Chapter 10 - THE CALL FROM OVERSEAS
David remembered the night Sarah sent the deployment orders.
He had called from overseas at 3:00 a.m. her time.
Maya was asleep.
Eli had not been born yet.
Sarah sounded distracted.
"Everything okay?" he had asked.
"Just tired."
In the background, he heard a man's voice.
Sarah said it was television.
David believed her.
Now the memory made him physically ill.
"Was Marcus in my house that night?"
Sarah nodded.
"Yes."
David stood from the interview table and walked to the window.
No yelling.
No threat.
Just distance.
"I kept telling myself we could maybe repair something someday," Sarah whispered.
He turned around.
"Repair what?"
"Us."
"Sarah, I found our daughter injured in our kitchen while your boyfriend was about to hit her."
She cried harder.
"I know."
"No. I don't think you do."
His voice finally broke.
"I can forgive fear. I can understand loneliness. I cannot build a marriage on a child learning to flinch."
Sarah looked down.
That was the end of their marriage, even before the papers were filed.
Later, Maya asked why her mother was not coming home.
David sat beside her on the floor.
"Mom has some things she needs to fix."
"Is she bad?"
"No person is only one thing."
"Is Marcus bad?"
David took longer.
"Marcus did bad things. Grown-ups have to answer for what they do."
Maya nodded like she was trying to memorize the rule.
Then she asked, "Do I have to wash dishes tonight?"
David looked at the sink.
"No."
"What if they're dirty?"
"They'll survive."
For the first time, Maya smiled.
That night, while David washed every plate himself, Ortiz called.
Marcus had agreed to talk.
May you like
He wanted a deal.
And he claimed Sarah knew much more about the fraud than she had admitted.
