Chapter 14 - The assault cases resolve
Rachel pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery involving a child.
Sentence:
Eighteen months probation.
Forty hours community service.
Anger-management counseling.
No contact with Lily except through lawful family events I explicitly approved.
Restitution for Lily’s uninsured medical costs.
No jail.
No felony exaggeration.
Then my case.
Two retaliatory slaps.
No serious injury.
I accepted pretrial diversion.
Six months.
Conflict-management course.
Thirty hours community service.
No new violent offense.
Successful completion:
Charge dismissed.
Mark drove me home from my first class.
He said:
“You still think she deserved it.”
“I think she deserved consequences.”
“Not what I asked.”
I looked out window.
“Yes. Part of me still thinks she deserved the slaps.”
“Then?”
“Thinking something feels satisfying is not same as believing I should have done it.”
May you like
He nodded.
We were learning to speak without forcing moral simplicity.
