I struggle to open my swollen eyes. I try again until I’m able to open them wide, to see where I am and who’s talking to me.
Shock hits me like a thunderbolt, then my eyes fill with tears. “Mom?”
I have to be dreaming. Soon I’ll wake up and she won’t be here. I dream of her every time I’m at the lowest point of my life.
But there’s something different about this moment. In my dreams, I never smelled her, but this time her soothing rose petal perfume replaces the scent of Alex’s musky cologne.
My mother picks up my hand and brings it to her lips, kissing it. “It’s me, baby. You’re safe. You’re home.”
I wince. Everything hurts. Why does everything hurt so much? “What happened?”
“You don’t remember?” She lowers my hand.
“Remember what?” She doesn’t need to answer. Without warning, everything comes flooding back to me in waves that threaten to sweep me into the deep dark sea of my darkest, most painful emotions.
“Alex,” I murmur.
“You never have to see that man again.”My mom stops smiling and her face becomes distorted.
My father used to joke that when she was angry or upset, she looked as though she had eaten a lemon.
“What’s going on?” Without moving my head, I look at my surroundings. “Is this my room?”
“I didn’t change a thing since you left, Jia Li. I always knew you would come back one day.”
At birth, I was named Viola Jia Li Harris, but while my father called me Viola, my mother preferred my Asian name. No one has called me Jia Li in years, and it feels strange.
“I don’t understand.” I try to lift my head, but she tells me to lie down again.
“Take it easy. Mayleen said you fell down the stairs.”
“Mayleen? Who is Mayleen?”
“Your aunt. My sister, remember? You only saw her once when you were little.”
My mother has a sister, but they had a falling out years ago and didn’t speak to each other for years.
“What am I doing here? How did I—”
“I told Mayleen to bring you here. You fell, but you only had a concussion. No broken bones.” She stands up and towers over me. “Now that you see what kind of man he is, I thought you might want to come back home where you belong.” She pulls a handkerchief from the pocket of her dress and presses it to her eyes. “I’ve waited for so many years.”
“For me to leave Alex?”
The moment I say his name, I remember all the crimes he committed and how his mother covered them up. I want to continue asking my mother how she knows what happened, but there are more pressing things vying for my attention.
“He killed Lacey.” My hands bunch into fists at my sides. “Alex killed Lacey Simmons and framed Dad.”
My mother turns away and says nothing.
“You already know?” The words barely make it through my tight throat.
She turns around again, her eyes sparkling. “There’s so much you don’t know, Jia Li. I promise to tell you everything, but now you need to rest. I need you to get back your strength because the next days won’t be easy for you.”
When my mother decides that a conversation is over, it is. No amount of trying to force her to speak will change her mind. It’s something that used to drive my father crazy. Now it’s getting to me as well.
There are too many questions standing between us. I’ll not stop until I get the answers.
“Why did you do it?” I ask. “Why did you send me away? I disappointed you by getting pregnant at fifteen, but I’m your child. I lost the baby, and you didn’t even care.”
