Chapter 6 - THE FIRST INJURY
The oldest correction entry dated back eleven months.
Before any visible bruises.
EMMA REFUSED TO SAY THANK YOU.
Correction:
repeat until natural.
Claire remembered that day.
Margaret had taken Emma shopping for a winter coat.
Emma came home quiet.
Claire asked if she had fun.
Emma said:
“Grandma says I’m rude.”
Claire told her:
“You do need to say thank you.”
Then moved on.
Two weeks later:
EMMA CRIED DURING PIANO PRACTICE.
Correction:
hands flat.
What did hands flat mean?
Emma demonstrated.
Margaret made her place both hands flat on the table.
If she lifted them before being dismissed, Margaret tapped her knuckles with the pointer.
“Hard?”
Claire asked.
Emma looked down.
“Sometimes.”
The first medical injury came later.
A swollen finger.
Margaret said Emma jammed it in a drawer.
Emma now said:
“I pulled my hand away.”
“From what?”
“Grandma.”
Margaret had been making her hold the piano posture.
Emma pulled away when the baton touched her fingers.
Her hand hit the drawer edge.
Again, complexity.
Margaret had not necessarily struck the finger hard enough to injure it.
But her coercive drill created the movement that did.
Then another entry:
EMMA WILL NOT HOLD EYE CONTACT.
Correction:
chin position.
Emma explained Margaret would grip her chin and turn her face.
Claire felt nausea.
“Did she hurt you?”
“Not every time.”
Not every time.
That phrase was worse than yes.
Then Grace found a photograph from a family brunch.
Emma’s face tilted toward Margaret’s hand.
Everyone smiling.
The image looked affectionate.
But Daniel, who took the photograph, remembered Emma whispering:
“Can I stop now?”
He had assumed they were posing.
Now he realized Margaret may have been controlling where Emma looked.
Daniel checked the photo sequence.
May you like
Three frames later, Emma’s expression changed.
And in the background, Margaret’s baton was visible on the dining chair.
