Chapter 3

Heath turned and walked out of the house. The sound of the door slamming echoed through the living room, and a small ornament on the TV stand rattled and fell to the floor.

It was a cup Heath and I had made together at a pottery studio three years ago.

The living room finally fell quiet. I turned off the TV, leaned back against the couch, and closed my eyes.

My family was struggling financially, and Dad always said I'd be better off working than staying in school, so I dropped out of high school. I did construction work and became an apprentice at an auto repair shop. Eventually, I saved up enough money to start my own hardware business.

I met Penny Reed through a family friend. She was pretty, had a way with words, and back then, I thought marrying her was the luckiest thing that had ever happened to me.

I paid for the wedding, put money down on our house, and covered all the other costs of getting married. By the time it was over, I'd burned through all my savings and was deep in debt.

Married life was peaceful enough for the first six months. But things started going downhill after Heath was born.

Penny complained that I didn't make enough money, that the hardware store was dirty, and that we didn't even have a decent car. She didn't want to take care of the baby, so she left him with Mom and spent her days playing cards and going shopping.

Then Penny started coming home later and later, until eventually, she stopped coming home at all.

When I went to look for her, she berated me in front of others for being a good-for-nothing, and claimed that marrying me was the greatest misfortune of her life.

Penny wanted a divorce, so she began acting hysterically. Once, she even picked up Heath and stood at the edge of the balcony, threatening to let go if I didn't sign the papers.

Heath wailed in terror. I knelt on the ground, begging her, and eventually signed the papers.

After that, Penny cleaned out the last bit of our savings and vanished without a trace.

Heath was just two at the time. He had no idea what had happened and cried for his mom every night. All I could do was carry him around the house, walking in circles while telling him that Penny had gone far away for work.

I had to be both parents to Heath. I strapped him to my back and brought him to the construction site and got chewed out by the foreman for bringing a baby to work. When I ran a street stall, I kept him in a cardboard box beside me, calling out to customers with one hand and swatting mosquitoes away with a fan in the other.

Looking back, every hardship I'd faced in my life came down to one thing.

I was uneducated, didn't know any better, was terrible at judging people, and didn't have what it took to make good money.

If I'd stayed in school a few more years and known more about the world, even just a little, maybe Penny wouldn't have been able to trick me into losing everything, and Heath wouldn't have had to suffer alongside me.

So every time Heath's grades slipped, I couldn't help but worry. Whenever I saw the numbers on his report card go down, I was afraid he'd grow up to be just like me, weak and helpless, with people walking all over him.

I pushed him to study harder.

I thought I was doing it for his own good. I thought that when he grew up, he'd understand and thank me.

But Heath hated me. He could watch me collapse on the floor and just walk away.

When I opened my eyes again, the light in the living room had begun to fade. My phone showed that it was 6:40 pm.

By now, the college entrance exam had already ended.

I stood up and went to the kitchen to wash my face. I turned the faucet all the way up, and it wasn't until the cold water hit my face that I felt like I was still alive.

There was still food in the fridge from yesterday. I took it out and started making dinner, grabbing enough for one more person.

I stared at the extra food for a while before cooking it anyway.

Dinner was ready soon enough. I was the only one at the table, eating the two dishes I'd made.

It wasn't until halfway through the meal that it hit me. I was still making Heath's favorite dishes out of habit. It had been ingrained in me for so long that I didn't even think about it anymore.