Chapter 8 - THE LIQUIDATION OF LIES
The auction was held three weeks later.
The green shutters were freshly painted.
The porch columns were straight.
The birdbath was full of clear,
running water.
The boutique inventory was gone,
seized by the state as part of Derek’s restitution.
Brooke had been found in a motel in Maryland.
She was currently awaiting trial for her role in the embezzlement.
My mother had moved to Jersey,
her pride finally replaced by a quiet,
hollow reality.
She didn't speak to me at the final signing.
She didn't have to.
The silence was the only thing left between us.
I stood on the sidewalk as the new family moved in.
A young couple.
A small child.
A dog that chased the shadows under the maple tree.
They looked happy.
They looked like they didn't have any secrets.
I walked to my car,
my duffel bag now full of my father’s things.
His Navy certificate.
His tools.
His journal.
I was moving to a small cottage near the coast.
A place where the air didn't smell like rubbing alcohol or lavender.
A place where I could breathe.
My attorney called as I was pulling away.
“The post-conviction motion was granted, Maren.”
“The record is being expunged.”
“The state is issuing a formal apology.”
“And the restitution?”
“Every cent is being returned to you from the seized boutique assets.”
I looked in the rearview mirror at the house on Hawthorne Street.
It was just a house now.
The witness had spoken.
The truth had been heard.
The shame was no longer mine to carry.
I drove away,
feeling the weight of the last two years lift from my shoulders.
I didn't look back.
I didn't have to.
I was no longer inmate 41738.
I was Maren Ellis.
And I was finally,
May you like
truly,
free.
