Chapter 8 - OSCAR FILES
Oscar filed first.
Emergency motion concerning temporary parental responsibility.
He alleged:
Lucy experienced acute postpartum emotional instability.
Lucy left the hospital dressed inadequately for weather.
Lucy removed newborn Grace from the planned marital residence.
Lucy refused spousal support.
Lucy was staying with an older male relative in an unfamiliar environment.
Older male relative.
Uncle Ray.
The man who helped raise me.
Oscar attached a photograph.
Me outside the hospital.
Barefoot.
Hospital gown.
Holding Grace.
I stared.
“Who took that?”
Teresa examined metadata.
Oscar.
From across the patient pickup lane.
He had been there.
My blood turned cold.
“He watched me?”
Apparently.
He had returned after changing the locks.
Saw me outside.
Did not approach.
Took a photograph.
Then left.
Why?
Evidence.
A woman postpartum, improperly dressed, outside in rain.
Without context:
Unstable.
With context:
Her husband removed her clothing, failed to pick her up, locked her out, then photographed the result.
That was the pattern.
Create circumstance.
May you like
Document reaction.
Interpret it.
