Chapter 6 - The Boy in the Middle
Caleb stood gripping the banister.
Marcus hated that the boy had heard them.
He hated more that Simone seemed relieved.
“Come here, buddy,” Marcus said.
Caleb walked down slowly.
Simone crossed her arms. “Tell him you want to stay with your mother.”
Caleb stopped.
Marcus’s voice sharpened. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what? Ask my son where he wants to be?”
“Use him to win an argument.”
She laughed. “Interesting. You mean like you’re using Nia?”
Marcus crouched in front of Caleb.
“You don’t have to choose anybody.”
Caleb’s chin trembled.
“Are you leaving?”
“For tonight, I’m taking Nia to Grandma Denise’s.”
“Can I come?”
Simone’s face changed.
Marcus looked at her.
“Can he?”
“No.”
“Mom—”
“No, Caleb.”
Marcus stood. “Why not?”
“Because he is my child.”
“And he is scared.”
“He’s scared because you’re turning this house upside down.”
Caleb began to cry.
Nia came down the stairs and put an arm around him.
That simple motion nearly wrecked Marcus.
The child who had been denied food was comforting the child whose mother had done it.
Marcus packed for Nia.
Before they left, he knelt in front of Caleb.
“I’m not abandoning you. Do you hear me?”
Caleb nodded, but tears ran down his cheeks.
“I’m calling you tonight.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
At Denise Reed’s house, Nia ate two grilled-cheese sandwiches and a bowl of tomato soup.
Marcus tried not to react to how fast she ate.
His mother noticed.
She noticed everything.
“What happened?” Denise asked.
Marcus told her.
By the time he reached the part about the chart, Denise’s face had become stone.
“I never trusted that woman.”
“Mom.”
“I didn’t.”
“You liked her.”
“I was polite.”
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
At 9:30, he called Caleb.
No answer.
At 9:35, again.
No answer.
At 9:42, Simone texted.
He’s asleep. Stop upsetting him.
Marcus typed, deleted, typed again.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Hello?”
A child whispered, “Dad?”
Marcus stood so fast his chair scraped the floor.
“Caleb?”
“I’m using the neighbor’s phone.”
“Why?”
A pause.
Then Caleb started crying.
“Mom said if I talk about the food again, she’ll send me away to my real dad.”
Marcus’s blood ran cold.
May you like
Caleb’s biological father had not seen him in six years.
And Simone knew exactly why the boy was afraid of him.
