Through all of it, Dad remained calm.
Ezoic
He didn’t exaggerate. He didn’t call Brian names. He didn’t look at Brian once. He just answered each question, simply and plainly, the same way he used to explain wiring to me when I was a kid. This goes here. This connects to that. Here’s what happened.
Ezoic
He explained the first call. The second call. The offer. His refusal. Then maybe nobody gets the mirror.
Then Claire put one last photograph up on the screen at the front of the room.
My grandmother’s shattered mirror. The split frame. The chipped rose. The glass spread across my living room floor in its wide, glittering circle.
The judge’s expression changed.
I saw it. She looked at that photo for a long time. Then she took off her glasses, cleaned them on her robe, put them back on, and looked again.
