Page 23 of Till Death Do Us Part

“Vera—”

“How much do you owe her?”

Mom snapped, her eyes going wild as she leaned forward. “Who are you, and what did you do to my daughter? Elaine doesn’t know anyone like you, and I should call the police on you right now—”

“Go ahead,” Vera said, holding up her phone. “I’ll even dial them for you. While you’re on the line, you can explain the mark on your palm.”

“What?” Mom leaned back, eyes flush with fear.

“Your hand.” Vera nodded towards Mom’s left hand. “Redness in a flush pattern. Consistent with hitting skin. Who have you been hitting, Ms. Whitner?”

Mom clutched her hand to her chest like Vera had just stabbed it, but my stomach dropped, a horrible feeling plummeting inside me. “Mom,” I gasped. “Did you—”

“I fell,” she blurted. “Just now. I was in the middle of an argument when I heard you at the door—”

“You should consider your own mobility support, then,” Vera said. “Judging by the skin responsiveness, it’s accustomed to that specific impact type. You must fall a lot.”

“Who are you?” Mom hissed, anger and panic snarling over her features, but I felt tears stinging in my eyes, betrayal like a knife in my gut.

“Have you been hitting Caitlyn?” I said.

“You don’t understand anything! This family is like this because you abandoned it!”

Vera smiled wider, eyes narrowed. “As far as I understand it, Caitlyn is an adult now. This is no longer a corporal punishment case. This is full-fledged battery and assault against another adult. In which case, if I were to help her… it could be argued protective interventionism and defense.”

Mom took a step back, swallowing hard. “Are you threatening me?”

“Yes,” Vera said. “I’m telling you that if you hurt her one more time—if you hurt my wife or her sister—then I will make you feel it. I’ll make you feel what it’s like to be on the other end of every blow you’ve ever dealt, of every word you’ve ever said, all at once. I’ll make you scream for it to stop like I know they both did so many times. And I will ignore it. No matter how much you beg. Just like you did to them.”

Mom clutched the wall, terror in her eyes. I couldn’t help it any longer—I pushed past her, into the next room, and around the corner, to where Caitlyn was sitting crying at the kitchen table, and I dropped down to my knees next to her.

“Caitlyn,” I said, and she looked up, blotchy and surprised.

“Elaine,” she said. “Why are you here?”

“I came to see you,” I said, and I tugged on my sleeve. “Look at this dress I got with the gift you gave me.”

Caitlyn welled up, a ray of pure joy shining through the dark clouds on her face. “You… you got a new dress,” she said. “It’s so pretty.”

“Thank you for the gift.”

She sniffled, wiping her eyes. “Thank you for mine…”

I hugged her, and I whispered in her ear. “How long has she been hurting you?”

She stiffened. “It’s never been that bad…”

I squeezed her tightly, tears flowing down my cheeks now. “You could have told me…”

“You’ve already been doing too much for us! I didn’t want to cause trouble!”

“Listen—” I pulled away from the hug, holding her shoulders. “We’re going to make sure you’re safe, okay? We’ll get this figured out. We’ll make sure Mom never hurts you again. I promise.”

She welled up, but she stopped when she saw my ring, going wide-eyed. “Elaine—what—do you—”

“Oh…” I didn’t get to say anything before footsteps strode in behind me, and I looked back at where Vera entered the room with a strong, confident stride, putting her hand on my shoulder in a way that flashed her matching ring.

“You’re Caitlyn?” she said. “Elaine told me all about you. I’m Vera.”