Chapter 1: The Birthday Party That Was Never for My Son
The closer I got to the house, the stranger everything felt.
Cars lined both sides of our quiet street.
Most of them belonged to people I recognized from my mother's side of the family.
My cousin Derek's pickup truck sat crooked across the curb.
My Aunt Gloria's SUV blocked part of my driveway.
Even my Uncle Raymond's old sedan was parked in front of my mailbox.
I frowned.
Nobody had mentioned a family gathering.
Not my mother.
Not Evelyn.
Not anyone.
I balanced the birthday cake in one hand and the gift bags in the other as I walked toward the front porch.
Before I reached the front door, I heard loud laughter.
Music blasted from the backyard.
Someone shouted over the noise.
"Judith, where's the barbecue sauce?"
Another voice answered.
"We're almost out of ribs!"
I stopped walking.
Ribs?
Barbecue?
I thought today was supposed to be Jamie's first birthday.
Not a family cookout.
I unlocked the front door with my key.
The smell hit me first.
Grease.
Smoke.
Dirty dishes.
And something else.
Neglect.
The living room looked nothing like the home I had left three days earlier.
Toy boxes had been shoved into a corner.
Baby blankets were piled on a chair.
Several empty soda cans sat on the coffee table beside half-eaten desserts.
Nobody noticed me standing there.
Everyone was outside.
"Hello?" I called.
No answer.
I set the cake on the kitchen counter.
That's when I heard running water.
The sound came from the sink.
I walked into the kitchen.
My heart nearly stopped.
Evelyn stood at the sink with yellow rubber gloves covering her hands.
She was scrubbing a mountain of greasy plates.
Sweat clung to her forehead.
Her hair was tied into a messy knot.
She looked thinner than when I'd left.
Much thinner.
She didn't even hear me at first.
"Evelyn."
She froze.
The plate slipped from her hands and shattered inside the sink.
Slowly, she turned around.
Her eyes widened.
"Colin?"
She looked shocked.
Almost frightened.
"You... you're home?"
I smiled.
"I wanted to surprise you."
Instead of smiling back, she looked toward the backyard.
Then toward the hallway.
Like she was checking to see if someone had heard us.
That was the first moment I realized something was terribly wrong.
I stepped closer.
"Are you okay?"
She forced a smile that disappeared almost immediately.
"I'm fine."
She wasn't.
Her hands were trembling.
There were dark circles under her eyes.
A faint bruise peeked out beneath the sleeve of her sweater.
My stomach tightened.
"What happened to your arm?"
She quickly pulled the sleeve down.
"I bumped into a cabinet."
Before I could respond, my mother's voice echoed from outside.
"Evelyn!"
No answer.
"Evelyn!"
The second call was sharper.
More like an order.
"I need those serving trays cleaned now!"
Evelyn instinctively turned back toward the sink.
"I should finish these."
I gently caught her wrist.
"No."
She looked at me nervously.
"It's okay."
"No," I repeated.
"You're my wife."
"These dishes can wait."
She swallowed hard.
"You don't understand."
"I think I do."
"No."
Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
"You really don't."
Before I could ask another question, my mother burst through the back door.
She stopped cold when she saw me.
For one brief second, the cheerful expression disappeared from her face.
Then it returned like nothing had happened.
"Colin!"
She rushed over with her arms open.
"What a wonderful surprise!"
She hugged me tightly.
Too tightly.
I noticed she smelled like expensive perfume.
Not like someone who had spent the day taking care of a baby.
"I didn't know you were coming."
"I got off early."
"Well, perfect timing."
She laughed.
"The family's celebrating Jamie's birthday."
I glanced around the kitchen.
"Really?"
"Because I don't see Jamie."
Her smile flickered.
"Oh."
"He's taking a nap upstairs."
Evelyn looked down at the floor.
She didn't say a word.
Something inside me whispered that my mother had just lied.
And I suddenly needed to see my son more than anything else.
Without another word, I headed toward the staircase.
Behind me, my mother's cheerful voice changed instantly.
"Colin."
It wasn't a request.
It sounded like a warning.
But I kept walking.
May you like
Because for the first time in nearly a year...
I no longer trusted the woman who raised me.
