Chapter 3 - What Maya Stopped Asking For
I drove home with Maya in the passenger seat.
Simone drove separately with Caleb and Zoe.
Nobody had planned it that way.
I just couldn’t put my daughter in the same car with her.
For ten minutes, Maya stared out the window.
Then she said, “Please don’t get divorced because of me.”
I nearly missed the light.
I pulled into an empty parking lot and turned off the engine.
“Look at me.”
She didn’t.
“Maya.”
Slowly, she turned.
“This is not because of you.”
“She’s going to say it is.”
“Has she said that before?”
Maya’s silence answered for her.
I felt anger rising, but I forced my voice to stay calm.
“What else has happened?”
She looked down at her hands.
“Nothing big.”
“Maya, she slapped you in a store.”
“She only did that once.”
The word only hit me like a punch.
“What did she do the other times?”
My daughter started listing things like she was reading groceries.
A winter coat I bought had “gone missing.”
A tablet for school had been “returned because it was defective.”
A birthday gift card from my sister had somehow already been “used.”
New headphones disappeared.
A pair of boots I bought in November were exchanged for a cheaper pair.
Every incident had an explanation.
Every explanation had come from Simone.
“How long?”
“Since last summer.”
Almost a year.
I had been living in the same house.
Sleeping beside the same woman.
Eating breakfast at the same table.
And my daughter had learned to stop asking me for things because she believed asking created problems.
I covered my face with both hands.
Maya touched my arm.
“Dad?”
“I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not.”
I laughed once, but there was nothing funny in it.
“You’re right.”
When we reached the house, Simone was waiting in the kitchen.
Her arms were crossed.
“You made me look insane in that store.”
I stared at her.
“You hit my daughter.”
“She was disrespectful.”
Maya moved behind me.
“You stole refunds from purchases I made.”
“I moved money around.”
“You kept merchandise after refunds.”
“I was handling the household.”
“No. You were handling my daughter.”
Simone’s jaw tightened.
Then she said something I never expected.
“You don’t know how expensive she is.”
I took one step forward.
“She is a child.”
“She is a spoiled child.”
Maya gasped.
I pointed toward the stairs. “Go to your room, baby.”
“No,” Simone said. “She needs to hear this.”
I turned so fast Simone took a step back.
“She needs to hear nothing from you tonight.”
Caleb and Zoe appeared in the hallway, terrified.
That stopped me.
Whatever Simone had done, those children were trapped inside it too.
I lowered my voice.
“We are not screaming in front of them.”
Simone laughed bitterly. “Now you care about everyone’s feelings?”
Then she reached into her purse and dropped a small key onto the counter.
Maya went pale.
I noticed immediately.
“What is that key?”
Maya whispered, “Dad…”
Simone smiled without warmth.
“It’s for the storage closet.”
I looked at my daughter.
She was shaking.
“What’s in the storage closet?”
May you like
Maya’s eyes filled again.
“My stuff.”
