Chapter 18 - A Letter from the Dark
A year into their sentence, a letter arrived in the mail. The return address belonged to the state women’s correctional facility. The handwriting was messy, frantic, and unmistakably my mother’s.
I stood by the kitchen island, staring at the envelope.
Elena walked in, holding her slightly swollen belly, and saw the look on my face. “What is it?”
“It’s from her,” I said quietly.
I opened it. The letter was a desperate, rambling mess. She complained about the terrible food, the hard beds, and the vicious inmates. She begged me to put money into her commissary account. She said Chloe had stopped speaking to her and blamed her for everything. She pleaded for a second chance.
“I am your mother, Marcus. You can’t leave me in here to die. Please, send help.”
I read the letter out loud to Elena.
May you like
When I finished, I didn't feel anger. I didn't feel sadness. I just felt a profound, overwhelming apathy. The woman who had written this letter was a stranger to me now.
I walked over to the kitchen sink, struck a match, and lit the corner of the paper. I dropped it into the stainless steel basin and watched the desperate words curl into black ash, washing it down the drain without a second thought.
