”
    â€œYeah, she went to two different shrinks. Neither one of them worked out.”
    â€œWhy is that?”
    â€œBecause she just sat there. She wouldn’t speak.”
    â€œI thought they do play therapy with kids. Or art