Chapter 7 - What Ben Remembered
Ben came to Dana's house after dark. I met him on the porch while Lucy slept inside. He was carrying a bag of her clean clothes and looking like he hadn't slept either.
"Did your mother lock you in the pantry?" I asked without greeting him.
His face changed so quickly I knew the answer.
"Where did you hear that?"
"From Lucy."
Ben gripped the porch railing. "That was a long time ago."
"She's doing it to our child now."
"It wasn't all the time. Only when I acted up."
I stared at him. "How old were you?"
"Five. Six. I don't know."
"How long did she leave you there?"
"Until Dad got home. Sometimes until morning."
He spoke the last sentence as if describing bad weather. Then he noticed my face and grew defensive.
"It was different then."
"No, Ben. It was wrong then."
He set the bag down. "Mom says I owe her everything. She worked two jobs when Dad was hurt. She kept our family together."
"She taught you that surviving her cruelty meant loving her."
"Don't tell me what my childhood was."
His voice rose. I stepped back toward the door. Immediately he lowered it.
"I'm sorry."
We stood in silence. Across the street a neighbor was bringing groceries inside. Somewhere a sprinkler clicked. Ordinary life continued in a world I no longer recognized.
"I want you to tell Lila what happened," I said. "About the pantry. About the money. Everything."
"Mom will never forgive me."
"Our daughter might never trust you if you don't."
He rubbed both hands over his eyes.
"I signed something last month," he confessed. "I thought it was for an educational trust. Mom said it would protect Lucy if anything happened to us."
"What did you sign?"
"A statement about you."
My heart thudded once, hard.
"What statement?"
"That you'd been overwhelmed, that you sometimes couldn't get out of bed, that Lucy had to rely on Mom."
I took a step backward. "Those things aren't true."
"I know. She said they were examples, not allegations."
"You signed them anyway?"
May you like
His eyes filled. "I was afraid she'd call the loan."
Then he pulled a folded page from his jacket. At the bottom, next to his signature, were four words I had never seen in my life: PETITION FOR TEMPORARY GUARDIANSHIP.
