Part 2
He was doing all three.
Sophie moved closer until her arm touched Julia’s.
Julia turned slightly.
“What did you see?”
Sophie looked at Mason.
He did not move.
Julia waited.
“I heard it,” Sophie said.
“Heard what?”
“The wood.”
“Before or after Noah cried?”
Sophie’s eyes filled.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s all right.”
Mason gave a short laugh.
Julia looked at him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You laughed.”
“Because this is ridiculous.”
Noah’s crying softened into quiet, uneven breaths.
Mason gestured toward the floor.
“It’s a broken stool. Nobody’s hurt. You’re acting like something terrible happened.”
Julia looked at the fresh split in the wood.
“What happened before it broke?”
“I told you, I don’t know.”
“You were here.”
“I was on the stairs.”
“Doing what?”
“Going upstairs.”
“You just came downstairs.”
“I went up and came back.”
“Why?”
Mason’s jaw tightened.
“To get my charger.”
“Where is it?”
“In my room.”
“You came down without it.”
He looked toward the staircase as if surprised by his empty hands.
“I forgot.”
Julia said nothing.
The afternoon light shifted across the wall. A car passed outside, its tires making a soft rushing sound on the residential street. Somewhere near the kitchen, the dog scratched once at the back door and stopped.
Mason put his hands in his jacket pockets.
Julia noticed the rectangular edge of his black smartphone partly visible inside the chest pocket instead. He usually kept it in his trousers. The jacket pocket was too shallow, and the top corner rose above the denim.
“Take your hands out,” she said.
He stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because I asked you to.”
“That’s not a reason.”
Julia’s calm required effort now.
“No, Mason. It’s an instruction.”
He removed his hands slowly.
“Happy?”
“No.”
His expression changed.
Julia rarely answered his sarcasm directly. For the past year she had tried to follow the advice of parenting books, school counselors, Daniel’s sister, and a family therapist they had seen six times before Mason refused to return. She was supposed to avoid power struggles, name feelings without judgment, maintain connection, offer choices, and remember that adolescent hostility often concealed fear.
All of that was probably true.
It was also possible for a frightened person to frighten someone smaller.
Julia had been so determined not to treat Mason like a problem that she had sometimes ignored the problems gathering around him.
She slipped one hand into the back pocket of her dark jeans.
Mason’s eyes followed the movement.
Julia brought out her black smartphone.
The screen remained dark.
His faint smile disappeared.
The music playing softly from a speaker in the kitchen shifted to another song, but nobody in the hallway seemed to hear it.
Julia held the phone loosely at her side.
“Then explain the recording.”
Mason’s eyes widened.
It was not a dramatic reaction. He did not step back or protest immediately. His gaze moved to her hand, then to the phone in his chest pocket, then toward Sophie.
That final glance told Julia more than his answer could have.
Sophie pressed closer to her.
Noah moved with her until both younger children stood behind Julia’s arms.
Mason swallowed.
“What recording?”
Julia watched him.
His face was changing in small, involuntary ways. Color rose near his ears. The muscles around his mouth tightened. His eyes moved once toward the front door.
“You know what recording.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Your phone connected to the downstairs speaker.”
He stared at her.
Julia continued.
“At three twelve this afternoon. You must have opened an audio file while Bluetooth was still on.”
Mason’s hand moved instinctively toward his chest pocket.
Julia raised her phone slightly.
“Leave it.”
His fingers stopped.
Sophie made a small sound in her throat.
Julia looked at her.
“Did you hear it too?”
Sophie nodded.
Mason turned.
“She’s lying.”
Sophie flinched.
Julia stepped fully between them.
“No.”
“I’m not saying anything to her.”
“You just called her a liar.”
“Because she is.”
Sophie began shaking her head.
“I didn’t—”
“You don’t have to answer him,” Julia said.
Mason laughed again, but there was no confidence in it.
“So everyone’s against me now.”
“This is not about everyone.”
“It never is, right?”
Julia held his gaze.
“What was on the recording?”
“You said you heard it.”
“I heard part of it.”
That was true.
At three twelve, Julia had been in the laundry room folding towels when the kitchen speaker made a sharp connection tone. A muffled male voice came through, too distant to understand at first. Then she heard Mason say Noah’s name.
The audio stopped after eight seconds.
By the time Julia reached the kitchen, the speaker had disconnected.
She found Sophie standing near the table with both hands over her mouth.
Mason appeared from the hallway a moment later and said his phone had played an old video by accident.
When Julia asked which video, he said he had deleted it.
She had not confronted him then.
She had been trying to decide whether she had heard fear in Noah’s voice or imagined it because Sophie looked frightened.
Ten minutes later, Mason asked if he could take Noah upstairs to help find a missing game controller.
Julia said no.
Mason accused her of treating him like a criminal.
At three forty, Julia went to bring clean sheets to the upstairs closet and discovered all three children in the hallway. Mason stood near the top step. Noah stood below him beside the stool, which had been carried from the bathroom. Sophie was against the wall.
Everyone became silent when Julia appeared.
Mason said they were building a fort.
Noah said nothing.
Julia told them to put the stool away and come downstairs.
Mason took it from Noah.
He looked annoyed, but he obeyed.
At four fifteen, Julia stepped into the backyard to bring in the dog.
The stool broke before she returned.
May you like
Now she held her phone and watched her oldest son calculate what she might know.
“You recorded me without permission,” Mason said.
