Chapter 7 - My own case
I was charged with misdemeanor harassment/offensive contact for dumping food on Belladonna.
Not because the city finally decided dinner was a felony.
Because I intentionally threw food onto another person.
Her subsequent fall caused bruising but no serious injury.
Could I argue provocation?
Yes.
Could I argue defense of Eira?
The immediate threat had ended.
Eira was behind me.
Security present.
No need.
My attorney negotiated a diversion-like resolution:
Anger-management course.
Community service.
No unlawful contact.
Charge dismissed after compliance if no new offense.
I accepted.
Some men around me were embarrassed.
One said:
“You’re going to a class because you threw food?”
I looked at him.
“I threw food on a woman while my daughter watched.”
He stopped talking.
I had spent half my adult life surrounded by people who treated restraint as weakness.
That culture had helped build the reputation Belladonna later weaponized.
If Eira was going to learn anything from this, it would not be:
Daddy’s anger has special rules.
Then Belladonna’s injuries.
Minor.
No civil suit yet.
Her lawyer reserved rights.
Fine.
Then my custody situation.
Eira’s mother was dead.
Belladonna had no parental rights.
Could Belladonna petition for custody simply because she had lived with us?
Not automatically.
She was not a parent.
Potential standing depended on actual caregiving circumstances and state law.
She had not been Eira’s primary long-term caregiver.
Her threat:
“Your enemies will capture Eira”
was not a custody claim yet.
But I discovered she had prepared documents.
Temporary caregiver authorization.
Emergency medical consent.
Educational decision delegation.
Standby guardian nomination.
My signature lines blank.
Why?
Belladonna said:
“Because you travel.”
That could be ordinary estate planning.
Then one proposed document:
Protective relocation agreement.
If a verified threat level reached “critical” or if I became unavailable through detention, incapacity, or emergency:
Belladonna would relocate Eira to an approved secure residence.
Atlas Sentinel would manage transport/security.
Belladonna would receive temporary authority over school and medical logistics subject to legal limits.
Could I sign such a plan?
Parts, yes.
Would it make her legal mother?
No.
Would actual guardianship still require law/court where applicable?
Yes.
Then price.
Atlas package:
$2.6 million over three years.
Secure residence:
Owned by Price Haven Properties LLC.
Who owned Price Haven?
Belladonna.
There.
She would benefit from both control and money.
But was that the whole secret?
May you like
No.
We still did not know whether the remaining threats were real.
