Chapter 21 - Eira returns to the dining room
For months Eira refused to eat in the dining room.
Kitchen:
Fine.
Patio:
Fine.
Breakfast nook:
Fine.
Dining room:
“No.”
Dr. Hannah Moore told me:
“Do not turn return into a test.”
So we didn’t.
Then one Tuesday she carried her cereal into the dining room herself.
Not dinner.
Morning.
Sunlight.
Door open.
The lock had been removed months earlier.
She sat.
Ate three bites.
Then left.
No applause.
Next week:
Sandwich.
Then one evening:
Pasta.
She asked:
“Can door stay open?”
“Yes.”
Always.
Then:
“Can Belladonna come back?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“I don’t know.”
At that point, criminal no-contact condition existed.
Future beyond probation?
No need promise.
Then:
“Does she love me?”
I hated that question.
“I think she believed she was protecting you.”
“That’s not love.”
Four years old.
Sharp.
I said:
“People can love someone and still make unsafe choices.”
“Do you love me?”
“Yes.”
“Do you make unsafe choices?”
I thought about the food I threw.
The men I had frightened.
My life.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
May you like
“Then stop.”
Children make ethics sound easier than adults prefer.
