Chapter 13 - THE NIGHT THEY BOTH CAME
Ryan called Detective Hale before calling either parent.
That decision probably prevented the night from becoming worse.
Linda denied going to Evan's house.
Evan insisted she had.
Hale told Ryan to stay home and let police sort it out.
At 9:36 P.M., someone knocked on Ryan's apartment door.
He checked the camera.
Evan.
Ryan did not open it.
“Go away.”
Evan looked directly at the camera.
“I need to talk to you.”
“No.”
“Linda is trying to set me up.”
“Not my problem.”
“She told police I've been threatening her.”
“Have you?”
Evan's expression hardened.
“Open the door.”
Ryan stepped away.
“No.”
The knocking became louder.
“Ryan.”
Then another voice came from the hallway.
“Get away from his door.”
Linda.
Ryan closed his eyes.
Of course.
On the camera, Linda approached from the elevator.
Evan turned.
“What are you doing here?”
“I knew you'd come.”
“You followed me.”
“I knew you wouldn't leave him alone.”
Ryan stared at the screen in disbelief.
Even now.
Each one claiming the other's surveillance justified their own.
He called Hale.
“They're both here.”
“We have officers en route. Don't open the door.”
Outside, voices rose.
Evan accused Linda of stealing seventeen years.
Linda accused Evan of terrorizing her until she had no choice but to run.
“You turned my son against me.”
“You erased me!”
“He was terrified of you!”
“He was seven!”
Ryan suddenly opened the door.
Both stopped.
He remained inside the threshold.
“Listen to yourselves.”
Linda moved toward him.
“Ryan, go inside.”
He laughed.
“This is my apartment.”
Evan stepped closer.
“She's manipulating—”
“Stop.”
Ryan pointed at him.
“You put a tracker in my car.”
Then Linda.
“You put one in my backpack.”
Neither spoke.
“You both followed me after I told you not to.”
Linda's eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to stop him.”
Evan pointed at her.
“And I was trying to stop her.”
Ryan nodded slowly.
“That is the entire problem.”
Evan moved closer.
“I am your father.”
Ryan stepped backward.
“Do not.”
Evan reached out and grabbed Ryan's forearm.
The action lasted less than a second.
Ryan's expression changed.
Evan immediately released him.
But Linda lunged forward.
“Don't touch him!”
She shoved Evan.
Evan stumbled into the wall.
A neighbor opened a door.
Someone screamed for them to stop.
Ryan moved between his parents.
“No!”
Both froze.
Ryan looked from one to the other.
“You keep saying this is about loving me.”
His voice shook now.
“Neither of you has listened to a single thing I've asked for.”
Police appeared at the end of the hallway.
Linda turned.
Evan stepped away.
Ryan did not.
For once, he stayed exactly where he was.
When Officer Hale approached, Ryan pointed toward both parents.
“I want them removed.”
Linda's face collapsed.
“Ryan.”
He didn't look at her.
“And I want to know how to get protective orders against both of them.”
That finally created silence.
Not the frightened silence of a child listening to adults decide his future.
Not the obedient silence Linda had trained into him.
May you like
This one belonged to Ryan.
And nobody was going to take it from him.
