Chapter 13
Drea tried one last trick before trial.
She sent Calla a birthday gift.
Not directly.
Through a delivery service.
No return name.
Just a pink box with a silver ribbon.
Security stopped it.
Inside was the stuffed unicorn Calla had lost two years ago.
The one Elise bought her before the divorce.
The one Drea said must have been left at school.
Calla stared at it through the plastic evidence bag.
Her face went white.
“She had it?”
“Yes,” I said.
Calla’s mouth trembled.
“She told me I lost it because I didn’t care about things.”
Elise made a sound behind me.
Calla looked at the unicorn.
Then at us.
“I don’t want it.”
“You don’t have to keep it,” Elise said.
Calla shook her head.
“No. I want it gone.”
Ramirez took it as evidence.
Hidden inside the stitching was a note.
Miss me yet?
Drea had written it in silver ink.
Nina filed a violation motion within the hour.
The judge revoked Drea’s bail.
She was taken into custody that afternoon.
Cameras caught her screaming as officers led her from her mother’s house.
For once, the world saw something close to her real face.
Calla did not watch.
She asked for pancakes.
We made them.
Badly.
Elise burned the first batch.
I burned the second.
Calla declared us both unfit and took over.
The pancakes were lumpy.
Perfect.
Later, Calla asked if she could speak at trial.
Nina looked careful.
“You may be allowed to give a statement, but you do not have to.”
“I want her to know I remember.”
Elise reached for her hand.
“Remembering can hurt.”
Calla nodded.
“It already does.”
I knelt in front of her.
“You do not have to be brave for us.”
“I’m not.”
Her eyes lifted to mine.
“I’m being brave for me.”
There are moments when your child becomes bigger than your fear.
That was one.
I wanted to protect her from every courtroom, every question, every ugly truth.
But protection could not mean silence.
Not anymore.
So I nodded.
“Then we will stand beside you.”
Calla corrected me.
“No. Behind me.”
May you like
Elise smiled through tears.
“Behind you.”
