Chapter 10 - A New Foundation
Life has a funny way of healing you if you cut out the infection completely.
Two years have passed since that dark night in the service kitchen. I never went back to the Middle East. I used my experience to land a high-paying project management job in construction here in Texas, meaning I get to come home every single night at 5:00 PM.
Leo is eight now. He plays Little League baseball, he laughs too loud, and he leaves his toys scattered across the living room rug. He never hesitates to ask for food anymore. He knows the refrigerator is always full, and it’s always his.
Lira went back to school. She got her real estate license and is absolutely thriving. The timid, broken woman I found sitting in the dark is gone. In her place is a fierce, confident mother and wife who commands every room she walks into.
As for my mother and sister? They are ghosts. Sometimes, extended family members bring them up, mentioning how hard prison has been on them, fishing for a reaction. I just nod, wish them well, and change the subject. They are no longer a part of my reality.
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I built a house with my money. I lost it to greed.
But out here, under the wide, open Texas sky, surrounded by the laughter of my son and the warmth of my wife’s hand in mine... I finally built a home. And this one, no one will ever tear down.
