I Blessed Her Wedding With My Life novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: The Second Angle

The holding cell at the county jail had a steel door with a small window in it.

It had a bench, a toilet and a bolt on the outside.

I sat on the bench with my cuffed hands in my lap and listened to the bolt settle into place.

It was strange, but I wasn't afraid.

This room at least told the truth about what it was.

At two in the morning the bolt slid back.

The deputy stood in the doorway with my mother behind him, holding her handbag in front of her.

"Fifteen minutes," he muttered, and left us.

Mom sat down on the other end of the bench and smoothed her skirt.

"Baby, you look terrible."

"I wonder why."

"Tilda is very upset. She'll drop the complaint tonight if you agree to the mental health diversion," Mom said, in the voice she used for the Auxiliary's donors. "A judge sends you home to me for treatment. Nobody has to testify. Nobody has to see that video again."

"I'm not sick."

"The doctor's history says you are."

"The history says I tried to die before," I said. "I never did."

Mom's eyes rested on my face, kind and patient.

"It's written down, Josephine," she said. "People believe what's written down."

I understood, then, how long she had been building this.

"Close the door on your way out," I said.

She stood up and patted my knee.

"You'll be home by Friday. You always come home."

The bolt slid shut behind her.

I counted the bricks until morning.

At seven, the bolt slid back again, and the deputy said, "Alder. You're out. Don't ask me why."

The sheriff's station had a wide front lobby and a flight of concrete steps.

At the bottom of the steps stood the news van, a dozen reporters, and Dot in her green coat, holding her handbag with both hands.

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