This woman who had made my life miserable for 12 years, who had systematically tried to erase me from my own family. And I felt nothing.
No anger, no hurt, no satisfaction, just a deep abiding peace. I didn’t turn him against you, Rya, I said quietly. You did that all by yourself. That’s when she fainted. It happened so suddenly that no one was prepared for it. One moment she was standing there screaming at me, and the next she was crumpling to the porch floor like a marionette with cut strings. Sarah gasped and stepped back. Jake started crying. Marcus just stood there staring down at his unconscious wife. “Well,” I said, stepping back into my kitchen. I suppose you’d better call an ambulance. But Marcus wasn’t looking at Rya anymore. He was looking at me, and his eyes were full of something I hadn’t seen in years.
Respect, Mom, he said softly. “I’m so sorry,” I nodded acknowledgement, but didn’t respond. ” he asked.
After after we deal with this situation
After after we deal with this situation, I looked at him, my son, the little boy I’d raised with such hope and love, who had grown into a man who’d allowed his wife to abuse his mother for years. He looked smaller now, diminished somehow, as if the revelation of Rya’s deception had physically shrunk him. “We can talk,” I said finally. “But not today. ” His face fell. Mom, please. We don’t have anywhere else to go. You have money. I pointed out all that money Rya’s been stealing from you. I’m sure she can afford a hotel until you sort things out.
Marcus opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. He looked down at his wife, who was starting to stir on the porch floor, then back at me. “The children,” he said quietly. ” I felt my resolve waver for just a moment. My grandchildren, innocent in all this, didn’t deserve to be punished for their parents’ mistakes.
But I also couldn’t allow them to be used as emotional leverage the way they’d been used to manipulate me for years. “The children can visit,” I said carefully. ” Emma appeared beside me, having finished in the bathroom. She looked up at me with those big, trusting eyes. Grandma Dela, why is mommy sleeping on the porch? I knelt down to her level, smoothing her hair back from her face.
“Your mommy just got a little overwhelmed, sweetheart. She’ll be fine. ” she asked, and I could hear the fear in her small voice. I chose my words carefully. “Your house arrangements are going to change, honey. But that doesn’t mean I love you any less. ” She hugged me then, fierce and tight, and I held her close, breathing in her little girl scent of sunshine and bubblegum. When I looked up, I saw Marcus watching us with tears in his eyes.
