Chapter 6 - MY BROTHER HAD TO FACE HIS PART
Nathan wanted to blame Judith for everything.
For about forty-eight hours.
Then Anna stopped him.
“She didn’t marry me.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“Your mother didn’t promise to protect me.”
Nathan went quiet.
“You did.”
That conversation happened at their kitchen table.
I was there because Anna asked me to stay.
Nathan stared at his hands.
“I never thought she’d do something like this.”
Anna replied:
“I told you she was scaring me.”
“I know.”
“You called it postpartum anxiety.”
“I know.”
“She went through my drawers.”
“I know.”
“She took Ruby out of my arms after I said no.”
“I know.”
“You said she was excited to be a grandmother.”
Nathan began crying.
“I know.”
No excuses.
That was the beginning of anything useful.
He had not planned to take Ruby.
He had not forged anything.
He had physically intervened when he discovered what was happening.
All true.
Another truth:
He had spent months translating his wife’s fear into overreaction because confronting his mother was harder.
Anna told him:
“I don’t need you to hate her.”
Pause.
“I need you to stop making me prove she’s dangerous before you believe I’m uncomfortable.”
Nathan nodded.
May you like
That sentence changed him more than anything police said.
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