Chapter 11 - THE PART JISO HAD TO OWN
Jiso’s hardest therapy session was not about Phillip hitting her.
It was about Ethan.
“I lied to him,” she said.
Her therapist corrected gently.
“You minimized.”
“That’s lying.”
“Sometimes.”
Jiso stared at her hands.
After previous incidents, she had told Ethan:
Dad slammed the door because he was frustrated.
Mom’s okay.
Adults sometimes argue.
She did it because she wanted him safe.
She did it because she was ashamed.
She did it because acknowledging the truth would force decisions she was not ready to make.
Her reasons were understandable.
The impact still mattered.
Ethan had learned that what he heard and what adults told him could be completely different.
Jiso began repairing that carefully.
Not by giving him details.
By becoming trustworthy.
If something frightened him, she did not tell him it was nothing.
If she did not know an answer, she said so.
If he missed Phillip, she did not make him feel disloyal.
One night Ethan whispered:
“I still love Dad.”
Jiso kissed his forehead.
“I know.”
“Does Grandpa?”
Jiso smiled sadly.
“You’d have to ask Grandpa.”
Ethan did.
Robert answered:
“I love parts of your dad. I hate what he did.”
Ethan frowned.
“That’s weird.”
“Yes.”
The adults stopped pretending emotional truth had to be simple enough for a child.
Phillip also faced damage he could not repair quickly.
Ethan no longer wanted private video calls.
He preferred structured visits.
Phillip asked why.
Ethan answered:
“Because you cry and then I feel like I have to make you happy.”
Phillip went silent.
According to the supervisor, he did not argue.
He said:
“You don’t.”
That became one of the first moments Jiso believed something might actually be changing.
May you like
Not because Phillip cried.
Because he stopped asking Ethan to carry the crying.
