A woman is there, standing at the doorway.
What the fuck?
She pulls him closer, pressing her lips to his just before he pushes her inside. Not fast enough for me to miss her face.
I know that face.
It’s the same woman who brought Carmen to the house. The same woman I saw leaving Dad’s office every Thursday.
I step out, slamming the door behind me, and rush inside. I stop at the doorway, my body freezing as I look toward the living room.
They are fighting. She is pushing him. His hands are raised in the air. She is wearing tight leggings and slippers. From the way she moves, from how relaxed she looks, I can tell she has been here before. She appears too comfortable and too familiar for this to be her first time.
They don’t even notice me.
“I told you millions of times to call me before coming here,” he shouts.
“And I told you I had a surprise for you, Will,” she says. “How was I supposed to know you were on your way with your son?”
“It’s my family cabin, Simona,” he snaps. “What were you thinking? I come here with my son often.”
“Why are you even mad?” she yells back. “You have been saying you will leave your wife for years now. Maybe this is your fucking chance.”
Dad presses his hands to his face, dragging them down in frustration. When he lifts his head, his eyes land on me.
I wish I could say I am surprised. I always knew something was going on. But they looked happy. He looked normal. So I brushed it off. When you get older, you tell yourself these things don’t touch you because you see them everywhere. But what hurts the most is knowing what this would do to my mom. She’s fragile. If she finds out, this will crush her.
“Judas,” he says, stepping closer.
I have nothing to say. I just turn around and walk away.
He grabs my hand and spins me back. His hands clamp around my arms, and he shakes me slightly as he says, quietly, “Your mom can’t find out. This would kill her.”
He is right.
I push him away. He stumbles back two steps.
I sign.How long?
He just stands there, watching me. He can’t even answer. But the way Simona moves around the room tells me enough. This has been going on for a while.
I drag my lip between my teeth, anger burning in my chest.
You fucking coward.I sign.Mom is drinking because you are never home. She burns herself just to get your attention while you go around fucking that bitch.
“Judas,” he says. “It’s not that simple.”
How can it not be?I sign.If you stop loving someone, why don’t you give them a chance to live? To find someone who actually deserves them? You keep Mom trapped.
I have never seen him like this. Big Judge William Harrington, caught in his own act. He can’t look me in the eyes. He stares at the ground, just like the criminals he sentences to life.
Now he is the one sentenced. For destroying the lives of the people who loved him most.
Catherine gave her life to make him happy.
And he found happiness somewhere else.
If you do not tell her, I will.I sign, turning away.
