Two bedtime stories, one chosen by Hailey.

Calls to me whenever I had to leave for work.

It was a small beginning.

It mattered more than any speech I could have made.

PART 12

A month before the patio incident, I’d noticed that Hailey flinched when Brenda raised her voice.

I remembered it vividly now: a spilled carton of juice, a chair scraped against the kitchen tile, and Brenda saying, “Look what you’ve made me do.”

I had told Brenda to lower her voice.