I answered.Shop Jewelry
“Rachel?”
Christopher Bennett.
I sat up.
“What do you want?”
A long silence.
“Come back.”
“Why?”Edit Photos
“Because you
need the job.”
Anger flared through me.Bath & Body Products
“And you need someone willing to tolerate you.”
Another pause.
“That too.”
I looked toward Brandon sleeping on the couch.
“Will you tell me about Ryan?”
“No.”
I nearlyCelebrities & Entertainment News
hung up.
Then Christopher added, “Not yet.”
I gripped the phone.
“What does that mean?”
“It means there are things you do not understand.”
“Then help me understand.”
“I can’t.”Family Law
“You mean you won’t.”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
Five thousand dollars a week could change my children’s lives.
It could move us out of that apartment.
Pay medical bills.
Put food in the refrigerator.Standardized & Admissions Tests
Give Emma new shoes.
Give Brandon the inhaler the doctor recommended.
And maybe, just maybe, staying near Christopher would give me answers.
“What time?”
“Four.”
I returned.Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
Christopher acted as if nothing had happened.
That almost made it worse.
For three days, we barely spoke beyond what was
necessary.
I helped him bathe.Bath & Body Products
Dress.
Eat.
Transfer to bed.
Stretch his arms.
Manage medication.
And every day, the silver locket remained around his neck.
He never removed it.Celebrities & Entertainment News
I began noticing other things.
Christopher hated
mirrors.
He refused visitors after dark.
He woke from nightmares shouting names.
Daniel.
Marcus.
Ryan.
The first time I heard my brother’s name, I nearly dropped a glass.Standardized & Admissions Tests
Christopher pretended he hadn’t said it.
By the end of the first week, Brandon’s fever was gone.
Emma had stopped asking whether we had enough food.
I paid three months of overdue rent.
Then Christopher did something unexpected.
He asked about my children.
“What are their names?”Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
We were in the library.
I was organizing his medication.
“Brandon and Emma.”
“How old?”
“Eight and five.”
“Father?”
I stiffened.Baby & Pet Names
“Gone.”
“Dead?”
“No.”
Christopher glanced at me.
“He left when Emma was two.”
“Why?”
“Because responsibility bored him.”
