The other said they locked her out.

They could not both be true, and only one of them was a confession.

Another of Patricia’s entries claimed that on a particular date, Maya had screamed and smashed household items. But Maya’s school attendance record for that date told a different story: my daughter had arrived at school that morning unusually quiet, visibly anxious, and had spent her entire lunch period sitting in the guidance counselor’s office.

And that was when I understood the true shape of what they had done, and it was so much colder and more deliberate than I had let myself imagine.

They were not simply punishing my daughter.

They were building a file on her.