Chapter 2
Dad asked me to sit beside him on the sofa.
I didn't.
There was a wet mark on the cushion from Caleb's spilled drink, and I knew Vanessa would blame me if my shirt touched it. I stood beside the coffee table, holding my sore hands away from my sides.
Dad noticed. He fetched a dry towel, covered the cushion, and waited until I sat down.
It was such a small thing. My throat tightened anyway.
Vanessa crossed the room.
“We can discuss this when the children are upstairs.”
“They are part of this,” Dad said.
“Caleb doesn't understand what he's saying.”
“I understand,” Caleb replied.
Ava looked between them. She was seven, and tears had begun to gather in her eyes.
Dad saw them too.
“Nobody is in trouble for telling me what happened,” he said. “Ava, you can go play in your room if you want.”
She shook her head and stayed.
Dad turned to me.
“When did Vanessa start making you clean like this?”
“After your trips got longer.”
“That was in March.”
I nodded.
He had started traveling twice a month for work after his company moved him onto a bigger account. At first, Vanessa had given me one or two extra jobs.
Then she started leaving a list on the refrigerator. If I finished it early, she added more.
Dad rubbed his forehead.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
I stared at the towel beneath me.
“I tried.”
Vanessa made a disbelieving sound. Dad looked at her, and she fell silent.
“Tell me when,” he said.
“On your birthday.”
He thought for a moment. He'd called from a hotel that evening. I remembered because Caleb and Ava had sung into the phone before Vanessa handed it to me.
“I said I was tired,” I told him. “You asked whether I'd stayed up reading. I said I'd been cleaning.”
Dad's expression changed.
“You said the kitchen was a mess.”
“Vanessa told you I made it messy.”
I could see him remembering her voice in the background of the call.
Vanessa sat down across from us.
“I told him you left your school things everywhere. You had.”
“My school things were in my room.”
“Enough,” Dad said.
The word startled all of us.
He took a breath before speaking again.
“Nia is telling me what happened. Let her finish.”
I didn't know how to finish. There were too many afternoons. Some days I'd been asked to scrub the floors. Other days I'd washed bedding, wiped cupboards, and cleaned up after Caleb and Ava while they played.
Once, I'd missed a friend's birthday party because I hadn't finished before Vanessa was ready to drive me. She told Dad I didn't want to go.
“You told him I changed my mind about Maya's party,” I said.
Vanessa glanced away.
Dad looked at me. “You wanted to go?”
“I had her gift wrapped.”
He stood up so quickly Ava flinched.
Dad saw her reaction and lowered his voice.
“I'm going to call your aunt Ruth. Then I'm taking Nia to have her hands checked.”
Vanessa rose.
“You're calling your sister over dishes?”
“I'm calling her because I need someone the kids trust to sit with them while we're out.”
“I am their mother.”
“Caleb and Ava can stay with you,” he said. “Ruth can come for them if they'd rather leave.”
Vanessa's face hardened.
Dad went to the hallway to make the call. I heard him explain what he'd found without making excuses for anyone.
Ava climbed onto the sofa next to me.
“I didn't tell because Mom said you'd get sent away,” she whispered.
I turned toward her.
“Sent where?”
She gripped the blanket.
“She said Dad would get tired of arguing and make you stay with Aunt Ruth.”
I loved Aunt Ruth. But Dad was home, and I didn't want to be sent out of my own house so he could keep his marriage peaceful.
“I don't know what's going to happen,” I told Ava. “But telling him was right.”
She slipped her hand into mine, then pulled back when I winced.
“Sorry.”
“It's okay.”
Dad returned just as Caleb came toward me.
“I ate the popcorn,” he said.
I looked at him.
“I know.”
“I dropped some on purpose.”
Vanessa's head snapped up.
“Caleb.”
“I thought it was funny,” he said, staring at the floor. “Then you had to clean it.”
I didn't know what to say.
Dad crouched in front of him.
“You're responsible for that choice,” he said. “Thank you for telling the truth. We'll talk about making it right.”
Caleb nodded, his face red.
Dad got my coat. He asked Vanessa to give us space when she tried to follow me into the entryway. She didn't argue again, but I could feel her watching.
At the clinic, a nurse looked at my hands and asked what cleaning products I'd been using. I knew the names because I used them so often.
Dad wrote them down.
The doctor gave us a care plan for the irritated skin and asked whether I was safe at home. Dad let me answer for myself.
“I don't know yet,” I said.
He didn't interrupt.
When we came outside, Aunt Ruth was waiting in the parking lot. She hugged me without touching my hands.
Dad had told her enough.
“I can come home with you both,” she said.
Dad unlocked the car.
“Yes,” he answered. “Nia's going home. I want her to know what happens there next.”
Before I got in, my phone buzzed.
Vanessa had sent me a message.
I hope you're happy. You've frightened Ava, and your father may never trust me again.
Dad saw my face.
I showed him the screen.
May you like
His jaw tightened.
“Keep that,” he said. “And you don't have to answer.”
