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“You guys think you are gods just because your name is Callahan. You’re even the worst, Coraline. You know the whole staff detests you the most right? The Irish hate you even more. The negro who married up and couldn’t even have a kid of her own, that’s what they say. At least Mina does something. You? You make place settings and hire nannies. You’re nothing but a glorified maid yourself.”
I really screwed up with this one.
“Are you really trying to tear me down while you are sitting in a pile of your own shit?” I laughed, clapping for her. “Congrats, I’m hurt. I’m going cry tonight, in my bed, next to my husband, in my fucking house, because you, a poor, ugly, ungrateful, little racist bitch, called me a negro. And as I cry, my husband will ask me what’s wrong. When I tell him, he will hang you in ways that would put Khan’s men to shame. And then he’ll go after your brother Thomas, your poor uncle Kevin, and sweet, sweet Grandma Rose might just fall down the stairs. Oh, how messy it will be, all because I cried. That’s the family I’m in, the people who walk around like gods…the ones who can end your lives like gods. But since neither you or your words matter to me at all, I won’t cry. I’m going have some wine and a steak and you will be sitting in a pile of shit until someone puts you out of your misery. So like I said, goodbye, Theresa.”
The door slammed behind me.
DECLAN
She’d lied to me.
She had been lying to me.
I knew it. I felt it. I just hoped it would end, but it had been three weeks already and still nothing. Her phone buzzed at all hours of the night. When she looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes of hers, I saw guilt. For a split second, I thought she was cheating on me; it was only logical, but I knew Cora. I knew her better than I could ever know myself, and she was loyal to her core. The way we made love, the way she always stared at me in the morning when she thought I was still asleep and I just couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes yet…she loved me. She loved me, and the only reason why she would keep a secret from me is if she didn’t want to hurt me.
It was the only thing that made sense.
“Declan, wait,” Evelyn called out to me as we all left Liam and Melody alone. She wrapped her arm around my arm, walking with me down the hall.
“Ma, is everything okay?” I asked, noticing she didn’t want Mina and Neal to hear us. She didn’t answer, just kept walking.
“Goodnight, Mother,” Neal said, opening the door to his room.
“Evelyn.” Mina nodded.
“Night!” She waved to them. Neal gave me a strange look and I could only shrug. “Walk me back, Declan.”
“Of course.” I nodded, not letting go of her.
The moment they were out of hearing distance, she turned back to me, crossing her arms. “Tell me the truth now, son.”
“About what?”
“About Cora,” she hissed, leaning in. “Her cancer is back right? Is it bad? What have the doctors said?”
I froze. It was like she had stabbed me and I
wasn’t sure how to respond. The longer I stayed silent and the more she stared at me, the more she realized.
“She didn’t say anything.”
“What…huh? I…I… How do you know? The cancer, how do you know?”
“I…”
“Ma! Tell me.”
She tensed but nodded. “We were with Darcy outside in the yard and he was a little fussy so she went in to get him a bottle and left her phone. It went off and, not thinking, I answered it. It was an automatic reminder for the start of chemo.”
I kept backing away from her until my body hit the wall. Breathing was hard. Standing was harder.
“Declan!” She grabbed my shoulders when I hunched over.
“She almost died,” I whispered. “The first time, she almost died three times. In between she was in so much pain. I couldn’t do anything. I just stood there watching her almost die for months. I can’t…I can’t…No, I can’t watch her like that again. I can’t see her suffer again.”
“Declan, would you rather her die?”
I stared at her in shock; how was that even a question? “I’d rather kill myself than ever let her die.”
