Chapter 7 - My slap follows me
The prosecutor charged me with misdemeanor assault.
Isolde too.
Two separate acts.
Her slap:
Against a child.
Mine:
Against Isolde.
My lawyer, Ethan Shaw, said:
“Do not call yours protective force.”
“I hit her after she stopped.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
My case was eligible for diversion.
No criminal history.
Single strike.
Minor injury.
Context.
Conditions proposed:
Anger-management course.
Community service.
No unlawful contact.
Six months compliance.
Dismissal if completed.
I accepted.
Could I have fought?
Yes.
Video from home security showed the sequence clearly.
I was not interested in spending months pretending my hand did something different because I had a morally sympathetic reason.
Then Isolde.
Her case involved:
Slapping Tamsin.
Possible child-endangerment allegations depending broader evidence.
No severe injury.
No repeated documented hitting yet.
Prosecutor did not charge felony abuse based on one slap.
Then Dana’s child-welfare findings remained separate.
Family court separate.
Trust separate.
I started learning how many systems can look at one dinner without any of them being allowed to swallow the others.
Then Tamsin asked:
“Are you getting punished because you protected me?”
I said:
“I’m getting consequences because I hit Grandma.”
“But she hit me.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
“So I should have gotten you away and called for help.”
“Would she still be bad?”
“Yes.”
“Would you still be good?”
I smiled sadly.
“It’s not teams.”
She hated that answer.
Children want categories.
May you like
So do adults.
But families become dangerous when one person’s wrongdoing becomes permission for everyone else.
