And once, when she offered him a cookie, he looked toward Vanessa before accepting it.
Denise noticed.
She asked Marcus whether everything was okay.
He said Jordan was adjusting to the blended family.
Denise tried to accept that.
But her concern remained.
Then Vanessa called her one Monday afternoon.
She sounded desperate.
"Denise, I don't know what to do with Jordan anymore."
Denise frowned.
"What happened?"
Vanessa began describing what she called serious behavioral problems.
She claimed Jordan refused meals.
Stole food.
Lied to teachers.
And deliberately tried to create conflict between her and Marcus.
Denise listened.
Then asked whether Marcus knew.
Vanessa sighed.
"He doesn't understand how bad it's getting."
"What does the school say?"
Vanessa hesitated.
"They've been concerned too."
Denise became more serious.
"Has he been evaluated?"
"Not properly."
For several seconds, the line was quiet.
Then Vanessa said something that alarmed her.
"I think he needs to live somewhere else for a while."
Denise stopped moving.
"What?"
"Maybe with another relative. Maybe in a residential program."
Denise stared at the wall.
"He's ten years old."
Vanessa began crying.
At least, it sounded like crying.
"I can't keep doing this."
Denise took a breath.
"Don't make any decisions. I'm coming over."
That evening, while Marcus was still at work, Denise arrived.
Jordan was upstairs.
He heard his aunt's voice in the kitchen.
Then Vanessa's.
The conversation grew tense.
The boy took out his phone and began recording from the hallway because he heard his own name.
He was terrified that adults were deciding to send him away.
What he captured would become one of the most important recordings on the device.
And the following morning, it was the video his father would almost be too frightened to watch.
Marcus pressed play on the recording from Monday night.
The first image was shaky.
Jordan appeared to have been standing behind the upstairs railing, holding the phone between the wooden posts.
The kitchen was visible below.
Vanessa stood beside the island.
Denise faced her.
An open folder lay between them.
The recording began halfway through the conversation.
Vanessa was speaking.
"...and I'm telling you, this family cannot keep living like this. He needs to go somewhere else."
Denise looked toward the