William Edwards Leaves His Screaming Son on a Friday Afternoon in Hartford
“Yes,” I said, holding the chalk eraser.
The man stepped down to the presentation table and laid the envelope flat on the dark wood.
“You are served, Mr. Edwards; please do not make a scene in front of your students,” he said.
He turned and walked back up the steps before I could ask him who had sent him, his boots clicking against the steps until the heavy door shut behind him.
David stopped twirling his pencil and stood up from the wooden desk.
“William?” David asked, looking at the envelope.
The paper was heavy, sealed with a strip of clear tape across the back. I tore the tape with my thumb, my skin catching on the sharp edge of the paper. My fingers were cold as I pulled out the document, the top of the page bearing the seal of the Hartford County Probate Court.
It was an emergency custody order, signed by a judge at eleven o’clock that morning. The document granted temporary physical custody of Owen to Sue Melton, effective immediately, pending a full hearing on Thursday morning at nine o’clock.
