Chapter 8 - THE SLAP
The prosecutor offered me diversion.
Simple battery.
No prior record.
No serious injury.
Dominic had no medical treatment beyond redness.
Video from Victoria’s foyer camera partially captured sound and aftermath.
I had admitted.
Terms:
Anger-management course.
Forty hours community service.
No unlawful contact.
Restitution if documented medical cost—none.
Dismissal after completion.
I accepted.
Some relatives were furious.
“How can they charge you after what he did?”
Because I slapped him.
Separate.
That answer became my discipline.
Leo’s therapist also made me discuss it with him.
“Mommy hit Daddy.”
“Yes.”
“Daddy bad.”
“Daddy made bad choices.”
“Then hit okay?”
“No.”
He frowned.
“Why Mommy?”
“Because Mommy got very angry and did something wrong.”
“Grandma says hit make learn.”
My chest tightened.
“I don’t want you to learn that.”
“Then why?”
“Because adults can know rules and still break them.”
He thought.
“Mommy timeout?”
I almost laughed.
“Kind of. I have a class.”
“Like school?”
“More boring.”
He smiled.
Then:
“Daddy come?”
“Not today.”
Supervised visits had started.
Leo attended three.
First:
He hid under chair.
Dominic cried.
Supervisor told him not to pressure.
Second:
Dominic brought toy.
Not allowed without approval.
Removed.
Third:
Leo stayed fifteen minutes.
Asked to leave.
Visit ended.
Dominic complained:
“You are reinforcing avoidance.”
The supervisor documented.
He still spoke in his mother’s language.
Avoidance.
Defect.
Compliance.
Not son.
Then court extended supervised contact.
Dominic blamed me.
I had nothing to do with supervisor notes.
Good.
Then my own travel.
I canceled two trips.
Not all forever.
Leo needed stability during investigation.
I joined meetings remotely.
My board did not collapse.
My company survived without my physical presence.
Eventually I would travel again with transparent childcare.
No moral award for quitting work.
Then I learned something uncomfortable.
Dominic had done more daily parenting than I had acknowledged during some periods.
School pickups.
Bedtime.
Doctor appointments.
He was not a stranger father.
That made his betrayal worse, not simpler.
He knew Leo.
He loved him sometimes.
He also resented him.
May you like
Human beings can do both.
Custody court would consider both.
