Chapter 4
Victor left the house before the police arrived.
He grabbed his keys, kicked frosting across the floor, and pointed at me.
“You will regret humiliating me.”
Then he slammed the door.
My mother collapsed into a chair.
I knelt beside her.
“Mom.”
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed.
“No.”
“I should have told you.”
“He threatened you.”
“I still should have told you.”
I held her hands.
They were cold.
Thin.
The hands that packed my lunches.
Braided my hair.
Worked until the skin cracked.
The hands Victor had frightened into giving him money.
“I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner,” I whispered.
The police took our statements.
They photographed the ruined dining room.
They watched the video.
One officer, a woman named Detective Alvarez, asked my mother careful questions.
Dates.
Amounts.
Threats.
Witnesses.
Victor’s words.
My mother answered as best she could.
Each answer made her smaller.
Each answer made my anger sharper.
When the officers left, Mara arrived with documents.
Protective order request.
Financial records checklist.
Emergency separation plan.
I stared at the stack.
“I only wanted dinner.”
Mara’s face softened.
“I know.”
My mother wiped her eyes.
“What happens now?”
Mara looked at me.
“First, Anna needs to decide whether she’s staying here tonight.”
I looked around the dining room.
The broken cake.
The overturned candles.
The chair Victor had shoved back.
The house suddenly felt like a trap.
“No.”
Mara nodded.
“Good.”
Victor began calling at midnight.
Then texting.
You’re overreacting.
Then:
Your mother manipulated you.
Then:
Come home before this gets ugly.
Then:
That house is mine.
I showed Mara.
She smiled without warmth.
“Excellent.”
“Excellent?”
“He’s giving us evidence.”
At my mother’s apartment, I slept on the couch.
Or tried to.
Around 3 a.m., I woke to my phone buzzing again.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then I saw the text.
A photo.
Victor standing outside my mother’s building.
May you like
Caption:
Open the door.
