In Chap­ter Six­ty-Four of “If These Wings Could Fly,” the scene unfolds out­side a small house lit by the flash­ing red and blue lights of police cars. The atmos­phere is tense as the nar­ra­tor, despite the cold grip­ping her, holds onto a small­er hand, sug­gest­ing a pro­tec­tive bond. They are both in flan­nel paja­mas, which offer lit­tle defense against the bit­ing wind. The arrival of Offi­cer Bill DiMar­co intro­duces a wave of anx­i­ety; will he let their father go again? This time, how­ev­er, the out­come is different—Officer DiMar­co appre­hends him and puts him in hand­cuffs, dis­play­ing a detached demeanor as though he doesn’t rec­og­nize him.

Anoth­er offi­cer quick­ly arrives, draw­ing the moth­er aside to explain the pro­ce­dures for obtain­ing an emer­gency pro­tec­tion order. Due to the hol­i­day sea­son, a prop­er court hear­ing may be delayed, but a tem­po­rary order can be extend­ed until the new year. This pro­tec­tion order is cru­cial as it bars the father from the house and requires him to sur­ren­der his firearm with­in twen­ty-four hours if released. After escort­ing their father to the police car, Offi­cer DiMar­co approach­es the nar­ra­tor. He con­veys his sym­pa­thy for what they have endured, ref­er­enc­ing an essay the nar­ra­tor wrote, which he found painful to read. The nar­ra­tor responds, express­ing her exhaus­tion and frus­tra­tion with adult apolo­gies.

Offi­cer DiMar­co reas­sures the moth­er that he will per­son­al­ly deliv­er a phys­i­cal copy of the pro­tec­tion order lat­er. Through­out this ordeal, the moth­er remains stead­fast and unwa­ver­ing in her resolve. As the night pro­gress­es, the nar­ra­tor reflects on the sit­u­a­tion, feel­ing a glim­mer of hope for safe­ty that had been absent for a long time. There is a pro­found sense of relief in being heard, sug­gest­ing that per­haps, for now, they can feel secure. Despite the chal­lenges ahead, this moment brings an over­whelm­ing sense of empow­er­ment and safe­ty to the nar­ra­tor, sig­nal­ing a turn­ing point in their lives.