Nathan heard Evelyn running fast panicked footsteps pounding up the stairs. She appeared at the top of the stairs and when she saw Nathan, her face filled with anger and fear. How did you get in here? She demanded, moving quickly to put herself between Nathan and Lucas. I I have a key, Nathan said. I’m sorry.
I just needed to understand. You broke into my home. Evelyn’s voice was shaking. Get out. Get out right now or I’m calling the police. Please, Nathan said, holding up his hands. Please, just give me 5 minutes. 5 minutes to explain. Then I’ll leave if you want me to. I don’t want your explanations, Evelyn said.
You have no right to be here. He’s my son, Nathan shouted. He didn’t mean to shout, but the words burst out of him like water from a broken dam. Lucas whimpered and grabbed Evelyn’s shirt, hiding behind her. Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears.
You lost the right to say that when you believed I was dead without even questioning it. When you didn’t fight for me. When you just gave up. I thought you died. Nathan said desperately. What was I supposed to fight? A car accident? A funeral? I saw the coffin. Evelyn, I watched them lower it into the ground. And you never wondered why it was a closed coffin? Evelyn asked, tears running down her face now.
You never asked to see the body. You never questioned anything? Nathan opened his mouth, then closed it because she was right. He hadn’t questioned anything. He’d been so destroyed by grief that he just accepted it. Accepted what he was told. “Your mother told you I died,” Evelyn said, her voice bitter and cold.
“And you believed her? Just like you believed everything else she told you about me?” Nathan felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. “What? What are you talking about?” he asked quietly. Evelyn laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. It was a sad broken sound. “You really don’t know, do you?” she said. “You really have no idea what she did.” “What? Who did?” Nathan asked.
“But even as he said it, he knew. His mother.” “Mom, I’m scared.” Lucas whispered, still hiding behind Evelyn. Evelyn took a deep breath. She wiped her eyes. When she looked at Nathan again, her face was hard. “You want 5 minutes?” she said. “Fine, you get 5 minutes, but not here. not in front of Lucas.
She turned to Lucas and knelt down so she was eye level with him. Baby, I need you to go to your room and put on your headphones. Listen to your music, the songs you love. Can you do that for me? Lucas nodded, but his eyes kept looking at Nathan with fear. Is that man going to hurt you? Lucas asked quietly. No, baby.
No one is going to hurt anyone. We’re just going to talk. Okay. Lucas nodded again and ran to his room. A few seconds later, Nathan heard a door close. Evelyn stood up and walked down the stairs. Nathan followed her. They went into the kitchen. Evelyn stood on one side of the small table. Nathan stood on the other.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Then Evelyn took a deep breath. Your mother hated me from the moment she met me. She began. Her voice was quiet but steady now. Did you know that? Nathan wanted to say no. wanted to defend his mother, but he couldn’t because deep down he had known. He just hadn’t wanted to see it. And Evelyn was about to tell him the truth he’d been running from for eight years.
Evelyn’s hands were shaking. She gripped the back of a kitchen chair to steady herself. “Your mother never wanted you to marry me,” she said, looking down at the table instead of at Nathan. “She thought I wasn’t good enough for you. Too poor, too simple, too ordinary.
” Nathan started to speak, but Evelyn held up her hand. No, you asked for 5 minutes. Let me finish. Nathan closed his mouth and nodded. At first, it was small things. Evelyn continued little comments that seemed like jokes but weren’t really jokes. She’d say things like, “Oh, Evelyn, you’re wearing that dress. Well, I suppose it’s nice.
” Or, “Nathan, are you sure you want to eat Evelyn’s cooking? I could make you something better.” Evelyn’s voice got quieter. Then, after we got married, it got worse. Much worse. She finally looked up at Nathan. Her eyes were red from crying, but her voice was strong. She would call me when you were at work. Every single day, sometimes twice a day.
She’d tell me I was making mistakes, that I was cleaning the house wrong, cooking wrong, being a wife wrong. She said I was going to ruin your life. Nathan felt sick. Evelyn, I didn’t know. Of course you didn’t know, Evelyn said, her voice rising. Because I didn’t tell you. I thought I thought I could handle it. I thought it would get better.
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