Chapter 7 - ETHAN DOESN’T WANT A NEW PLANE
Jason’s punishment included helping repair the airplane.
Ethan refused.
“I don’t want him touching it.”
Rachel looked at him.
“Okay.”
Daniel had suggested the repair as restorative accountability.
Good idea in theory.
Wrong if Ethan did not want it.
So Jason paid for replacement wood and tools.
Rachel and Ethan repaired the plane together.
The broken wings could not be restored invisibly.
They used thin brass plates underneath.
The joints showed.
Ethan hated that at first.
“It looks damaged.”
“It is damaged.”
He stared at her.
Rachel continued.
“We can paint over it if you want.”
Ethan thought.
Then shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“So I remember Jason broke it.”
Rachel’s chest tightened.
She chose her words carefully.
“Remembering is okay. But I don’t want the plane to become only about Jason.”
Ethan looked down.
“It was Dad’s picture.”
The crop duster.
His biological father, Mark, who died when Ethan was four.
Rachel understood.
Jason had not just broken a craft.
He had stepped on grief.
That was why “just a toy” hurt so much.
Ethan whispered:
“Do you think Jason hates me?”
Rachel wanted to say no.
But she had learned not to use reassurance where truth was uncertain.
“I think Jason is angry about things that are not your fault.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Eight-year-olds are mercilessly precise.
Rachel swallowed.
“I think Jason acted hateful toward you.”
Ethan’s eyes filled.
“Can he live somewhere else?”
Rachel closed her eyes.
There it was.
Safety.
Not revenge.
She took the question to Daniel.
He looked devastated.
“Do you think Jason is dangerous?”
“No.”
“But Ethan is afraid.”
“Yes.”
They discussed temporary room separation, supervision, no unsupervised conflict, and therapy.
Daniel considered having Jason stay with Melissa for a week.
Simone advised caution.
“If it’s framed as exile, Melissa will use it. If Jason requests space, different.”
Daniel asked Jason.
“Do you want to stay at Mom’s for a few days?”
Jason immediately said yes.
Rachel watched him pack.
No remorse visible.
Maybe none yet.
Maybe too much shame to show.
At the door, Ethan stood behind Rachel.
Jason looked at him.
Then away.
Rachel said nothing.
She had wanted an apology.
But forced apologies are just noise adults make children perform to reduce discomfort.
Jason would either understand later.
May you like
Or not.
Rachel could not purchase that outcome either.
