e y

le hum in my life. The memory of his meticulous care, h

ing changed

ghter of his live-in housekeeper, came

irst, then

nt from being attentive and

treated me l

nally, physically, pushed

ll, replayed a convers

good to Jessica?" I had aske

s. Stone, saved my life once when I was a kid. Jessica is her only daughter, and her father pass

gh

so

could shamelessl

a flicker of emotion, as I took the b

ut off the funds for my dying mother' s medic

own a flight of cold, hard stair

case, I could hear his vo

u okay? Did she h

hands gentle, his voice a low murmur, as

r head. She pointed a pale, trembling finger in

. I' m fine, really. You should go

rip on her

othered to lo

en heap on the floor,

ing, and filled with an undisguised disgu

a piece of trash, not a pers

ance. He cut her off, his voice cold and hard. His to

too kind! You' re j

le, weeping girl in his arm

heavy hammer, pounding on the

yes. It was set up by our parents years a

ked back at her, were filled with a

lway, a final, brutal blow that shatte

g with conviction. "You are the woman

o

just crack. It co

ents. Nothing he

loved him with every fiber of my being. I went t

was a dismissive, "Noth

ho was the cause of my mother' s death, the w

could you b

an insignificant footnote in your life?

creaming in protest. Every muscle, every

I had, I shrieked at the cold, hear

My mom is dead!

was raw,

of a man looking at an unre

ssion a mixture of im

relationship ended

ing down at me as if he were

ven after you went to jail, I continued to

a short,

octors and nurses, twenty-four hours a

ost ridiculous joke in the world. A hi

ou become so

lie just to get back a

e, and his expression instantly softened, trans

at me, his fa

ight now! Apolog