Chapter 2 - MY MOTHER STEPS BETWEEN US
Victoria did not shout.
That made her more frightening.
She stepped directly in front of me.
Between Garrick and my injured shoulder.
Then looked him in the eyes.
“Touch my daughter again.”
Pause.
“I fucking dare you.”
Garrick stopped.
For half a second, genuine surprise.
Then his arrogance returned.
He smiled.
“You’re in my house.”
Victoria said:
“Is that supposed to make violence legal?”
Miriam stood so abruptly her chair scraped hardwood.
“How dare you speak to my son like that.”
Victoria looked at her.
“How dare you watch him hit his wife.”
Miriam’s face hardened.
Then she grabbed her wineglass.
Full.
Red.
She walked toward my mother.
No rush.
No frantic motion.
Deliberate.
Then threw the wine directly into Victoria’s face.
The glass remained in Miriam’s hand.
Wine ran down my mother’s cheek and navy dress.
Victoria closed her eyes for one beat.
Opened them.
No retaliation.
That was when Garrick became uneasy.
He understood rage.
He did not understand control.
Miriam sneered.
“Take your pathetic daughter and get the hell out.”
Victoria wiped wine from her eyes.
Then took one step closer.
“You two still think this house protects you?”
Silence.
I heard it then.
A heavy sound from the entrance.
THUD.
Not the door opening.
Something against it.
My whole body went cold.
I turned.
Everyone else remained frozen behind me.
The grand double doors stood across the foyer.
Dark wood.
Brass handles.
Then the handles moved.
Slowly.
My breath stopped.
The doors opened only a few inches.
Enough to show light from outside.
No person yet.
No face.
No explanation.
But I recognized one detail through the gap.
A silver-topped walking cane.
My father had owned one exactly like it.
My father had been dead ten years.
I whispered nothing.
May you like
I simply stared.
And then the doors stopped.
