“Did your sister laugh?”
“No.”
“Did she ask what was wrong with you?”
Kayla’s voice became smaller.
“Yes.”
“Did you then say, ‘Why bring a child into the world just to suffer?’”
“I was emotional.”
The prosecutor approached the screen.
“Did emotion cause your foot to strike her stomach?”
“She came at me.”
The recording played again, this time slowly.
Everyone watched my single step toward Kayla.
Everyone watched Kayla plant one foot, lift the other, and drive her heel forward.
The prosecutor paused the image.
“Where,” she asked, “is your sister attacking you?”
Kayla’s face flushed.
“She was going to grab me.”
“The ultrasound belonged to her.”
“She was out of control.”
“Were you afraid?”
“Yes.”
The prosecutor played the next few seconds.
After I fell, Kayla was visible looking down at me.
She did not appear frightened.
She did not call for help.
She adjusted her dress and stepped away.
“Is that what fear looks like to you?” the prosecutor asked.
Kayla stopped answering carefully.
“She always gets everyone’s sympathy,” she snapped.
“The pregnancy, the baby, the medical problems—everything had to be about her.”
Her lawyer closed his eyes.
The prosecutor did not interrupt.
Kayla continued.
“My mother spent weeks talking about how fragile she was.
Ethan treated her like she could break.
Everyone acted like I was some terrible person because I didn’t pretend the baby’s condition was beautiful.”
I felt Ethan’s hand cover mine.
The prosecutor asked one final question.
“So you were angry because your pregnant sister was receiving attention?”
Kayla looked toward our mother, perhaps expecting help.
Our mother stared at the floor.
“I didn’t mean for the baby to survive or die or whatever you’re trying to say,” Kayla muttered.
The courtroom froze.
Her lawyer stood at once.
“Your Honor—”
But the words had already been spoken.
Kayla tried to correct herself.
“I mean, I didn’t think about that.
I didn’t plan anything.”
The prosecutor returned to her table without another question.
Kayla had done what the video alone could not do.
She had shown the resentment behind the attack.
She had exposed the same contempt that had been present in the event hall, only now there was no laughter and no mother powerful enough to make everyone ignore it.
The verdict came after the evidence and arguments were complete.
Guilty.
Kayla’s face went blank.
