Chapter 4

4: 4

4

That line was the last straw. It crushed every last bit of my hesitation.

I took a deep breath and slowly typed four words into the chat box.

“Then let's be done.”

Then I left the group.

A few minutes later, my phone started blowing up.

My son was calling. I set it to silent.

I watched the screen light up and go dark, dark and then light again.

Before long there were hurried footsteps outside, and my son was pounding on the door. “Mom, what's this about? Why aren't you picking up? Open the door!”

I didn't answer. I started packing.

There wasn't much to pack, really. A few clothes, a handful of everyday things.

The things in this house that belonged to me were pitifully few.

My son's voice turned frantic and sharp. “You really have to make this ugly, don't you? Saying that kind of thing in the group. Now the whole family's watching us make fools of ourselves!”

Lily chimed in from outside too.

“Mom, can't whatever this is wait until tomorrow? Making a fuss in the middle of the night.”

I zipped my suitcase shut. In the quiet of the night the sound was very clear.

The knocking stopped.

My son's tone suddenly went soft. “Mom, I was wrong, okay? Just open the door, let's talk this through.”

That sudden turn only chilled me more.

I knew he wasn't really sorry. He was just worried that tomorrow there'd be no one to make breakfast, no one to watch the baby.

“There's nothing to talk about,” I said calmly. “It's late. I'm going to rest.”

There was silence outside for a moment, then the footsteps slowly moved away.

I heard Lily lower her voice, talking to my son.

“Let her go. See where she can get to.”

“Just wait. In a few days she'll come crawling back begging us.”

“Hmph. A helpless old woman with no one to lean on. What's she going to do, fly to the moon?”

I didn't sleep all night. The next day, the moment the sky turned pale, I dragged that light little suitcase out and left without looking back.

I caught the first express train to Bayport, then took a cab straight to Rosemary's place.

Rosemary was already waiting at the door. The second she saw me, she rushed over and took my bag.

She held my hand and looked me up and down, and her eyes went red in an instant.

“Julia, look at you. It hasn't been that long. How did you get so worn down?”

“That son of yours... ugh, what an ungrateful wretch!”

“You gave him everything you had, and what did it get you?”

“He picked you clean down to the bone, and still complained you were in the way!”

Listening to my old friend fume on my behalf, I felt a hundred things at once.

In the end it all came out as one bitter sigh.

We didn't waste any time. We went straight to the brokerage firm.

The lobby slowly filled up, the opening bell rang, and Rosemary, who knew her way around all of it, put in the orders to sell off every share I held.

Maybe it was luck, maybe the market was strong, but the trades went through smoothly, the money coming back in batch after batch.

Right then my phone rang. My son's name flashed on the screen.

I hung up on him a few times, but he wouldn't let up.

In the end I had to answer.

His voice came through at once, tight with irritation. “Mom! Where'd you run off to?”

“You just vanished first thing this morning! The baby woke up crying for Grandma, Lily's rushing to get to work, and who's supposed to clean up this mess?”

I answered calmly. “I've already left Rivertown.”

“What?! You left?!”

His voice shot up, full of disbelief and fury.

“You left, so who watches the kid? Who does the housework? You... you're doing this just to make trouble!”

“Have Lily's mother come watch him. Doesn't she love the baby? Or hire a nanny, that works too.”

My voice didn't waver at all.

Lily's voice came through then, shrill and grating. “Hire a nanny?! That's thousands of dollars a month! How are we supposed to afford that right now?”

“You think the mortgage and the car payments just pay themselves? Tell your mom to get back here!”

“The older she gets the more shameless she acts!”

My son forced down his anger. “Mom! Did you hear that?”

“Get back here now! Stop making a scene!”

“Whatever city you went to, I'll cover the ticket. That's fair enough, isn't it?”

“You'd better be back before noon!”

Just then a bank alert popped up on my screen.

That long string of zeros stared right back at me. The ninety million had landed.

Looking at that number, and listening to my son on the other end offering to cover a “train ticket” like he was handing out charity.

I didn't feel a rush of anything. Just a calm, absurd disbelief I'd never known before.

“I'm not coming back.”

After a short silence, my son went off like a keg of powder someone had lit.

The threats came one after another, no mercy, each one uglier than the last. :

“Fine! You've got nerve! If you're not back today, then don't blame me for not owning you as my mother anymore!”

“I'll cut you off for real! I mean it!”

“You think you can make it out there? A useless old woman, no education, no skills, lost money gambling on stocks. You'll be on the street sooner or later!”

“Let me tell you, when you're old and can't move, lying flat on your back, don't you dare expect me to come see you even once!”

“You can die sick, die starving out there, rot away with no one to care!”

“I'm giving you one last chance. Don't you come crying and begging me later!”

“Fine, go ahead and ruin yourself! Push everyone away until you're all alone, abandoned by everyone. Let's see what kind of ending you get!”