I felt nothing.
That surprised me. I had imagined satisfaction. Fire. Some old animal pleasure.
Instead, I saw a small man in county orange whose cruelty had finally met paperwork stronger than his fists.
Jacob did not attend. He went to the zoo with Bea that day and sent me a picture of penguins.
Maurice fought longer.
Men like him always do. He tried to blame Enrique. Then Quinton. Then police. Then me. But Van testified. Quinton testified. Danny, shaking so badly the judge let him sit, testified about the fire. Josie testified too, voice breaking but clear, about Darren’s closet, Maurice’s threats, the night men came to her house.
Maurice received thirty-two years.
When the judge read it, he turned toward me.
“This isn’t over,” he mouthed.
I smiled at him.
Not because I was brave. Because he was wrong.
Some men think survival means their story continues. Prison would keep his body alive, maybe. But his reach was gone. His crew scattered. His money seized. His name, once whispered, became a warning parents used for stupid boys.
McGrevy’s reopened in spring.
The new front window caught afternoon light beautifully. Charlie insisted on hanging a small brass plaque near the bar: We card everyone, including arsonists. Customers loved it. I pretended not to.
Reba came by on opening night.
She wore jeans, a green sweater, and no hospital badge. I almost didn’t recognize her without fluorescent light making her look tired.
“How’s Jacob?” she asked.
“Healing.”
“And you?”
“Also healing. Worse at following instructions.”
She smiled. “I noticed.”
She brought a book for Jacob about astronauts and a pie from a bakery across town. She did not ask for details. She did not look at me like a hero or a monster. She looked at me like a man standing in the wreckage with a broom.
That was rarer than it sounds.
Josie asked for forgiveness twice more.
Once outside family court after the temporary order became permanent: primary physical custody to me, supervised visitation for her until Jacob’s therapist recommended otherwise.
Once six months later, after completing a treatment program for codependency and trauma.
