Chapter 9 - Eric could no longer call himself manipulated and stop there
Eric wanted to blame Margaret for everything.
For three days after reading the letters, that was almost all he did.
“She lied to me.”
“She controlled the communication.”
“She made Sarah look worse.”
All true.
Then his therapist interrupted.
“What did you do at lunch?”
Eric looked away.
“I dragged Lucas.”
“Why?”
“My mother said he needed to leave.”
“Did Lucas pose a danger?”
“No.”
“Did he attack anyone?”
“No.”
“Did you ask what had happened before grabbing him?”
“No.”
The therapist waited.
Eric understood.
His mother’s manipulation explained his loyalty.
It did not move his hands.
He had grabbed his seven-year-old son by both upper arms and dragged him toward a door because Margaret expected obedience and Eric supplied it.
That was his choice.
He also had years of opportunities to contact Sarah directly.
He did not.
Why?
Because Margaret’s version made his life easier.
Sarah was unstable.
Margaret was dependable.
Eric could work.
Lucas remained in one household.
The story reduced complexity.
And Eric accepted it because he preferred stability over uncertainty.
That preference became moral failure when he stopped checking whether the stability was fair.
He requested records from Lucas’s therapist.
Attended school meetings himself.
Called Sarah directly for the first time in years.
When she answered, neither knew what to say.
Finally Eric said:
“I read the letters.”
Sarah began crying.
“I didn’t know.”
“You should have.”
“Yes.”
That answer surprised her.
Eric did not say his mother tricked him and therefore none of it was his fault.
He said:
“I let her be the person who told me what you meant.”
Sarah was quiet.
“That’s exactly what happened.”
Then Eric said the sentence he had avoided for four years.
“I’m sorry.”
Sarah did not forgive him immediately.
She did not need to.
But the call lasted forty-three minutes.
May you like
Longer than all their direct conversations during the previous three years combined.
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