Chapter 6 - DUSTIN’S FIRST STORY
Dustin asked to meet.
Attorney present.
I agreed.
No Meadow.
He looked exhausted.
“Avery, I never told Mom to shave her bald.”
“You told Meadow Grandma knew best.”
“I thought Mom was trimming it.”
“Meadow says you put her back in the chair.”
“She kept running.”
“Because someone had clippers.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“I made a terrible call.”
“You positioned the phone.”
His face changed.
“Mom wanted documentation.”
“Of a haircut?”
“Of Meadow’s behavior.”
“Why?”
“The trust review.”
There.
He realized what he had said.
“What about the trust review?”
“Nothing.”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“What did you need to prove?”
“Avery.”
“What did you need to prove?”
He looked toward his lawyer.
No help.
Finally:
“That Meadow needs structure.”
“Why?”
“Because she does.”
“According to whom?”
“My mother.”
I almost laughed.
“Your mother called her a dog.”
“She shouldn’t have.”
“She shaved your daughter.”
“I know.”
“While you filmed.”
“I didn’t film the shaving.”
“You placed the phone.”
He stopped.
“I thought Mom would record Meadow refusing.”
“For what?”
Silence.
Rebecca answered for him.
“To support continuation of paid family behavioral services?”
Dustin looked furious.
Not at Rebecca.
At me.
“Do you know what it costs to raise a child?”
I stared.
“We both have jobs.”
“Not like before.”
There.
“What happened to your job?”
May you like
He looked away.
I did not know that either.
