Chapter 1 - The Easter Table I Turned Over

I heard Natalie shouting before I reached the front steps.

“GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!”

Then came the crack of the riding crop.

By the time I entered the hall, five-year-old Owen was stumbling across the polished floor with his handmade wooden boat clutched against his chest. He fell forward, leaving only a small scratch across his forehead.

The boat wasn’t so lucky.

It hit the floor and snapped cleanly into two pieces.

Owen stared at it.

Then started crying.

A black luxury car had barely stopped outside before I was out of it. I rushed to him and pulled him upright.

“CALM DOWN, KID. I’M HERE NOW.”

Owen wrapped himself around me.

Then I looked across the room.

My son Travis was sitting calmly at the Easter luncheon table.

Pastel baskets.

Colored eggs.

Fresh flowers.

Food arranged beautifully.

And his five-year-old son had just been chased across the house with a riding crop.

Something inside me went hot.

I marched over and flipped the entire Easter table.

CRASH!

Plates, food, flowers, and decorations exploded across the floor.

Travis shot to his feet.

“LET GO OF THE KID AND GET OUT OF HERE.”

He stepped toward me.

I kept Owen safely behind my shoulder.

“DON’T TOUCH ME.”

Travis reached anyway.

I hit him once.

My right fist sent him backward into the Easter display, scattering baskets and painted eggs as he collapsed among them, conscious but stunned.

Natalie lunged toward me next.

I turned and slapped her once across the face.

She staggered into the same ruined Easter display beside Travis.

Then I stopped.

No second strike.

No continued beating.

I walked back to Owen’s broken wooden boat.

One half near my shoe.

The other beneath a chair.

I picked up both pieces, gathered Owen into my arms, and headed for the open front door.

Before leaving, I looked back at Travis and Natalie.

“ARE YOU READY TO END THIS NOW!?”

Neither answered.

Owen tightened his arms around my neck.

I carried him outside with both halves of the boat still in my hand.

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And the door closed behind us.

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