Chapter 12 - Neutral Ground
The public park downtown was quiet in the mid-afternoon, the autumn air crisp enough to turn our breath into faint wisps of white vapor. Sam and Leo were tossing a worn leather baseball back and forth near the edge of the playground, their laughter carrying over the rustle of dry leaves blowing across the grass. I sat on a green wooden park bench a few yards away, watching the easy arc of the ball between them. They didn't know the full details of the courtroom order, and they didn't need to yet. They only knew that for today, we were here together, away from the quiet tension of the house and the shadow of their father's absence.
Leo caught the ball with a sharp smack in his glove, threw it back to his younger brother, and then jogged over toward the bench, wiping his forehead with the sleeve of his gray and navy raglan t-shirt.
"Can we get hot chocolate?" Leo asked, leaning against the back of the bench.
"In a minute," I said, looking up at him with a soft smile. "Are you holding up okay, buddy?"
Leo looked down at his sneakers, scuffing the toe against the dirt path. The defiance he had worn like armor at the birthday party was entirely gone, replaced by a quiet, subdued uncertainty. "Dad called on my phone while we were at school," he said softly, keeping his eyes on the ground. "He wanted to know if I talked to the judge."
My hand tightened slightly on the strap of my bag. "What did you tell him, Leo?"
"I told him I didn't talk to anybody," the boy said, looking up at me with wide, honest eyes. "I told him I was just playing baseball with Sam. Was that okay, Mom?"
"You didn't do anything wrong," I said, reaching out to straighten the collar of his raglan shirt, feeling the familiar cotton beneath my fingers. "You never have to worry about answering those questions. If he calls again, you tell him to talk to my lawyer, or you give the phone to me. Understand?"
Leo nodded slowly, relief visibly softening the sharp lines of his face. "Okay. Can we get the hot chocolate now?"
"Go tell Sam we're walking," I said.
May you like
As Leo ran back toward his younger brother, shouting across the grass, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my smartphone. The screen lit up with a clean, stable interface—no unauthorized background scripts running, no automated drains, no hidden backdoors. The balance was intact. I locked the screen and slipped the phone back into my blazer pocket as I stood up to join them, ready for whatever came next.
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