Chapter 4 - This Is Our House
Brenda sat at the head of the table in a brown patterned cardigan, glasses low on her nose, expression bright with something that was not happiness.
Frank sat beside her with folded arms, white hair combed back, jaw hard. Madison was in the living room watching cartoons, unaware or uninterested. Maddie sat at the table like a prisoner, a plate in front of her untouched, her eyes red and empty.
The framed photo on the wall behind her showed Maddie at nine years old, arms wrapped around Sadie’s neck, both of them sitting in autumn leaves.
The contrast nearly made Sophie lose her balance.
“Ah, there she is,” Brenda said. “Sit down, Sophie.”
Sophie crossed the room to Maddie and gently took the plate away from her.
“Get up, sweetheart.”
Brenda’s smile sharpened. “She needs to eat.”
“No.”
Frank pushed his chair back with a harsh scrape.
“This is our house,” he said. “Our rules. Your niece was afraid of the animal. We handled it.”
Handled it.
Sophie looked at the tureen in the center of the table, then at Brenda’s satisfied face.
“What did you do?”
Brenda lifted her chin. “We removed a problem you were too weak to manage.”
Maddie made a broken sound.
Sophie placed one hand on her daughter’s shoulder.
Frank pointed toward the chair. “Sit down and appreciate the meal.”
Sophie reached into her pocket and took out her phone.
Brenda’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing?”
Sophie took one slow photograph of the table. The untouched plate. The tureen. The framed picture of Maddie and Sadie on the wall. Brenda’s face across from it. Frank’s rigid posture.
Then she lowered the phone.
“Not anymore.”
Frank stood. “You think you can threaten us in our own home?”
Sophie looked at him calmly.
“No. I think you forgot this stopped being private the second you involved my child.”
The doorbell rang.
Brenda’s expression shifted from irritation to confusion.
Sophie did not move.
May you like
Frank looked toward the hallway.
Through the front windows, blue and red light washed across the curtains.
