Chapter 19 - A Different Kind of Leaving
By the time Ryan was sentenced, the trees outside our second safe apartment had lost their leaves. Mom attended the hearing with her attorney. I stayed with Nina and a therapist who let me choose whether to talk or play checkers.
When Mom returned, she told me Ryan had received a prison sentence for his crimes. She didn't tell me he was a monster. She didn't try to make me hate him. She said the judge had listened to the evidence and that Ryan's choices had consequences.
"He asked about you," she added carefully. "I told his lawyer you were safe. Nothing more."
I was surprised by how much relief I felt. I didn't want a message delivered or a promise made on my behalf.
We prepared to move again, this time to a small house in a town where people didn't know our faces from the news. Mom could take a job with a bookkeeping firm after the paperwork was settled. I could go to school without a marshal waiting at the curb every afternoon. The protection team would remain reachable, but our lives could grow bigger than the case.
The spelling test went into a folder because it had survived enough moves already.
At the new house, there were two bedrooms and a maple tree outside my window. The sink made a loud knocking noise when the faucet was turned on. Mom called a plumber before I even asked.
That evening, while we ate pizza on the floor, I looked at the empty doorway and asked the question I'd been carrying since the night I climbed down the ladder.
May you like
"Mom, how will I know this place is home?"
She set down her slice. "I don't think you have to know tonight. We get to find out together."
