Chapter 7 - The Empty Apartment
When Maya was finally discharged,
I didn't take her back to our apartment.
I couldn't.
The memory of her sitting in that kitchen,
starving and bleeding,
was too much.
I had hired a professional cleaning crew and a moving company.
While she was in the hospital,
I had found a new place.
It was a quiet brownstone in Brooklyn,
with a garden and plenty of sunlight.
But first,
I had to go back to the old apartment to get our essentials.
The silence in the old place was deafening.
I walked into the kitchen.
The cup of cold noodles was still on the table.
I picked it up and threw it in the trash.
I saw the note they had left on the fridge.
"Don't bother calling David..."
I ripped it into shreds.
I gathered Maya’s clothes,
Liam’s toys,
and the few things that made this place a home.
I felt like a ghost haunting my own life.
As I was leaving,
the doorbell rang.
It was a process server.
My mother’s lawyer was already trying to sue me for "emotional distress" and "unlawful termination of funds."
I took the papers and laughed.
"Tell her I'll see her in court,"
I said.
"And tell her I've added a civil suit for the return of the fourteen thousand dollars."
I walked out and locked the door for the last time.
I didn't look back.
My family was waiting for me in a place where they were safe.
A place where the fridge was full,
May you like
the rooms were warm,
and the doors were locked against the monsters of the past.
