Chapter 4 - Why Helena Modified the Journal
I started keeping the journal six months earlier.
At first, it was only a place to write things I could not say aloud.
Grace woke four times.
Mom left at 7:20 and returned after midnight.
Missed chemistry quiz because Ben was sick.
Mateo said there was no dinner until I cooked.
Then Helena found me crying in the laundry room during a family visit.
I showed her several pages.
She did not tell me to be more patient.
She photographed every entry.
Then she helped me create a second record with dates, school absences, messages from Mom, grocery receipts, and the names of adults who had seen me caring for the children alone.
Helena also gave me a small voice-activated recorder.
We fitted it inside the reinforced cardboard spine of the journal.
It was not there to spy on private conversations.
It was there because Mom frequently took my phone before threatening me.
“If she finds the notebook,” Helena said, “she may tell you exactly what she plans to do while believing no one else can hear.”
I thought that sounded dramatic.
Then Mom stole it from my backpack the night before I left.
She carried the recorder in her purse for almost twenty hours.
May you like
She spoke freely near it.
And now she had delivered it directly to two police officers.
