Part 10
“No.”
“Sophie?”
“No.”
“Where were they?”
“By the console.”
Sophie shook her head.
“We were by the stairs.”
Mason closed his eyes.
Julia said, “Which is true?”
“I don’t remember.”
“It happened minutes ago.”
“I was mad.”
“That does not erase where they stood.”
“I didn’t kick it at them.”
“Did a piece hit anyone?”
“No.”
Sophie whispered, “It hit the rug.”
Julia looked at her.
“Were you scared it might hit you?”
She nodded.
Mason covered his mouth with one hand.
“I didn’t mean—”
Julia stopped him with a look.
He lowered his hand.
Noah pulled at Julia’s cardigan.
“Can we go upstairs?”
She looked toward the staircase.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re staying together down here.”
He nodded, accepting the rule because it was simple.
Julia wished every decision could be.
Her phone vibrated on the stair.
All four children looked at it.
Daniel’s name appeared on the screen.
Home in two minutes.
Julia read the message without opening it.
Mason saw enough.
His face lost color.
“What are you going to tell him?”
Julia locked the phone.
“The truth as I understand it.”
“You don’t understand it.”
“That is why I will say that too.”
“He’ll make me leave.”
“No.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“No.”
Mason turned away, furious.
Julia stood.
“I will not allow anyone to throw you out tonight.”
He looked back.
“Tonight?”
“I am choosing words I can keep.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
“I know.”
Daniel often made promises to calm a moment, then altered them when reality became inconvenient. Julia had done it too. No consequences. Nobody is leaving. Everything is fine.
She would not use certainty as sedation now.
Mason pressed both palms to his eyes.
Sophie looked at Julia.
“Can we hide the stool?”
Mason lowered his hands.
Julia’s chest tightened.
“Why would we hide it?”
“So Dad won’t be mad.”
Noah nodded.
Julia looked at the broken pieces.
This was the family’s oldest ritual.
Remove the visible disorder before Daniel entered.
Shoes into the closet.
Bills beneath a magazine.
Tears wiped away.
Arguments paused.
Broken things carried to another room.
“No,” Julia said.
Sophie looked frightened.
“The stool stays.”
Mason laughed bitterly.
“Because it’s evidence.”
“Because it happened.”
“What if Dad yells?”
Julia looked toward the door.
“Then he yells.”
The younger children stared at her.
They had never heard her permit the possibility.
Julia continued.
“You are not responsible for preventing it.”
“What if he leaves?” Noah asked.
Mason looked at him sharply.
Julia crouched again.
“If an adult leaves because children told the truth about a broken stool, that is the adult’s decision.”
Mason’s mouth tightened.
“You don’t believe that either.”
Julia looked at her oldest son.
“I am trying to.”
The honesty quieted him.
Her phone vibrated again.
A car door closed outside.
The sound came through the front windows, followed by the electronic chirp of a vehicle locking.
Noah gripped Julia’s hand.
Sophie stood.
Mason’s eyes moved to his phone on the console.
Julia stepped toward it.
He tensed.
She picked it up carefully.
“Unlock it.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“He’s here.”
“Yes.”
Mason looked toward the door.
Julia held the phone out.
His breathing quickened.
“What if I delete it?”
“You already had the chance.”
“What if there are messages that have nothing to do with this?”
“I will not open anything except the recording.”
“You lied before.”
“Yes.”
“So why should I believe you?”
“You should not rely only on my promise.”
She looked at Sophie.
“You will watch what I open.”
Sophie’s eyes widened.
Julia turned to Mason.
“And you will hold the phone if you prefer.”
He stared.
She was offering him a degree of control she did not feel comfortable giving.
That was perhaps why it mattered.
The porch steps creaked.
A shadow moved behind the glass panels.
Mason walked forward.
Julia handed him the phone.
His fingers closed around it.
“Airplane mode,” she said. “So nothing gets sent or deleted remotely.”
He looked at her.
“Dad wouldn’t—”
“Airplane mode.”
Mason swiped down. The screen glow reflected faintly against his face. Nothing on it was readable from where the younger children stood.
He activated the setting.
“Now unlock it.”
He entered the code.
Julia deliberately looked away.
Mason noticed.
The front door handle moved once but did not open. Daniel was probably removing his key after trying the locked latch.
Mason’s hands began to shake.
“Where is the recording?” Julia asked.
“Voice notes.”
“Open it.”
He did.
A list appeared, but Julia did not read the titles.
“Which one?”
Mason scrolled.
His thumb stopped.
“There.”
“Play it.”
“No.”
The key entered the front door lock.
Julia held Mason’s gaze.
“Play it.”
The lock turned.
Mason pressed the screen.
His own recorded voice came softly from the phone speaker.
“All you have to do is stand beside it. You don’t even have to climb.”
Noah moved closer to Julia.
The recording continued.
Sophie’s voice, frightened: “He doesn’t want to.”
Mason on the phone: “Then Dad hears what really happened to the headphones.”
Noah: “I didn’t break them.”
Mason: “Nobody’s going to believe that if I show him the picture.”
There was a rustling sound.
Then Mason’s recorded voice again, lower.
“Say Sophie pushed you. Just once. I need to know how it sounds.”
The audio ended.
Nobody in the hallway moved.
The front door opened inward.
Daylight widened across the polished floor.
Daniel stood on the porch in a dark casual jacket, one hand still on the handle. His short dark hair had been disturbed by the wind. The bright exterior light left his face in soft focus behind Julia.
He looked first at her.
Then at the children gathered close.
Then at Mason holding the black phone.
Finally, his gaze dropped to the broken pieces of the wooden stool near the stairs.
Julia turned toward him slowly.
Her own phone remained in her hand. Mason’s recording had stopped, but the silence after it seemed to continue through the house.
Daniel stepped across the threshold.
He drew breath to speak.
May you like
Julia held his gaze.
The hallway went black before he could say a word.
