Chapter 4 - The Slap
The police contacted me the next morning.
Marcelline had filed a complaint.
Of course.
I had struck her.
I did not resent the complaint.
I resented that part of me wanted to.
Eleanor Park sat beside me during the interview.
The detective asked:
“Did Ms. Frost physically threaten you when you struck her?”
“No.”
“Your daughter?”
“Not at that moment.”
“Where was your daughter?”
“Behind security and our house manager.”
“Was Ms. Frost attempting to reach her?”
“No.”
“Then why did you hit her?”
“Anger.”
Simple.
The detective wrote.
“Any prior physical violence between you and Ms. Frost?”
“No.”
“Relationship?”
“My late wife’s sister.”
“Romantic?”
“No.”
Good to clarify.
Video from the staircase supported both incidents.
Marcelline shoving Elsa.
Me catching Elsa.
Elsa pointing.
Me later returning.
Slapping Marcelline.
No missing context.
The district attorney handled the cases separately.
Marcelline’s alleged conduct involved a child.
Mine involved an adult.
I was offered a misdemeanor pretrial disposition after review.
Anger-management classes.
Community service.
No new offenses.
Stay-away from Marcelline except court/trust matters through counsel.
Upon completion, dismissal.
I accepted.
My uncle Dominic called.
“You’re taking a class because you slapped a woman who threw Elsa down stairs?”
“She didn’t throw her down stairs. She shoved her toward them.”
“Same.”
“No.”
“Why are you defending her?”
“I’m defending facts.”
That annoyed him.
Then:
“You saved your daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Then slapped her.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“No.”
He stared.
I continued:
“Elsa was safe when I hit Marcelline.”
“So?”
“So that makes it punishment.”
Dominic laughed.
“Your grandfather would be ashamed.”
“Probably.”
My grandfather had been dead eighteen years.
I could survive his disappointment.
Elsa mattered more.
The first anger-management session felt absurd.
Seven men.
Two women.
One facilitator.
I was the only billionaire.
No one cared.
Facilitator asked:
“What did the slap accomplish?”
I said:
“Nothing useful.”
“Did it communicate anger?”
“Yes.”
“Did words already do that?”
“Yes.”
“Did it improve safety?”
“No.”
“Did your daughter see?”
I went quiet.
“Yes.”
There.
The part I had been avoiding.
Elsa saw me answer violence with violence after danger ended.
May you like
If I wanted her to learn that adults cannot hurt her because they are angry, I had to include myself in the rule.
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