Chapter 16 — The Recording

The clerk connected my encrypted drive.

On the screen, Sheldon practiced my signature fourteen times.

Then Blanche entered the frame, carrying my passport, my tax returns, and the deed to my house. Once the judge signs guardianship, she said, we sell the old place, move her somewhere cheap, and tell everyone she doesn’t recognize us. And the investments? Sheldon asked. We drain them slowly.

I had watched that footage once, alone, the week before the hearing, and I had made myself watch all of it, and I do not recommend the experience to anyone.

It is one thing to know, in the abstract, that your son has decided to erase you.