Chapter 6 - The Night Marianne Came Back
Arthur remembered because he had been sitting halfway down the staircase.
He was twelve.
It was raining.
Marianne stood in the foyer crying.
I was three months old.
“She wanted to take you home,” Arthur said.
Mom stood abruptly.
“She was unstable.”
Arthur looked at her.
“She was crying. She looked exhausted. But she wasn’t high.”
“You were a child.”
“I was old enough to remember.”
Dad lowered his eyes.
Arthur continued.
Marianne begged to hold me.
Mom refused.
Dad threatened to call police if Marianne wouldn’t leave.
She eventually walked back into the rain alone.
I looked at my mother.
“You told me she abandoned me.”
“She couldn’t raise you safely.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Mom’s voice hardened.
“I did what I had to do.”
Arthur revealed Marianne returned twice more during my first year.
Each time, Mom refused contact.
Eventually my parents filed for guardianship and then adoption.
I asked whether Marianne signed the paperwork.
Dad nodded.
Mom finally looked relieved.
“She signed away her rights.”
But Arthur was still staring at the floor.
I turned toward him.
“What are you not telling me?”
He took a breath.
“The bracelet came from Marianne.”
May you like
Mom stared at him.
Even she hadn’t known that.
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