Chapter 3

"Carrie, you're awake?" Kenneth saw Carrie open her eyes, quickly stuffed the loose change back into his pocket, and came closer.

"The doctor said it was stress on top of a bad cold, and it almost turned into myocarditis. You have to take care of yourself and stop getting worked up."

Carrie looked at her husband's weathered face, and then at Toby's sneakers, the soles already coming unglued.

Kenneth was just a security guard. To stretch the family budget, he wouldn't even spring for a decent pack of cigarettes.

Toby was still growing, but he'd never been bought a single decent brand-name piece of clothing.

The three of them scrimped and saved, all to squeeze out enough money to cover the internet bills and buy snacks for the princess at home who did nothing but play video games and order takeout.

"Kenneth, in the few hours I've been sick, did Eileen call?" Carrie asked, her voice hoarse.

The muscles in Kenneth's face twitched, his eyes darted away, and it was a long moment before he sighed.

"No. I called her, and she hung up on me right away."

Carrie closed her eyes, and two lines of clear tears slid down from the corners.

For thirteen years, she'd always believed that if she just worked a little harder, her daughter would one day grow up and understand a mother's heart.

Only now did she finally see it clearly: mud is just mud, and it will never hold to the wall.

"Kenneth, go get my bag." Carrie suddenly opened her eyes, her voice carrying a resolve she'd never shown before.

Not understanding, Kenneth handed her the canvas bag.

Carrie pulled a tightly wrapped bank card out of a hidden compartment in the bag.

"There's $100,000 on this card. It's the savings I clawed together little by little over the years, up before dawn and working late at the supermarket."

Kenneth was startled. "Carrie, what are you doing with that money? That's the money we saved for Eileen!"

"Not anymore!" Carrie gritted her teeth and sat up straight.

"Kenneth, Toby, go book the plane tickets. We're going to Miami Beach, to Colorado, we're going on a trip!"

"This money, we're spending on ourselves! I'm going to live for myself for once!"

Kenneth and Toby were both stunned, thinking the fever had gone to her head.

"Mom, then... then what about my sister?" Toby asked timidly.

"She's thirty-five, she's got two hands and two feet, she won't starve! From today on, we pretend she doesn't exist!"

Carrie picked up her phone, opened her messages, and found Eileen's picture.

Without the slightest hesitation, her finger tapped delete, and then she moved that number into the block list in her contacts.

When it was done, Carrie felt the heavy stone that had pressed on her chest for thirteen years suddenly lift away.

Three days later, once Carrie was feeling a little better, the three of them boarded a plane to Miami Beach.

It was the first time Kenneth and Toby had ever flown, and they were so nervous their palms were sweating.

Once they reached Miami Beach, Carrie booked a high-end hotel right on the water.

She pushed open the door, looked out at the deep blue sea and the palm trees, and took a deep breath of the salt-tinged air.

"Come on, let's go have a seafood feast!" Carrie waved her hand.

At the seafood stalls, Kenneth's hands trembled as he looked at the prices on the menu.

"Good grief, one lobster costs over three hundred dollars? Think how much pork that could buy!"

Kenneth quietly tugged at Carrie's sleeve. "Carrie, let's just get some fried noodles. We need to keep this money for when we're back home getting by."

"Eileen's home alone, she can't even cook. Don't let her go hungry and get sick..."

"Enough!" The moment she heard that name, Carrie's face darkened.

"Kenneth, don't you get it yet? This is exactly the problem, we spoiled her too much!"

"We are having this lobster today, that's final! Toby, order whatever you want, Mom's paying!"

Toby looked at the crabs scrabbling around in the tank, swallowed hard, but still shook his head, sensible as ever.

"Mom, I'm not hungry, a bowl of noodles is fine for me."

Looking at the two of them, father and son, Carrie felt her heart twist like it was being cut with a knife.

For the sake of that ungrateful girl, she had driven her husband and youngest son to this, to where they felt guilty even spending money.

"Sir, give me the biggest rock lobster you've got, two pounds of mantis shrimp, and a steamed grouper too!"

Carrie shouted at the waiter, her eyes red.

That night, the three of them ate until they were stuffed.

As Kenneth gnawed on a lobster leg, tears dripped down and fell into his plate.

"Carrie, this is the first time in my whole life I've ever eaten anything this good."

Carrie raised her glass and clinked it against her husband's.

"Kenneth, from now on, we live for ourselves. These three months, we're going to make up for every good thing we never got to enjoy!"