Chapter 4 - Custody Papers
Dad did not show me the message at first.
I saw it anyway. The words glowed on his phone in the dark bedroom.
You took my daughter. Now I'll take your son.
My stomach turned cold.
Dad locked the screen quickly. But it was too late.
"Is she coming back?" I whispered.
"No."
His answer came too fast.
Dad saw that I did not believe him. He sat on the edge of my bed and took both my hands.
"Listen to me, Ethan. I will not let Amanda near you."
"What about Lily?"
"She won't take Lily either."
"But she's Lily's mom."
Pain crossed his face. "I know."
That was the hard part. Amanda was cruel to me. But Lily still loved her. Or loved the version of her she kept waiting for. The mom who sang bedtime songs when Dad was home. The mom who braided her hair gently before school. The mom who became someone else when no one was watching.
Kids can love people who scare them. I knew that before I knew multiplication.
Dad called Officer Grant. Then his lawyer. Then he walked through the house checking every window and lock.
Claire slept in Lily's room. Dad slept in the chair outside my door. I woke three times that night. Each time, he was still there.
The next morning, Amanda filed for emergency custody.
Not of Lily.
Of me.
Dad read the papers at the kitchen table and went so still that Claire took them from his hand.
"What?" I asked.
No one answered. I hated when adults did that.
Lily sat beside me, clutching a cereal spoon.
Claire looked at Dad. "She's claiming Daniel is unstable and that Ethan made false allegations because he resents his stepfamily."
My spoon dropped into my bowl. Milk splashed.
"I didn't lie."
Dad came to me instantly. "I know."
Claire kept reading, face pale. "She says Ethan is emotionally disturbed, food aggressive, and dangerous around Lily."
Lily screamed. "He is not!"
Dad pulled both of us close.
Amanda had left the house, but her voice had found another way in. Through papers. Through lies. Through words adults might believe because they were typed neatly.
Dad's lawyer, Ms. Romero, arrived that afternoon. She was small, sharp, and carried a briefcase that looked older than me. She sat across from us in the living room.
"Ethan," she said gently, "I need to ask you some questions."
Dad stiffened.
Ms. Romero looked at him. "Daniel, if we want the court to hear him, we need to know what he can say."
I looked at Dad. He nodded, but his eyes were wet.
Ms. Romero asked about food. About punishments. About the laundry room. About school lunches. About whether Amanda ever hit me.
I answered as much as I could. Sometimes my voice stopped working. Lily filled in pieces.
"She made him stand by the table while we ate dessert."
"She told him his mom left because he was hard to love."
"She said Daddy would send him away if he complained."
Dad stood suddenly and walked out. I heard something break in the hallway. Claire followed him.
Ms. Romero waited. She did not rush me.
Finally Dad came back. His eyes were red.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
I did not want his sorry. I wanted the last year back. I wanted every dinner where I watched food pass me by. I wanted to be small without being scared.
Ms. Romero placed a folder on the table.
"We have the recordings. We have Lily's statement. We have medical concerns. Ethan needs to see a doctor today."
"Why?" I asked.
Dad's face crumpled. "To make sure your body is okay."
The doctor's office smelled like rubbing alcohol. The nurse weighed me and measured my height. She wrote things down. She asked questions I did not want to answer.
Dad held my hand the whole time.
When we left, he did not say much. But he did not let go either.
That night, Ms. Romero called a family meeting. She sat in the living room with a yellow legal pad and explained what would happen next.
"The emergency filing will be heard by a judge in three days. Until then, Amanda has no visitation rights. Lily stays with Daniel. Ethan stays with Daniel. I need both children available for interviews."
"Interviews?" I asked.
"With a child advocate," Ms. Romero said. "Someone who talks to kids in situations like this."
I did not like the sound of that. But Dad squeezed my shoulder.
"I'll be right outside the door," he said.
Ms. Romero nodded. "Good. Now let's go over exactly what you remember."
I told them everything.
The noodles. The locked door. The words Amanda used when Dad was gone. The way Lily tried to help me and got punished for it.
When I finished, Ms. Romero looked at Dad.
"This is stronger than I expected."
Dad did not look relieved. He looked exhausted.
"Stronger isn't the same as over," he said.
May you like
Ms. Romero nodded slowly. "No. It's not."
She was right. Amanda was not finished. Not even close.
