And trust is not foolishness.
Trust is what you give people until they show you not to.
He had shown me.
Eventually.
I said: yes.
I said: I accept.
The settlement was documented.
The judge approved it.
Thomas’s lawyer spoke to the judge about the statements his client’s mother had made.
Thomas’s mother had been asked to remain.
She was sitting with a composure I recognized.
The composure of someone who has made a decision and who is now living in the decision.
She did not look at me.
She looked at her hands.
I thought about her in the hallway at the first recess.
She had said: you should have been grateful, dear. He could have had anyone.
She had believed this.
She had believed it the way certain mothers believe things about their sons, with the completeness of someone who has made a person and who cannot separate the person from the belief in them.
