“Please, arrest me. I’d rather go to jail than go back to that house…”

hands shaking so violently I cut my palm. I knew a threat was merely a desperate attempt by a cornered animal to buy time, and I was entirely, fundamentally out of patience.

The final, climactic showdown was scheduled during a closed-door, expedited emergency custody hearing. The heavy mahogany walls of the family courtroom felt suffocatingly warm and continue reading …