Chapter 4
Not around me. Inside me. A specific, cold, total quiet, the kind that happens when something that has been bending for a long time finally reaches the end of its flexibility and stops.
I didn't yell.
I didn't argue.
I didn't threaten him with consequences he had already learned would not materialize.
I looked at him for one more second and I said, "Got it."
Then I picked up the broken wing from the floor and set it gently beside Ethan, because it was his and it deserved to be treated like it was his. I looked at my son's face for just a moment, long enough to let him see that I was not falling apart, long enough to communicate the one thing I needed him to understand before anything else happened, which was that what had just been said in this room was not going to stand.
Then I walked to the side table, picked up my phone, and started making the calls and the changes that I had been postponing for three years because I kept believing patience was the thing that would eventually fix what was broken.
May you like
I want to be precise about what I canceled that night, because precision matters here. I canceled Jason and Alyssa's lines on my phone plan, which I had been paying for since Daniel suggested it would be easier to keep everything on one account. I removed both devices from the household Wi-Fi controls I administered through my account. I canceled the gaming subscription Jason's console ran on and the streaming service Alyssa used every evening. I removed Jason's console from the family sharing plan connected to my credit card. I contacted the family's auto insurance and clarified which vehicles were under my name. I called a locksmith and arranged for the following morning.
Then I opened a document on my laptop and started a list.
