We’ll be back …”
Mom’s voice faded, and her eyelids fluttered. In my head pulsed the bloody picture of Gary on the ground, beaten and near senseless. I held Mom’s hand, tears running down my face. I couldn’t begin to imagine what she had gone through. To watch someone you love being hurt like that. To not be able to do anything about it.
How had that Gary become a criminal?
“I’m sorry,” Mom whispered. “All of a sudden I’m so tired.” She swallowed.
“It’s probably the medication.” Half an hour ago a nurse had been in to bring her two more pills.
I picked up Mom’s water glass and held the straw to her lips. She took a long drink.
With a sad smile, I set the glass down. “You want to sleep for awhile?”
Her mouth twisted. “Yeah. But I know you want to hear the end. I’ll finish, then rest.”
Our eyes locked, and I knew she meant more than simply take a nap. After seventeen years, telling the story she’d bottled up for so long had drained her. She wanted to be done with it. I had the fleeting thought that once she finished, she’d never want to mention my father’s name again.
And why would I want to hear it? Now I just wanted him sent back to prison. Maybe he and Cat would end up in the same cell. Wouldn’t they have a great time.
My eyes filled with fresh tears.
“What is it, Shaley?”
“Nothing.” I blinked hard. “Just … tell me the rest. I have to know.”
Mom put her hand on my knee. “Like I said, people can change a lot in seventeen years.”
But how? What happened then that made my father go bad?
“Did Bart and his friends come back?” I asked.
The pained look returned to Mom’s eyes. She rubbed the bump on her head. “It was way more than just ‘coming back’ … ”