Chapter 16 - The slap
Grant’s assault case proceeded separately from everything else.
Video from the reception showed one slap.
Hard.
Unprovoked physically.
I was approaching him but had not touched him.
He whispered:
“Rachel. Stop.”
Then hit me.
The state filed a misdemeanor domestic-assault charge.
No serious injury.
No prior violence.
Grant entered a diversionary domestic-violence program after consulting counsel.
Conditions included:
No harassment.
No physical contact with me outside agreed contexts.
Behavioral-intervention counseling.
Community service.
Compliance with temporary family-court orders.
Successful completion could resolve the misdemeanor without incarceration under the program available in our jurisdiction.
I did not demand jail.
Not because the slap did not matter.
Because criminal court had its own standards.
Family court had another job.
My job was Maddie.
Evelyn called me:
“vindictive.”
I answered:
“I did not slap myself.”
Then ended the call.
May you like
The last direct conversation we had for almost a year.
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