Chapter 5 - What Derek wanted
Derek did not lure me downstairs to kill me.
That is important.
He wanted something both smaller and more revealing.
Control over the separation.
I had filed temporary custody papers two days earlier.
I also had an appointment scheduled with a legal-aid financial counselor because I discovered three accounts I did not understand.
Derek knew about the custody filing.
He did not know exactly what I had discovered financially.
He assumed my sister Sarah was pushing me toward divorce.
He said:
“You’re not taking my kids.”
“I’m not.”
“You filed papers.”
“For temporary schedules.”
“Because your sister told you.”
“No.”
He moved closer.
I backed up.
“I want you out of the building.”
“You want me out of my children’s lives.”
“That is not what I said.”
“You changed school pickup.”
I had.
After separation, I removed Derek from unrestricted pickup for one week while lawyers worked out temporary arrangements because he had once taken Lily from school two hours early during an argument and refused to tell me where they were.
He brought her home safely.
Still wrong.
Derek wanted me to withdraw the emergency temporary-motion language concerning coercive behavior.
He had seen a draft through our shared printer account.
I did not know that yet.
He said:
“Tell your lawyer there was no abuse.”
I answered:
“I didn’t say you hit me.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
He became louder.
I moved toward the stairs.
He stepped in front.
Then:
“You are going to listen for five minutes.”
I said:
“No.”
Simple.
That was when his plan changed.
Or maybe it had already existed.
He opened the rear storage-room door.
Pointed.
“Go in.”
I laughed because it was absurd.
Then he grabbed my upper arm.
Not a punch.
Not a choke.
A hard grip.
I twisted free.
He shoved me once toward the room.
I stumbled inside.
Door slammed.
Padlock clicked.
I heard him say:
May you like
“When you’re ready to stop making everything a crisis, I’ll come back.”
Then his footsteps disappeared.
