PART 3
Phedra tried to stand.
Her knees buckled.
She caught herself against the wall.
Godfrey came through the back door.
He wore white designer sneakers.
A gold watch.
A black shirt I knew cost more than Phedra’s entire outfit.
He held a glass of scotch.
“Hurry up.”
“We still need the dinner plates.”
Phedra pressed one hand against the wall.
“I feel dizzy.”
“I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
Godfrey laughed.
“With everything you stole, you should be able to buy yourself a feast.”
My heart started pounding.
Every instinct told me to go through that door.
But years around industrial machinery had taught me something.
When a machine begins to fail, you listen first.
The sound tells you where the damage began.
So I stayed quiet.
And I listened.
PART 4
Phedra whispered.
“Please let me call Damian.”
Godfrey rolled his eyes.
“For what?”
“He has a right to know.”
“Know what?”
“That I’m sick.”
My stomach dropped.
The back door opened again.
My mother stepped outside.
Selina looked almost exactly as I remembered.
Hair carefully styled.
Gold earrings.
Fresh manicure.
A cream dress.
Then I saw the necklace.
A tiny gold hummingbird hung against her chest.
I had given that necklace to Phedra on our fifth wedding anniversary.
I remembered fastening it around her neck.
I remembered telling her.
“One day when we’re old, you’ll still have this.”
Now my mother was wearing it.
Phedra looked at her.
“He has the right to know I’m sick.”
Selina’s face hardened.
“You’re not going to worry him.”
“He’s working to get us ahead.”
“Not carry the burden of your drama.”
Phedra’s voice cracked.
“The doctor said I need to continue treatment.”
Selina waved one hand.
“Doctors always say that.”
“They want money.”
Phedra whispered.
“I need the medicine.”
Selina answered.
“My son sends the money to my account.”
“That means I decide how it gets used.”
That sentence changed something inside me.
PART 5
Phedra looked toward the driveway.
“What about the new SUV?”
Selina’s face tightened.
“What about Godfrey’s shop?”
“Those granite counters?”
“The new television?”
“You said there wasn’t money for my treatment.”
“But everything else appeared.”
Godfrey stepped closer.
“Watch your mouth.”
Phedra looked at him.
“I sleep in the storage shed.”
“You know I do.”
“I eat what’s left after everyone finishes.”
“You took my phone.”
“You took my jewelry.”
“I just want to finish my treatment.”
Her voice became almost too soft to hear.
“I don’t want to die.”
Selina crossed her arms.
“You should have thought about that before getting sick.”
I opened the gate.
My suitcase hit the ground.
The sound made all three of them turn.
Godfrey’s glass slipped from his hand.
It shattered.
Selina grabbed her chest.
Phedra stared at me.
Her lips parted.
“Damian?”
I crossed the yard.
She tried to stand again.
She could not.
So I knelt.
And pulled her into my arms.
She felt terrifyingly light.
Too light.
Her body smelled faintly of bleach.
Medicine.
Damp clothes.
And something metallic.
I pressed my face against her shaved head.
“I’m back, honey.”
She started crying.
Then she kept saying my name.
Again.
And again.
Like she was afraid I would disappear.
