Chapter 7 - The Boy Who Asked to Leave
Ethan did not want to go home.
That surprised Daniel.
Vanessa was gone.
The cameras confirmed she had no access.
The locks were changed.
Still Ethan said, “Can I stay with Aunt Rebecca?”
Daniel sat beside him on the back steps.
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
The answer hurt.
Daniel did not show it.
“Okay.”
Ethan looked suspicious.
“You’re not mad?”
“No.”
“You look mad.”
“I’m sad.”
“Because I don’t want to go home?”
“Yes.”
Ethan stared at the yard.
“Is that okay?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Yes.”
It was one of the hardest yeses he had ever said.
His instinct wanted to bring his son home immediately and prove safety had been restored.
But safety was not a lock.
It was expectation.
Ethan expected not to be believed.
That had happened inside the house Daniel wanted him to return to.
So Daniel drove home alone.
The silence was unbearable.
Vanessa’s coffee mug remained in the cabinet.
Her gardening gloves were on the porch.
A bottle of shampoo sat in the shower.
Six years could not be removed in one belongings pickup.
Daniel slept in Ethan’s room.
Not because he intended to.
He walked in to close the window and sat on the edge of the bed.
Then he saw something scratched lightly into the underside of the desk.
DAD + ME SATURDAY GARAGE.
Below it, in smaller writing:
MAYBE AGAIN.
Daniel stared until the words blurred.
The next morning he called Rebecca.
“Don’t tell Ethan, but I’m moving the workshop.”
“What?”
“Not moving. Fixing.”
“Daniel.”
“I’m not trying to lure him home.”
“You sound exactly like someone trying to lure him home.”
He laughed despite himself.
“Okay.”
Rebecca softened.
“Ask him what he wants.”
That evening Daniel did.
“Would you like to work in the garage Saturday?”
“At home?”
“Yes.”
“Do I have to stay after?”
“No.”
“Can Aunt Rebecca bring me?”
“Yes.”
“Can she stay?”
“Yes.”
Ethan considered.
“Okay.”
Saturday morning, they repaired a broken radio.
Daniel deliberately did not discuss Vanessa.
For forty minutes, they talked about wires.
Then Ethan said, “She hated this.”
Daniel kept working.
“Why?”
“She said you acted different in here.”
“How?”
“Happy.”
Daniel stopped.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“She said it made her feel left out.”
Daniel looked around.
Vanessa had been invited many times.
She disliked the dust.
The music.
The tools.
But she had also disliked Daniel enjoying something that did not involve her.
Ethan tightened a screw.
“Was it my fault?”
“No.”
“You stopped because of me.”
“I stopped because I made a bad decision.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Because she asked.”
“Yes.”
“Would you do it again?”
Daniel thought carefully.
“If my wife said she needed more time together, I would listen.”
Ethan’s face fell.
“But I would not solve that by taking something important away from my child.”
He looked up again.
“Oh.”
Daniel handed him a screwdriver.
“That’s the difference.”
They worked another hour.
When Rebecca arrived to leave, Ethan paused at the front door.
“Can I stay for dinner?”
Daniel’s heart jumped.
He kept his voice normal.
“Sure.”
“Only dinner.”
“Okay.”
Ethan stayed until eight.
Then nine.
At nine fifteen he asked if his old pajamas were still there.
Daniel found them.
At ten, Ethan fell asleep in his own bed.
Daniel texted Rebecca.
HE STAYED.
She replied:
DON’T MAKE IT A BIG DEAL TOMORROW.
Daniel smiled.
He obeyed.
The next morning Ethan ate cereal.
Neither mentioned the significance.
Then Daniel’s phone rang.
Karen Wells.
Vanessa wanted to meet Ethan.
Daniel said no.
“She is asking for supervised contact.”
“She has no legal right to it.”
“That is not the same as saying Ethan may not want closure.”
Daniel looked toward his son.
“Has Vanessa asked him directly?”
“No.”
“She shouldn’t.”
“Then perhaps ask Ethan.”
Daniel did.
Not immediately.
That afternoon.
“You don’t have to see her.”
Ethan’s shoulders tightened.
“Why does she want to?”
“I don’t know.”
“To say sorry?”
“Maybe.”
“Do I have to listen?”
“No.”
“What if she cries?”
“You still don’t owe her anything.”
Ethan thought.
“Does she know I’m here?”
“No.”
“Good.”
A week passed.
Then another.
Ethan stayed home four nights.
Then five.
Eventually he stopped packing a bag for Rebecca’s.
The recorder remained in Daniel’s desk.
Daniel made two forensic copies.
His attorney kept one.
Ethan knew where the original was.
One afternoon Daniel found him staring at it.
“Want me to put it somewhere else?”
“No.”
“You can destroy it if you ever want.”
Ethan touched the PLAY button.
“What if she says I made it up?”
“The copies still exist.”
“What if you forget?”
Daniel understood the real question.
“What if I doubt you again?”
Ethan nodded.
Daniel sat beside him.
“I can’t promise I’ll always agree with you.”
Ethan’s face tightened.
“But?”
“But disagreeing with you is different from deciding you’re lying because an adult says something else.”
Ethan looked down.
“I want to believe that.”
“You don’t have to yet.”
That answer surprised him.
Daniel continued.
“You can watch what I do.”
For the first time, Ethan handed him the recorder without gripping it afterward.
Daniel placed it in the drawer.
Then the phone rang.
Northbridge.
Their legal department had reviewed Vanessa’s submissions.
One form contained Daniel’s electronic signature.
Daniel had never signed it.
May you like
Someone had submitted authorization pretending to be him.
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