Chapter 5 - THE SECRET GAME
The game was not sexual.
It also was not imaginary in the harmless playground sense.
Madison kept a real score sheet in a glitter-covered notebook.
Points:
1 — make someone give up a seat.
2 — take a snack.
3 — make them lie.
5 — make them cry without getting caught.
10 — make an adult blame them.
When investigators later recovered the notebook, the last category disturbed Valerie most.
Ten points.
Not for hurting someone.
For controlling the adult interpretation afterward.
Madison understood the real source of power earlier than most children did.
Tyler could shove.
Chloe could film.
But the best victory, to Madison, was making authority believe the wrong story.
Then Valerie saw one notation beside a drawing of a mouse:
LILA = 47.
A score.
A child reduced to accumulated humiliations.
The game was not sexual.
Not occult.
Not something sensational.
It was social control.
Madison called it The List.
Children earned points for making other children:
cry,
give up lunch money,
hand over toys,
do embarrassing things,
or lie to adults.
Tyler loved the physical part.
Chloe loved the mocking.
Madison kept score.
Whoever lost had to obey the others.
Lila had lost first.
Why?
Because she refused to steal a classmate’s bracelet.
Madison declared her “the pet.”
After that:
carry backpacks.
Give snacks.
Do homework answers.
Stand lookout.
Take blame.
At Melissa’s house, Madison escalated the game because no teachers were there.
Tyler pushed Lila into the backyard planter.
Chloe filmed her crying.
Madison told her:
“If you tell, we show your dad you stole.”
Stole what?
A silver bracelet.
The same one Lila had refused to take.
Madison placed it in Lila’s backpack.
Then photographed it.
Lila believed the picture proved theft.
Seven-year-old logic.
Then Madison added:
“Aunt Melissa believes me.”
That was the deepest threat.
Not violence.
Credibility.
Lila believed adults belonged to Madison.
Then came another layer.
Madison knew things about Lila’s father.
Private things.
Andrew had attended grief counseling after his wife’s death.
Once had a panic attack at work.
Once missed a school pickup after a double shift.
Melissa knew.
Madison repeated fragments.
“Your dad forgets you.”
“Your dad is crazy.”
“If you make trouble, they’ll take you away.”
Lila believed her.
Valerie felt sick.
This was bullying amplified by adult information.
How did Madison get it?
Melissa.
Maybe through careless conversation.
May you like
Maybe directly.
That question mattered.
