Chapter 2 - THE DAWN OF ABSENCE
The morning sun crept over the horizon, painting the sky in pale shades of lavender and bruised orange.
I was already miles away, sitting in the quiet corner of a boutique bed-and-breakfast in Savannah, Georgia, sipping a cup of dark roast coffee and watching the horse-drawn carriages clip-clop down the cobblestone streets. My phone was resting on the small wooden table, powered off completely. No notifications, no emergency calls, no frantic texts from Richard demanding to know why my cell was unreachable.
Back in Virginia, at precisely 7:30 AM, my front doorbell was ringing in three sharp, insistent bursts.
I could picture the scene with vivid clarity.
Richard standing on my porch, tapping his expensive leather shoe against the concrete, his jaw clenched tight with the righteous annoyance of a man whose servant had failed to show up on time. Beside him, Fernanda would be checking her diamond-encrusted watch, her expression pinched with anxiety over the dangerous creditors breathing down her neck for her three-hundred-thousand-dollar gambling and high-risk cryptocurrency debts.
They had given me an ultimatum: “Tomorrow. No delay. Don’t disappoint me, Mom.”
Well, Richard had always hated being disappointed. Today, he was going to get a masterclass in it.
I took a slow sip of my coffee, feeling a profound, terrifying lightness wash over me. For years, I had walked on eggshells in my own home, terrified that if I said no, my son would stop visiting, stop calling, stop letting me see my grandchildren.
It took me sixty-eight years to realize a devastating truth: You cannot lose what was never truly yours. Richard didn't visit me because he loved me; he visited me because he needed me. And now, that utility had expired.
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A sparrow landed on the wrought-iron fence outside the café window, cocking its head at me before taking flight into the morning breeze.
I smiled, reached into my bag, and pulled out a small leather journal. It was time to map out the next chapter of my life—one written entirely in my own hand.
