Chapter 35

• "Where did you go?" Mommy Francheska asked when I came home.
• She had a glass of wine in her hand as she sat on the couch. The epiphany suddenly came back to mind. I couldn't help but get annoyed and feel awful. The smell of wine lingered in the air, mingling with the faint scent of her perfume, a reminder of her presence and the distance between us. My hands tightened into fists at my sides.
• I made my way up to her slowly, each step feeling like it dragged a ton of weight behind it. When I reached her front, I turned and gave her a hard stare. She met my cold gaze head-on, unflinching, as if she had expected this confrontation all along. The silence stretched between us, taut and suffocating, filled with all the words neither of us had dared to say.