She almost laughed. It was the right thing to say, which was why he'd said it. Sandra's office was in a building downtown, seventh floor, with a receptionist who had the efficient warmth of someone who understood that the people coming through that door were usually arriving at the worst moments of their lives. Sandra herself was Marcus' sister-in-law, which meant James had met her at cookouts and holiday gatherings. Over the years, a compact woman in her late 40s with close-cropped natural hair and the particular energy of someone who had won enough fights to stop being anxious about the ones still ahead.
She greeted Sophia the way a good attorney greets a client direct, specific without the excessive softness that would feel condescending. She shook James's hand and said, "Thank you for coming with her." Not as a pleasantry, as a genuine acknowledgement. Thank you for making time on a Monday morning, James said. Marcus asked, Sandra said simply, I make time when Marcus asks.
She looked at Sophia. Come on in. Let's talk about what we're going to do about David. James stayed in the waiting room. He sat in a chair that was more comfortable than waiting room chairs had any right to be.
And he looked at his phone without reading anything on it. And he thought about the particular nature of waiting. How it was one of the things he had always been worst at and how he had spent this past month doing it more than he had done in years. Waiting to find out what Sophia was going to say. Waiting to understand what he felt.
Waiting to see what kind of shape this thing was going to take. He had spent his whole life equating waiting with weakness. With surrender, with the failure to act, he was reconsidering that. Sophia came out 5four minutes later. He stood up.
He read her face before she said a word she was composed. But her eyes were bright, not with tears, with the particular brightness of someone who has just been told that the thing they feared is beatable. Sandra filed the motion. She said she also sent a formal cease and desist for any contact outside of legal channels. She says the text about knowing I'm in Charlotte actually gives us leverage she wouldn't have had otherwise.
She exhaled. She says he's a threat to our peace but not necessarily a threat to our legal standing. Not yet. "Not yet," James said. "She's going to make sure it stays that way."
Sophia looked at him. She's also she said something I didn't expect. He waited. She said that if I can establish stable housing and employment and a consistent support structure, my position becomes significantly stronger. She held his gaze.
"She used those words." Stable housing, consistent support structure. She paused. She didn't know she was describing your house when she said it. But that's what she was describing.