Chapter 5
I said, “I already called 911.”
He slapped me.
And now the sirens were coming.
The sound grew louder.
Closer.
Vanessa began pulling at the buttons of my coat.
“Oh my God.”
Grant looked toward the front windows.
“Emma, listen to me.”
“No.”
“You need to tell them this was a misunderstanding.”
“No.”
“I barely touched you.”
My cheek burned.
Blood filled my mouth.
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“You are about to destroy this family.”
There it was.
The old weapon.
Guilt.
He placed it between us and waited for me to pick it up.
I didn’t.
“You destroyed it before you walked through that door,” I said.
Blue lights flashed against the rain-dark windows.
Vanessa finally got the coat open.
Her hands shook.
Grant moved toward me.
Not fast.
Not aggressively enough to look aggressive.
The way he always moved when he wanted to intimidate me while preserving deniability.
Then the dispatcher said, “Emma, officers are at the residence. Do not approach the door unless you feel safe.”
Grant froze.
A hard knock sounded from the foyer.
“Police.”
Another knock.
“Police. Open the door.”
Grant looked at me.
I looked back.
And for the first time in eleven years, I did not wonder what would happen to him.
I wondered what would happen to me if I protected him again.
That made the answer easy.
I raised my voice.
“The door is unlocked.”
Chapter 2: The truth on camera
Two officers entered my kitchen less than thirty seconds later.
I remember their shoes first.
Black soles wet from the rain.
One officer was a woman with silver threaded through her dark hair.
The other was younger, broad-shouldered, eyes moving quickly around the room.
Broken mug.
My bleeding lip.
Grant.
Vanessa.
My belly.
The handgun question from the dispatcher had already reached them.
“Sir,” the younger officer said, “keep your hands where I can see them.”
Grant’s face transformed.
I watched it happen.
Fear disappeared.
Charm arrived.
That was Grant’s second gift.
His first was turning shame into anger.
His second was turning consequences into misunderstandings.
“Absolutely, Officer. Of course.”
His hands came up slightly.
“Everyone is upset. My wife is pregnant. There was an argument.”
The female officer looked at me.
“Are you Emma?”
“Yes.”
“Were you struck?”
Grant answered for me.
“She stepped toward me while I was trying to move past her.”
The officer did not look at him.