PART 1: ONE HOUR
The day my sister accused me of stealing her children, she wore white.
I remember that because everything else in the courtroom seemed gray.
Gray walls. Gray carpet. Gray September light pressing against the windows.
And Chloe sat across from me in a white suit, looking polished enough for television, while her lawyer explained to a family court judge that I had manipulated four innocent children into believing their mother had abandoned them.
My mother sat behind Chloe.
My father sat beside her.
Neither of them looked at me.
According to Chloe, I had stolen twelve years of her life.
According to Chloe, I had kept the children from her.
According to Chloe, I had poisoned them against the woman who loved them more than anyone in the world.
I listened until the word love almost made me laugh.
Then her lawyer said, “Mr. Hayes has constructed an entire parental role around another woman’s children.”
Another woman.
My sister.
