Chapter 9: The Statement
The statement was four sentences long.
Maria had screenshotted it from the hardware chain's social media page and sent it without comment, which told me everything about how she felt about it.
*We are aware of a video circulating on social media involving an individual who has been identified as one of our regional managers.
We take all matters of public conduct seriously and are reviewing the situation internally.
We want to assure our customers that our company values respect and inclusion.
We will provide an update when our review is complete.*
I read it twice.
"They're not suspending him," I said to Dan.
"Not yet."
"They're reviewing the situation internally." I set the phone down.
"That means they're hoping it goes away."
"Maybe," Dan said.
"Or it means they're being careful before they act."
"Four sentences.
No apology.
No acknowledgment of what he actually said."
"No," Dan agreed.
"There wasn't."
I picked the phone back up and looked at the comments under the statement.
They were not kind.
Women posting receipts from the chain's stores with the caption *not anymore.* A man writing that he'd driven past one of the locations that morning and the parking lot was noticeably quiet.
Someone tagging local journalists.
And then, buried between two longer comments, a reply from an account I didn't recognize — no profile photo, created recently, posting under the company's statement.
*The woman in the video has a history of seeking attention online.
This is not her first incident.
Ask Maria Torres what she does for work.*
I stared at that for a long moment.
Then I forwarded it to Maria.
Her reply came back in under a minute: *He found us.*
I called her.
"That account is new," she said, before I could speak.
"Created three days ago.
No posts except that one comment.
It's him or someone close to him."
"He's trying to discredit us."
"He's trying to make it about our motives instead of what he did." Her voice was steady but I could hear something tight underneath it.
"He mentioned me specifically.
He wants people to look at me."
"What does he think they'll find?"
"Nothing.
But that's not the point.
The point is to make people hesitate.
To make them think there's another side they haven't heard yet."
I thought about Deborah.
About the pharmacy manager who'd shrugged.
"It won't work," I said.
"It might slow things down."
"Then we speed them up." I paused.
"I'm calling Carol back.
I'm moving the interview to tomorrow if she can do it.
And I'm telling her about this comment."
Maria was quiet for a moment.
"Are you sure?"
"He called you out by name," I said.
"He's not just defending himself anymore.
He's going after you."
"I can handle it."
"I know you can.
But you shouldn't have to handle it alone." I looked at Nora in the bassinet.
"Neither of us should."
Carol picked up on the second ring.
I told her about the comment.
I told her about the new account.
I told her we wanted to move to tomorrow.
She didn't hesitate.
"Eight a.m.," she said.
"I'll have a researcher pull the account history before you arrive."
After I hung up, I sat for a moment in the quiet of the kitchen.
Then I opened the comments under the company's statement and found the reply again.
*Ask Maria Torres what she does for work.*
I looked at it for a long time.
Then I screenshotted it, saved it to a folder I'd labeled simply *Record*, and closed the app.
Whatever he was hoping to find, he was going to be disappointed.
But more than that — he'd just made a mistake.
May you like
He'd stopped defending what he'd said and started coming after the people who'd witnessed it.
And that, I knew, was a very different kind of problem for him.
