Judith’s attorney eventually advised her not to keep insisting nobody had touched me.
Months later, she accepted a resolution that included probation, counseling, restitution toward my medical costs, and an order not to contact me.
She never apologized directly.
Her written statement said she regretted that “a family disagreement became physical.”
Even then, she tried to make the staircase share the blame.
Graham and I separated permanently.
He asked me to attend counseling with him.
I told him he needed counseling whether I returned or not.
For once, he did not turn his growth into a condition I had to satisfy.
He began speaking honestly about the way he had spent his life managing Judith’s emotions at everyone else’s expense.
He also admitted that he had seen smaller moments before the staircase.
A hand gripping my wrist too long at Thanksgiving.
A door blocked during an argument.
