And then — this was the part that made the officer’s jaw tighten — it showed her stand over me where I lay, and step past me, and kick the scattered pills out of her path rather than kneel down and help.
The cleaning lady in the corner made a small sound.
Wanda’s eyes burned.
No one in that office could pretend, after that, that anyone had tripped.
Then Yvette played the second clip — later that night, the ambulance long gone — of Marlene mopping the tiles alone and talking to herself, saying that when Shane got home she’d make sure he understood what happens when a man lets his wife get out of hand, that if the girl tried to use a hospital bill against her, she’d tell Shane to divorce her on the spot, because her son always did exactly what she said.
The room was very quiet when it ended.
Shane sat with his face the color of plaster, understanding, at last, exactly what he had been in his mother’s hands.
Not a husband.
A tool.
A blunt thing she picked up and swung.