Chapter 17 - The Kick
My own conduct remained an issue.
The district attorney reviewed the foyer footage.
Rose slapped me.
I stood.
She moved toward me again.
I kicked her away.
Then stopped.
No pursuit.
No repeated strikes.
Witnesses described her posture as aggressive.
Rose’s attorney argued I retaliated.
My attorney argued I reasonably believed another attack was imminent.
Ultimately prosecutors declined to charge me.
That did not mean every possible kick after an insult becomes self-defense.
Context mattered.
I also regretted something.
Not that I defended myself.
That I had reached the point where violence felt like my first available boundary.
Therapy helped me understand why.
For months, every verbal boundary had been punished.
No.
Please stop.
I disagree.
That isn’t fair.
Each one threatened my job.
May you like
By the time Rose struck me publicly, my body acted before diplomacy entered the room.
I learned from that without accepting blame for her abuse.
