“I’m sorry.”
I looked at her.
“For what?”
“My mom.”
I shook my head.
“You didn't do it.”
“She said bad stuff.”
“You didn't.”
Zoe started crying.
I hugged her.
Then Malik spoke.
“She’s been mad about the tree all week.”
I looked over.
“What?”
He stared at his shoes.
“She said your mom still controls everything.”
My stomach tightened.
“Did she say that to you?”
“She was talking on phone.”
“With who?”
“I don't know.”
Grandma Pearl had entered quietly with wrapping paper and towels.
She heard.
Her expression stayed neutral.
“Anything else?”
Malik hesitated.
“Grandma.”
I said.
“Don't interrogate him.”
She looked at me.
Then nodded.
“You're right.”
That surprised Malik.
Grandma sat.
“No one needs to answer anything now.”
Good.
We went downstairs twenty minutes later.
Dad and Renee were sitting opposite each other.
Not shouting.
That scared me more.
Renee’s eyes were red.
Dad looked exhausted.
He stood when we entered.
“Kids.”
All three of us stopped.
He looked at Malik and Zoe first.
“Your mom is going to stay with Aunt Denise for a few days.”
Renee’s sister.
Zoe started crying.
“Are we going?”
Renee answered:
“Yes.”
Dad looked at her.
“That’s your choice.”
Then at them.
“You can call Amara anytime.”
“You can come here if your mom and your dad agree.”
“You aren't losing each other.”
That sentence mattered.
Malik nodded.
Zoe hugged me again.
Renee went upstairs to pack.
Dad crouched beside fallen tree.
He picked up one ornament.
A red cardinal.
Broken in half.
“Your mother made this the year we moved here.”
I sat beside him.
“Can we fix them?”
“I don't know.”
Grandma Pearl stood over us.
“Yes.”
We looked at her.
She nodded toward broken pieces.
“Not exactly as before.”
“But some.”
That became our next task.