Chapter 15 - The Ultimate Indifference
Clara continued to beg, her voice growing louder and more frantic as I simply stared at her in total silence.
"Say something, please, just scream at me, but don't just ignore me!" she pleaded wildly.
I slowly pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed the front gate security office.
"Hello, this is Margaret Sterling in unit 402," I said calmly, my eyes locked directly on Clara's horrified face.
"There is a vagrant currently harassing residents at the main gate, please send security to remove her."
Clara gasped, stumbling backward away from the iron bars as if she had just been physically struck.
"You are a monster!" she screamed, her desperation instantly flashing back into her true, toxic anger.
"No," I replied softly, my voice carrying clearly through the warm afternoon breeze.
"I am just a stranger."
I turned my back on her and walked slowly back toward my beautiful, safe condominium.
I heard the heavy tires of the security golf cart approaching the gate, followed by the guards ordering her to leave the premises.
I did not turn around to watch them escort her entirely out of my life for the absolute final time.
When I stepped inside my home, I locked the door and took a deep, completely cleansing breath.
The last tiny, lingering thread of guilt I had carried as a mother completely snapped and disappeared.
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I walked into my sunny kitchen, poured a fresh glass of iced tea, and sat down to finish my book.
The chapter was finally, permanently closed.
