The Town Reacts
Summary: Some defended them; others finally saw the truth.
The church divided. Half formed prayer circles for my parents. The rest—teachers, counselors, parents—began connecting the dots.
The Sunday school teacher remembered I never asked for snacks. Mrs. Patterson recalled my frequent “headaches” and “stomach aches,” how I’d eat a single cracker like it was a meal.
Mr. Davis reread his notes—what he once called “self-reliance” now looked like learned silence.
Dad’s coworkers remembered his jokes about “breaking” me. One recalled him boasting they’d found a way to make “discipline stick.”
