Chapter 16 - The Case After Christmas
The front steps were slick from freezing rain.
I was carrying a small bag of gifts to my neighbor’s house because Mrs. Alvarez had invited me for tea, and because I wanted one hour in a room where no one watched my hands to see what I might sign.
Lauren followed me outside.
“You embarrassed Jeffrey,” she said.
I turned carefully, one hand gripping the railing, the other holding my cane.
“By refusing to surrender my home?”
“By treating us like criminals.”
“You forged my initials on a facility application.”
Her expression changed.
Only for a second.
But it was enough.
“You’re confused, Sophia.”
“No. I’m finished being managed.”
Her face became perfectly still.
“You should have signed the papers.”
I felt the recorder inside my coat and forced myself not to touch it.
“I am meeting my attorney after Christmas. You and Jeffrey will receive formal notice to leave.”
Lauren looked toward the empty street. Snow had begun falling, soft enough to hide the ice beneath it.
Then she leaned close.
“Old women fall every day.”
Her hands struck my shoulders.
The sky tilted. The railing slipped from my grip. Pain tore through my ankle as I landed beside the walkway, my foot twisting under me with a sound I felt more than heard.
Lauren stood above me for several seconds.
She did not rush down.
She did not shout for help.
May you like
She only looked at me and said, “Now maybe you’ll stop fighting us.”
Then she called emergency services and began to cry before the operator answered.
