4: 4
4
From that day on, Malcolm acted like the man of the house.
The smallest thing not to his liking, and he ran straight to Hope to complain.
And every time, Hope took his side without asking a single question.
"Try to be a little more careful with what you do. Stop being such a nuisance to everyone."
"There are a lot of people living here. Could you show some basic hygiene?"
Every time, my mother only lowered her head and apologized, murmuring that she'd do better next time.
She never once defended herself.
Every bit of it she swallowed down in silence.
On my birthday, I came home from grocery shopping with her.
Malcolm rushed up to us, his eyes red.
"Where's my pocket watch? My grandmother gave it to me before she died. Please, give it back to me."
We had no idea what he was talking about.
"What pocket watch?"
Hope's face darkened, and she turned to my mother.
"Were you in Malcolm's room today?"
My mother nodded without thinking. "I went in to clean."
Malcolm threw himself sobbing into Hope's arms.
"She's the one who stole it. She's had it out for me from the start, always taking her son's side."
My mother's face flushed red in an instant.
"I didn't. Why would I ever take your things?"
"Then let us search. Your room, and you too."
My mother stood in the doorway, her lips trembling, her eyes rimmed red.
In more than sixty years of living, she had never been humiliated like this.
"I didn't steal anything."
I stepped in front of her. "That's enough. My mother isn't that kind of person."
"Of course you're taking her side. The two of you are ganging up on me!"
He shoved past us into her room and tore through everything.
Hope upended my mother's bag, and a pocket watch fell out.
Her voice was ice. "What else is there to say? Caught red-handed."
My mother's mouth opened, and she stared at the scene, lost.
"I didn't. I don't know how it got into my bag."
She turned to me, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Gerard, believe me, I didn't take his things…"
Watching the smug smile pull at Malcolm's mouth, I shook with rage.
"This is a setup."
"Enough!"
Hope's eyes were full of disappointment and disgust, and she kicked my mother's things out the door.
"There's no room for a thief in this house. Get out!"
The anger sent a sharp pain through my chest. I pressed a hand over it and forced myself to speak.
"Hope, we can check the security footage. One look and we'll know exactly who took it."
Malcolm's sobbing hitched, and something like panic flickered across his eyes.
"You're all bullying me. Fine, I'll go, I'll leave, is that what you want?"
And he bolted out the door.
Hope snatched up the car keys.
"If anything happens to Malcolm, I will never let this go."
I gripped her arm and held on.
"Hope, my chest hurts so much…"
Hope wrenched her arm free.
"Quit the act. That fake look on your face makes me sick."
The pull threw me hard against the corner of the table.
The pain hit, and I slid to the floor with my hand still on my chest.
Something warm ran down from my head.
My mother threw herself down beside me, her hands shaking.
"Gerard, Gerard…"
She rushed to the door and blocked Hope, begging with everything she had.
"Hope, please, take him to the hospital, I'm begging you!"
Hope looked down at her, cold, unmoved.
"What an act. One little push and it's life or death. I never knew you had this much drama in you."
"Malcolm's out there alone. What if something happens to him?"
My mother knelt on the floor and shuffled forward on her knees until she was in front of Hope.
"Hope, I'm begging you, save Gerard first."
"Make me kneel and beg forgiveness, throw me in jail, whatever you want, just save Gerard first…"
I wanted to hold her back, but there was no strength left in me.
Hope looked down at my kneeling mother, her face blank.
"I used to think it wasn't easy, you raising Gerard all on your own. I actually admired you for it."
"But now I understand. Some people's misfortune is something they bring on themselves."
"The child in my belly doesn't need genes this cheap. I'm going right now to get rid of it."
My mother's eyes went wide, and she clutched at Hope's pant leg in a panic.
"Hope, please, don't do this out of spite. The child is innocent."
"It's all my fault, just don't hurt yourself or the baby, I'll do anything you ask…"
Hope stepped around her in disgust and strode off.
I remembered when we first found out she was pregnant, how Hope had cried out in front of everyone.
"I'm going to be a mother!"
That night she'd held my hand, thrilled, planning the baby's name, the preschool, the college…
And now, over Malcolm's lie, she wanted to get rid of our child.
"Hope, if you dare abort this baby, we're getting divorced."
She gave a cold snort, without a moment's hesitation.
"The morning sickness that's made me so miserable, it's your cheap genes doing this to me."
"As long as Malcolm hasn't forgiven you, I won't be keeping your child."
"And if you want to divorce me over the baby, go right ahead."
With that she kicked my mother aside and hurried out.
Watching her walk away without looking back, everything inside me went to ash.
Hope, there really is no future left for us.
