“My baby and I will be alright, Charles. Live your fuckin’ life.” I hung up the phone. And then I laughed fuckin’ hysterically. Because standing there, in a half-empty closet, with a marriage ending, I realized something I had never said out loud before. I never loved him. I appreciated him. I respected him. I felt like I owed him, but I never loved him. We didn’t have the kind of love that makes your chest ache and your thoughts spin, and your heart feel like it’s outside your body. I never felt that with Charles.
And somehow, that hurt more than the divorce itself. Because it meant I stayed anyway. For years. In something that never had what I thought I needed to survive. I laughed for staying in this bourgeois ass town for so long. I missed my home, my mom, my dad, and my sister.
I walked through the house slowly, room by room, like I was confirming it, as if maybe if I checked everything again, I’d find something he forgot. Something that meant this wasn’t as final as it felt.
I ended up in the kitchen without remembering how I got there. My hand rested against the counter as I stared at the empty space in front of me. My reflection caught faintly in the stainless steel of the refrigerator, but I didn’t recognize the woman looking back.
Not because she looked different, but because I looked peaceful. I had spent years preparing for chaos with the Hughes family.
I heard the door opening. I turned slightly, already knowing who it was before I heard her voice.
“Mommy?”
Genesis gave Justice a hug at the door and walked in. Her backpack dragged slightly behind her as she stepped inside, kicking her shoes off without thinking the way she always did.She looked up at me, her face lighting up for a second before she noticed something was off.
Children always know. Even when you don’t say anything.
“You’re home early,” she said.
“Yeah,” I replied, keeping my voice steady. “I finished early today.”
She nodded, accepting that answer easily, but her eyes lingered on me a little longer than usual.
“Where’s Daddy?” she asked.
I swallowed slowly, turning fully toward her.
“He’s not here right now,” I said.
She frowned slightly. “Is he working late?”
“Something like that. I promise I will explain everything soon.”
I hated how vague it sounded. But I didn’t have the words yet. I just wanted to protect her from what was coming.
She nodded again, but I could see it. My baby was brilliant. She felt the shift. She dropped her bag by the stairs and walked over to me. She wrapped her arms around my waist without saying anything else. I froze for half a second. Then I wrapped my arms around her. Tighter than usual.
She leaned into me like it was normal and nothing had changed. She had no idea her world would never be the same.
“Mommy?”
“Yeah, Genny baby?”
“Are you okay?”
I let out a slow breath, smoothing her hair down gently.
“I’m okay.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t exactly the truth either.
She pulled back just enough to look up at me.
“You look sad.”
I smiled softly. “I’m just tired.”
She studied me for a second, like she was trying to decide if she believed that.
Then she nodded.
