The lock was closed.
Vanessa was upstairs.
For a moment, Mason considered calling her.
Then he remembered how angry she'd become the last time he questioned the food rules.
He found a yogurt in the refrigerator.
He checked the date.
Then placed it beside Lily with a spoon.
The little girl smiled.
"Thank you."
Mason sat beside her.
He watched her eat quickly.
Then asked whether she'd had lunch.
Lily nodded.
But when he asked what she ate, she couldn't remember.
Mason felt uneasy.
He was twelve, old enough to recognize when something didn't make sense but still young enough to wonder whether adults understood things he didn't.
For several days, he tried to observe quietly.
Sometimes Lily received lunch.
Other times Vanessa told her she'd already eaten enough.
Sometimes she could have fruit.
Other times she was accused of asking for food too often.
There was no consistent rule.
Only Vanessa's mood.
And the uncertainty made Lily increasingly nervous around meals.
Mason began noticing how differently his mother behaved when Marcus was home.
On evenings when Marcus returned early, Vanessa prepared dinner, placed a full plate before Lily, and spoke affectionately about how much the little girl enjoyed helping in the kitchen.
She cut her food into manageable pieces.
Asked about preschool.
And smiled when Marcus praised the meal.
But when he traveled, the atmosphere changed.
Vanessa sometimes delayed meals for hours.
She ignored Lily's requests.
And she became angry whenever Mason offered his stepsister something from his own plate.
The boy couldn't understand why.
At first, he thought his mother was tired.
Then he thought she was stressed about work.
But eventually, he recognized something more troubling.
Vanessa seemed to enjoy deciding when Lily could eat.
The rules changed depending on whether the little girl pleased her.
If Lily cleaned her toys quickly, she might receive a snack.
If she cried for her mother, she could be told to wait.
If she interrupted a phone call, food sometimes became another thing she wasn't allowed to have.
Mason knew something was wrong.
He just didn't know how to make an adult believe him.
One evening, he approached Marcus while the older man was reviewing blueprints in his home office.