Chapter 14 - Ava Meets Richard
Ava was twenty-two when she asked.
Not because me.
She had read court records.
Not graphic.
She knew.
“I want meet Grandpa.”
Daniel looked at me.
I asked:
“Why?”
“Because I remember him only as belt.”
Good reason.
We arranged public place.
Richard then seventy-nine.
No mediator needed but Daniel nearby.
Ava entered.
Richard stood.
“Hello, Ava.”
She sat.
No hug.
First:
“Do you remember what you said?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“You needed to learn.”
“And?”
“That I never touched you.”
She nodded.
“Which part do you regret more?”
He thought.
“Thinking either sentence mattered more than your blood.”
Good.
Then:
“Why did Grandma defend?”
“Because I trained everyone to make my anger the center.”
That was insight.
Then Ava asked:
“Did you really kill Uncle Eli?”
Richard cried.
“The jury convicted me of causing his death recklessly. I chased him with a belt. He fell while looking back at me. I believe my actions caused it.”
No semantic dodge.
Then:
“Did you go jail because Mom is colonel?”
“No.”
Good.
“Did she use Army?”
“No. Police and courts handled.”
Then:
“Are you scared of Mom?”
Richard almost smiled.
“Sometimes.”
Ava laughed unexpectedly.
Then:
“Are you scared of me?”
“No.”
“You should be.”
I tensed.
Ava continued:
“I can leave whenever I want.”
Richard nodded.
“Yes.”
That was power she meant.
Then she stood after twenty minutes.
“Can I hug you?” Richard asked?
No. He had learned perhaps not ask repeatedly. He said "Thank you for coming." Ava paused, then hugged him herself briefly.
Later car:
“How feel?”
“Sad.”
“Why?”
“He’s just old.”
Trauma had made him giant.
Reality reduced.
Then:
“I don't want regular visits.”
“Okay.”
She sent Christmas card once a year.
That was relationship.
Then Margaret.
Ava saw her occasionally.
More than Richard.
Margaret never regained trust with me fully.
But at seventy-eight she said:
“I spent my whole life confusing staying with loyalty.”
“Yes.”
Then:
“Leaving Richard's house after release was first time I understood you.”
Late.
Still.
Then she asked:
“Do you forgive me?”
“Yes.”
“Do you trust?”
“No.”
She nodded.
“Fair.”
No demand.
Then Nicole.
She remained close to Margaret.
Saw Richard too.
No sibling fight.
Different answers.
Family stopped requiring uniform response.
Then George's widow mailed me his old camera after he died.
I declined.
She donated to local historical society.
No trauma relic.
The two photographs remained official case record.
May you like
I kept no copies.
Enough.
