Chapter 12 - WHAT DREW REMEMBERED AND WHAT HE DIDN’T
The prosecutor, Dana Mills, met with me without Drew first.
She said:
“I need you to understand something.”
“What?”
“Memory changes.”
“I know.”
“Especially children.”
“I know.”
“No rehearsing dates.”
“I don’t.”
“No asking him every night what happened.”
“I don’t.”
“Good.”
Then:
“If he says ‘I don’t remember’ on the stand, that is allowed.”
“Of course.”
“If he contradicts something from the forensic interview?”
I swallowed.
“Then he contradicts.”
“Yes.”
Truth over case.
That became mantra.
Then trial prep with child-witness specialist.
Not prosecutor drilling content.
Courtroom familiarization.
Where judge sits.
Who asks questions.
How to say:
I don’t know.
I don’t understand.
Can you repeat?
Can I have break?
Good.
Drew asked:
“Do I have to look at Mom?”
“No, not necessarily.”
Depending accommodations.
He asked:
“Will she get mad?”
“No one is allowed to hurt you because of testimony.”
Different from:
She won’t be mad.
Good.
Then Reena offered plea.
Prosecutors disclosed enough that defense saw risk.
Offer:
Plead guilty to unlawful confinement of children and neglect resulting in delayed medical care.
Dismiss disputed assault-causing-fracture count.
Sentence recommendation including custody, probation, parenting restrictions, treatment.
Reena refused because plea required admitting she intentionally locked children as punishment.
She insisted basement confinement was safety-related.
Trial stayed.
Then family court froze reunification step-up pending criminal trial.
Supervised visits continued.
Reena’s behavior improved.
This created emotional whiplash.
Drew began enjoying some visits.
Then feeling guilty.
“Am I bad if I laugh with Mom?”
“No.”
“Uncle Peter, you don’t like her.”
“That’s adult business.”
“Do you?”
“I don’t trust her.”
“Can I love her?”
“Yes.”
Immediate.
No hesitation.
He relaxed.
Children need permission to love unsafe parents without being returned to them.
Then one visit Lily ran to Reena.
I saw only at pickup.
Lily came out holding drawing.
“Mommy house.”
She had drawn a square.
“Do you want to live with Mom?”
I almost asked.
Stopped.
Too big.
I said:
“Nice drawing.”
Therapist later explored safely.
Good.
Then maternal grandmother confronted me again.
“Lily wants her mother.”
“Yes.”
“So let her go.”
“No.”
“You love having them.”
That hurt because it was true.
I loved them.
Does love contaminate protection?
No.
But I needed guard against possessiveness too.
I told Monica:
“If reunification becomes safe, I will cooperate.”
My stomach twisted saying.
She nodded.
“Good.”
Then privately I cried.
I did not want to lose them.
That was my work.
Not their burden.
Then Aaron’s grave.
I took Drew once because he asked.
Lily too young? She came.
Drew placed a toy car.
“Dad, Mom said sorry.”
I turned away.
He continued:
“Uncle Peter says you weren’t perfect.”
I almost laughed through tears.
Then:
“I still like you.”
My brother got the only verdict that mattered to his son.
Not innocent.
Loved.
Then Drew asked:
“Can dead people hear?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mom says yes.”
“Some people believe that.”
“You?”
“Sometimes I hope.”
He nodded.
“Me too.”
No theology fight.
Then at home I found a note in his backpack.
School assignment:
My family.
He drew:
Aaron in a cloud.
Me.
Lily.
Reena in separate box.
Then wrote:
Mom is still my mom but she does not live with us.
Age-appropriate clarity.
No one instructed.
I put it back.
Do not turn child drawings into evidence.
That was another discipline.
Then Dana called.
The judge granted protective child testimony procedure.
Drew could testify by closed-circuit from adjacent room if court made required findings and defense retained cross-examination rights.
Reena would see monitor.
He would not sit ten feet from her.
Good.
Lily would not testify unless absolutely necessary.
Her statements were limited and corroborative.
The main trial would still rely heavily on adults, records, texts, physical evidence.
Then trial date:
Three months.
The criminal case moved forward.
Family court waited.
May you like
And Reena began doing something none of us expected.
She started admitting more privately than she would admit legally.
