Chapter 4

During the day, Mom's attending physician called me into his office and slid the bill across the desk. "Your payments are far too overdue. We'll have to free up your mother's room. Her bed's already been moved into the hallway."

He sighed. "You saw what happened yesterday. Honestly, I'd recommend stopping treatment. She's suffering as it is."

I understood every word he said.

I sat on the floor of the hallway as people came and went. All that kept Mom hanging on now was an oxygen tank.

After hesitating for a long time, I texted Alexis: [Mom might not make it. Come see her one last time. She misses you too.]

Alexis read it but didn't reply, so I had no choice but to call. I called again and again until she finally picked up.

It was noisy on her end. "What is it?"

"Did you see my message?"

Alexis sounded irritated. "Yeah, I saw it. What do you want to tell me? You want money?

"Rudy, you don't have to keep coming up with new ways to ask me for money. I'm drowning in debt. Didn't I just give you seventy dollars last time?

"Your mom's been in treatment for years and she never got better. People get sick and die. It's normal. If she dies, it was meant to be."

She hung up.

The dial tone echoed sharply down the hallway.

I didn't know when Mom had opened her eyes, but she took my hand and held on. "I'm done with treatment. I still have a little money saved. Keep it for you and Alexis to pay off your debts.

"Don't blame Alexis. She's been working hard too."

My voice caught in my throat. I didn't know what to say to her.

In the end, Mom breathed her last in my arms, still defending Alexis right up until she died.

In a daze, I got her death certificate and wandered aimlessly along the bridge.

Not far off, fireworks were going off over the beach, where a crowd of people were throwing a party. Through the crowd, I saw Alexis.

As if pulled by some unseen force, I walked over and heard them laughing and talking.

"Alexis, you're amazing. That poor-ass husband of yours still doesn't suspect a thing."

"You win this round of the game."

Alexis raised her glass and laughed. "Good thing I covered my tracks so well. You have no idea. Lately, he keeps using his mom as an excuse to ask me for money. If he knew who I really was, who knows how hard he'd try to bleed me dry."

The word "game" slammed into my mind.

The death certificate in my hand rustled in the sea breeze.

Just as she turned around, I left the beach.

Back home, I searched the closet for my birth certificate, getting the paperwork ready to divorce her. When my fingers brushed a crumpled slip of paper tucked inside, I stopped. I smoothed it out.

It read: [Early pregnancy, three weeks.]

Counting back, there was no way the baby was mine.

I stared at that piece of paper, and suddenly I thought of the baby she'd aborted. Tears spilled down my face uncontrollably.

In the dark, my phone screen lit up. Alexis had sent me 280 dollars.

Alexis: [Something came up today. I won't be home tonight.]

Alexis: [I just got paid. Use this for now.]

I didn't reply. I sat on the couch all night, staring at nothing.

As soon as the sun came up, I went to a law firm, dark circles under my eyes.

"I want a divorce." I laid the documents out on the desk.

When the divorce lawyer saw the photos and the marriage certificate on the desk, his expression changed several times. He pushed the marriage certificate back across the desk.

"I can't handle this. The certificate's fake. And I know this Alexis Goldstein you're talking about. She's already legally married to someone else."

I stood there, stunned, and it took me a long time to come back to my senses. I nodded without saying a word.

The divorce lawyer looked at me with a hint of pity. "Rich people like playing these kinds of games. Now that you know, you could go after compensation."

I shook my head and stood up. I threw the fake marriage certificate into the trash can.

It took me a week to prove it to myself. Every last bit of it had been fake.

Holding my mother's ashes, I left without looking back.

From then on, she would never find me in this city again.