Chapter 6
I held the pantry key in my palm the next morning.
Noah saw it when he came downstairs.
His face closed.
“Did she tell you I took snacks?” he asked.
“I found the latch. I want you to tell me what happened, if you can.”
He stayed near the doorway.
“She put it on when you started the late shift. She said I was eating food meant for Emma and Caleb.”
“Were you taking food?”
“Sometimes I took crackers after school. I wasn’t allowed to have the snacks she bought for them.”
I thought of the shelves I had filled every weekend. I had assumed every child could eat from them.
“Did you ever go without lunch?”
“No. School gave me lunch.”
“Dinner?”
He nodded once.
I knelt so we were face to face.
“You can have food when you’re hungry. I’m taking the latch off.”
He watched me remove it with a screwdriver. When it came free, he touched the bare wood where it had been.
“Will Vanessa put it back?”
“No.”
He went upstairs to tell Emma. I heard her ask why the pantry had needed a lock at all.
I didn’t have an answer that a seven-year-old deserved to carry.
At the doctor’s follow-up, Noah had gained a little weight. The doctor spoke with us about steady meals and asked Noah how things felt at home.
“I eat at the table now,” he said.
She smiled.
“I’m glad.”
Ms. Reed continued meeting with him. She told me recovery wouldn’t follow a straight line. He might feel safe one day and frightened the next. I made sure Noah knew she was someone he could talk to even when he didn’t want to talk to me.
Vanessa’s attorney contacted Mr. Bell. Vanessa was willing to acknowledge the forged signature if I agreed to tell investigators that the application was “only exploratory.”
I read the proposal twice.
“She went far past exploring,” I told Mr. Bell.
“I agree. We’ll respond with the documents.”
He also told me the school had reported the false paperwork to the appropriate authorities. Someone might ask me and Noah for statements. I asked that Noah be interviewed only if absolutely necessary and with support.
That afternoon, Vanessa came to collect more clothes. Grace took the children to the park. I waited with Mr. Bell on a video call until she finished.
She stopped in the kitchen when she saw the pantry latch was gone.
“You took it off.”
“Yes.”
“Caleb gets into everything.”
“It was put on to keep Noah out.”
“He told you that?”
“I saw your notes about him taking food.”
“He did take things without asking.”
“He was hungry.”
Vanessa set her bag down.
“I know I made mistakes. You’re turning everything I did into something cruel.”
“I listened to what Noah said. I looked at the calendar and the school forms. I heard you tell him he wasn’t your child.”
Her eyes filled.
“Emma and Caleb are going to hate me.”
“They miss you. I’m helping them keep a relationship with you.”
“What about Noah?”
“He doesn’t want contact.”
“He used to love me.”
“I know.”
That was the part I couldn’t stop thinking about. Noah had trusted her once. Losing that trust had happened slowly, inside our own house, while I told myself we were all doing fine.
Vanessa picked up her bag and left.
After the park, Caleb ran into the kitchen and opened the pantry door. He stared at the empty space where the latch had been.
“It’s open!”
“It stays open,” I said.
He looked at Noah.
“You can get crackers now.”
Noah smiled faintly.
“Maybe later.”
Emma sat at the table with a drawing she had made for Vanessa. She wanted to give it to her during their next visit. I told her she could.
That evening, I read to all three children on the living room floor. Caleb fell asleep against one arm. Emma leaned against the other. Noah sat close enough that his shoulder touched mine.
When I finished the chapter, he asked whether we could read one more.
We did.
May you like
The next day, an investigator called to schedule my statement.
She said they had obtained the electronic records from the residential school. The application had been submitted after midnight on a night Vanessa told me she was paying household bills.
