Chapter 15 - JASON BREAKS AGAIN
Jason was suspended from school in April.
He shoved another student during an argument.
The boy had called Melissa a liar after hearing rumors about the custody case.
Jason punched a locker.
Then he threatened to leave Daniel’s apartment permanently.
Daniel called me.
Not to fix it.
To inform me.
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
“Take him to counseling.”
“Remove his phone.”
“Meet with the school.”
“Good.”
There was a pause.
“I want you there.”
“Why?”
“He listens to you even when he acts like he doesn’t.”
“That is not enough.”
“I know.”
“I am asking, not transferring responsibility.”
I agreed to attend the school meeting.
Jason sat beside Daniel with his arms folded.
The principal described the incident.
Jason blamed the other boy.
I asked,
“Was the other boy wrong?”
“Yes.”
“Did that make shoving him safe?”
“No.”
“Then both things can be true.”
Jason looked at me.
“My mom says everyone is trying to make her look crazy.”
“I do not think your mother is crazy.”
“What do you think?”
“I think she made harmful choices because she was frightened and angry.”
“She still loves you.”
“Love does not make every instruction safe.”
Jason’s eyes filled with tears.
“She says if I like you, I’m betraying her.”
There it was.
The sentence beneath every broken object and insult.
Daniel moved closer.
“You never have to choose between adults.”
“She makes me.”
“Then that is her mistake.”
“Not your job.”
Jason cried for the first time since the airplane incident.
Not angrily.
Like a child.
He admitted Melissa had called him after every weekend and asked what I bought, what rules I made, and whether Daniel defended me.
She turned his visits into reports.
Daniel documented the disclosure.
The counselor addressed it with Melissa.
No dramatic custody change followed.
Instead, the monitored calls became shorter.
More structured.
Less useful for interrogation.
Jason’s behavior did not improve immediately.
Healing rarely performs on command.
May you like
But he stopped saying Ethan was not family.
That was a beginning.
