"Because he's being dramatic."
Marcus stared at her.
"He's eight."
"Then his family should supervise him."
Elijah's grandmother moved closer.
"I was asleep for ten minutes. He went to find his mother, which she specifically told him he could do."
Rebecca took out her crew handset.
"I'm notifying the captain that we have disruptive passengers."
"Rebecca," Marcus said quietly, "slow down."
"Don't tell me how to do my job."
A second junior flight attendant, Paige, appeared near the galley curtain.
She looked frightened before she even knew the whole story.
That detail mattered later.
It told Naomi this dynamic had history.
"What's happening?" Paige asked.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Rebecca snapped. "Go check business class."
Paige looked at Elijah.
He was openly crying now.
She looked at Rebecca's hand around his arm.
Then she looked away.
The decision took less than two seconds.
She walked toward the front.
Up in 3A, Naomi had been reviewing a maintenance reliability report when Paige passed the curtain.
Something about her face made Naomi look up.
"Everything okay?"
Paige stopped.
"Yes, ma'am."
The answer came too quickly.
Naomi's attention sharpened.
"Are you sure?"
Paige swallowed.
Behind her, from the economy cabin, a child's voice reached the front through the gap in ambient engine noise.
"Please, you're hurting me."
Naomi knew that voice.
Every parent knows the sound of their own child in distress with a speed older than thought.
She was out of her seat before Paige could say another word.
"Ma'am, please remain-"
Naomi moved past her.
She crossed the business-class curtain and saw an aisle full of faces turned in the same direction.
Then she saw Elijah.
Rebecca's fingers were around his arm.
His backpack hung crookedly from one shoulder. Tears streaked his face. His book lay open on the carpet behind them, one page bent underneath the cover.
Naomi stopped.
The world narrowed.
Years of executive training, crisis management, grief counseling, and self-control compressed themselves into one cold point behind her ribs.
"Let go of my son."
Rebecca looked toward her.
"Ma'am, return to your seat."
Naomi took one step forward.