Chapter 2: The Name on the Screen
Part 2 ⬇️
The silence lasted maybe three seconds.
Then Patricia straightened in her chair and said, "She was perfectly fine.
I checked on her."
Someone at the table inhaled sharply.
"You checked on her," I repeated.
"Once?
Twice?
Because my daughter has been sitting on cold concrete for five hours and she was afraid to move."
Patricia looked at Daniel.
"Are you going to let her speak to me like this?"
Daniel opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
That was when Mia tugged my sleeve and whispered something I almost didn't hear.
"Mommy.
Grandma said if I told you, she wouldn't invite me next time either."
The table went completely still.
Patricia's daughter — Daniel's sister — slowly put down her fork.
I looked at Patricia.
"Next time either.
So this has happened before."
It wasn't a question.
Patricia's face went a color I had never seen on her.
And then Daniel's phone lit up on the table between us.
The name on the screen stopped everyone cold.
It was his brother.
The one who hadn't spoken to Patricia in four years.
Nobody moved.
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What Mia said next — and what was in that phone call — changes everything.
The full story is in the link below.
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What Patricia did goes much deeper than one afternoon.
Click below to read the rest.
