“But if you’re hungry, you tell me.”
“She says I’m always hungry because I’m bored.”
He stared.
Again.
Not necessarily monstrous alone.
Together, the statements formed a pattern.
The father asked:
“Do you want to stay with your aunt tonight?”
His daughter looked alarmed.
“Are you sending me away?”
“No.”
He immediately regretted phrasing it.
“No.”
He moved closer.
“I’m asking if you want your aunt to come here, or if you want to sleep at her house while I figure things out.”
The girl thought.
“Can Auntie come here?”
“Yes.”
The father called his younger sister.
She answered on the second ring.
“What happened?”
No hello.
She knew something.
“What do you mean?”
His sister went quiet.
“Why are you calling me at four in the afternoon sounding like that?”
He looked toward his daughter.
“I need you to come over.”
“Is she okay?”
The father’s eyes narrowed.
“Why did you ask about her?”
Silence.
Then:
“Because I’ve been worried.”
He stood.
His daughter kept eating.
He walked into the living room.
“Worried about what?”
His sister sighed.
“She stopped calling.”
“When?”
“Couple months.”
“She’s nine.”
“She used to FaceTime me every Wednesday after school.”
The father closed his eyes.
He had forgotten.
His sister continued.
“Then suddenly your wife started answering.”
“What did she say?”
“That homework changed.”
“Then dance lessons.”
“She doesn't take dance.”
“I know.”
The father’s stomach dropped.
His sister continued.
“I called you.”
“When?”
“April.”
He remembered.
His sister had said:
“How are things really?”
He laughed.
Fine.
Busy.
She asked whether his daughter was okay.
He said she was becoming a little moody.
His sister said:
“She's nine.”
He replied:
“Exactly.”
Then changed topics.
His sister’s voice sharpened.
“I told you something felt off.”
“You said they didn’t seem close.”
“I said more than that.”
The father rubbed his forehead.
“You did.”
“Yes.”
“I didn't listen.”
“No.”
The honesty hurt.
He deserved it.
His sister asked:
“What happened?”
“I’ll explain when you get here.”
“Twenty minutes.”
She arrived in fourteen.
His daughter ran to her.
The aunt hugged her.
Then looked at her brother.
“What did she do?”
The stepmother came downstairs before he could answer.