Chapter 14: Resolution
The case resolved the way many strong cases resolve: without a dramatic trial.
Facing the accumulated weight of the protective order violations, the firearm charge, the documented assault history, and the additional weapons count, Garrick accepted a plea that kept him in custody for a term measured in years rather than months. The no-contact provisions were extended. The divorce proceeded in parallel without his active obstruction. Financial orders addressed, as far as possible, the account drain and related retaliation.
I attended the final plea hearing for the same reason I had attended the others—so the record would show continuity, and so my mother would not have to sit alone if she chose to be present. She came for the last portion, sat upright, and left as soon as the practical outcomes were stated. She did not look at him. He did not attempt to speak to her.
Outside the courthouse she stood for a moment with her eyes closed, as if testing the air.
“It’s finished?” she asked.
“This part is finished,” I said. “The rest is just living.”
May you like
She nodded once.
We drove back in silence. It was not empty silence. It was the silence of people who no longer needed to plan around someone else’s violence.
