Chapter 7 - DANIEL’S OWN LINEDaniel wanted Eleanor held accountable.
That meant he had to examine himself too.
He had slapped her twice.
Lily had already been safe behind him.
Eleanor had not attacked him.
Daniel had chosen retaliation.
He sat beside Lily one evening.
“You saw me hit Grandma.”
Lily nodded.
“Were you scared?”
“A little.”
Daniel swallowed.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“Because being angry doesn’t mean I get to scare people.”
Lily frowned.
“But Grandma made me fall.”
“Yes.”
“And said I was in her way.”
“Yes.”
“So she was wrong.”
“Very wrong.”
“And you were wrong too?”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
Lily considered this carefully.
“Both?”
“Both.”
Later Daniel apologized directly to Eleanor for striking her.
She looked almost triumphant.
“So you admit what you did.”
“Yes.”
Her smile appeared.
Then Daniel continued.
“And you admitting what you did comes next.”
The smile disappeared.
Daniel finally understood accountability was not surrender.
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He could regret his own violence without minimizing Eleanor’s actions.
And he could protect Lily without becoming the kind of man who believed anger justified anything.
