Chapter 11 - MY HAND
I accepted diversion for slapping Helena.
No speeches about blood.
No claim that every father would do the same.
I blocked her hand when she reached for Leo.
That was defensible.
Then I hit her across the face after the immediate danger had passed.
Anger.
Punishment.
I admitted it.
Anger-management counseling.
Community service.
No new violent conduct.
Case dismissed after compliance.
An older cousin said:
“You let them treat you like some ordinary man.”
I answered:
“I am one under the law.”
He disliked that.
Good.
Then Helena’s case.
Prosecutors charged a misdemeanor child-endangerment-related offense and coercive conduct based on the food threat and forced task, calibrated to actual facts and local statute.
No felony trafficking.
No absurd forced-labor indictment over twenty minutes of garage cleaning.
Her pattern with employees was handled separately through labor and civil processes.
She accepted a plea.
Probation.
Counseling.
No unsupervised contact with Leo for a defined period.
May you like
Community service unrelated to Bellucci charities.
Good.
