Dr. Williams doesn’t react.
“And this woman at my job, the one who was making my life hell? Yeah, I kept that close because I didn’t want my wife doing something crazy. Which is exactly what she did.”
“What did you do?”
Raya rolls her eyes at me. “I watched her a couple of times, and then I…” she trails off.
“Then you, what?” I urge. “Say it with your chest.”
“Shut up. I threatened her,” she says. “I made an aggressive move toward her, butshe was unharmed.”
She said that last part pointedly at me. I don’t react, but Dr. Williams looks concerned.
“And how did you feel after you threatened her?”
Raya shrugs. “I don’t know. It wasn’t even really about her. It was about him.”
“I think that’s probably true. I’m glad you’re able to see that.” She takes a very deep breath and blows it out slowly. “And, just to be clear, following someone, making threats toward someone, are both unacceptable. There can be real legal consequences.”
“I know. I understand.”
“Even if your goal was to protect your husband, the act itself crosses a line.”
Raya sits back, folding her arms in front of her.
“In light of this behavior, I think we need to—“
“Are you ending the session?” Raya cuts in.
“No, what I was going to s—“
“Because we can’t end before we get to whathe’sdone.”
Dr. Williams gestures for Raya to go ahead. I already know what she’s gonna say, but I turn to look at her anyway.
“He tampered with my birth control to get me pregnant.”
Doc’s mouth drops open before she catches herself. “When was this?”
“I’m almost ten weeks,” Raya says. “So when you talk about safety and trust and hiding shit, I don’t think we can overlook that.”
“I agree. Um, Ace? Is this true?”
“Yeah, I did it.”
“Okay. Well." Doc blinks rapidly. "Thank you for your honesty. This is…what you just told me is reproductive coercion. It is a form of intimate partner violence. This is a serious offense.”
“Told you!” Raya crows, smiling in triumph.
Dr. Williams pinches the bridge of her nose. “This complicates things. Obviously.”
“I understand the language you’re using. I didn’t think it was that serious, but I understand that now. With that said, this is yet another thing I did to protect everybody.”
Doc massages her temples with circular motions. “Please explain that.”
“She sent my father a sex tape—“
“On accident,” Raya corrects. “Don’t leave that part out.”
