Chapter 15
The civil suits came next.
Claire sued the facility, Diane’s estate, Ryan, and Dr. Price.
I sued for Lily.
The money did not heal anyone.
But it paid for therapy.
Housing.
Medical care.
Security.
Education.
It made sure the people who stole safety had to fund its return.
Nora became our commander.
Rachel called her “the tiny thunderstorm.”
Nora pretended not to like it.
She liked it.
Ryan wrote letters from prison.
I kept them unopened for legal records.
Claire burned hers after reading one.
“He says he loved me,” she said.
“What do you think?”
She looked at Mara coloring beside Lily.
“I think love that needs victims is not love.”
I nodded.
That became one of the rules of our new life.
No love that required silence.
No care that removed choice.
No family that made children afraid.
Lily began preschool at four.
The first week, she refused snack juice.
The teacher called me, worried.
I told her, “Let her choose water.”
By the third week, Lily poured her own juice and announced, “I do it.”
The teacher cried.
Then called to tell me.
May you like
I cried too.
Healing sometimes comes in paper cups.
