Chapter 9
The hallway was too narrow for what Marco had just said.
He hadn't raised his voice. That was what made it land. He stood with his back against the wall where the coats hung, his suit jacket still on, his tie loosened like he'd finally remembered to breathe. I'd followed him after he said he'd invited them because he was scared to fail Leo. Not because I trusted him. Because I needed to hear it away from Leo's ears.
"I didn't know how to help," he said. His eyes stayed on the floor between us. "So I called my mom. I thought if your family was here —"
"You thought more eyes would make me a better mom," I said.
"No." He shook his head quickly. "I thought it would make me less alone in here. I was wrong."
I felt my throat tighten. I hadn't forgiven him. I wasn't even close. But for the first time that afternoon, he wasn't defending Vanessa. He was just standing there, looking small in that black suit.
Then the living room floor creaked.
Vanessa stood in the doorway. She'd come off the sofa without us hearing. Her arms weren't crossed anymore. Her hands were at her sides, fists balled, and her face had gone red under her makeup.
"So that's it?" she said. Her voice was sharp, too loud for the hallway. "You flip? Just like that? After everything Mom and I did to help?"
Marco turned his head. "Vanessa —"
"No. I heard you." She looked past him at me. "You get to play victim on the floor and he folds. That's your move, right, Elena? Cry with Leo and everyone feels sorry for you."
I didn't answer. Leo was still in the living room with Gloria. I could hear the soft sound of the television, too low, and Gloria's quiet humming. I stepped back toward the living room. Vanessa stepped forward to block me.
She didn't touch me, but she moved fast past us into the living room. Gloria was on the gray sofa, her beige blouse creased where she'd been sitting for hours. The black smartphone was on the glass coffee table with the gold frame — right where she'd set it down for the first time all day. She'd been holding it since Marco walked in. Now it sat there, screen dark.
Vanessa picked it up.
"I tried to do this nicely," she said, turning the phone over in her hand. Her thumb hovered over the screen. "Family dinner. Intervention. Talking. But you don't want help. You want to keep him in that mess on the floor and call it love."
Gloria sat up straighter. "Vanessa, put that down."
"No, Mom." Vanessa didn't look at her. She looked at me. "She needs a wake-up call. If she won't let family help Leo, someone else will check if Leo's okay."
The words landed cold. She said it like she was being reasonable. "Wellness check." She said it again, clearer, like she wanted Marco to hear. "There are people you can call. They come to the house. They make sure the kid is safe. It's not CPS, it's just — they make sure."
Marco's face changed. "Vanessa, don't."
"Why not?" She held the phone higher, both hands now, like she was ready to dial. "You said it yourself, Marco. You're scared to fail him. Look at him. Look at her. She's kept him on the floor crying for hours to make a point. That's not stable."
Leo was on the floor by the sofa where I'd left him, his little dark shirt bunched up at his shoulders. He wasn't crying hard now, just sniffling, his eyes on us. When Vanessa said his name, he curled in tighter.
That was it for me.
I moved before I thought about it. I stepped between Vanessa and Leo, my back to her, my body blocking his view. The coffee table was hard against my calf. I could feel Leo's hand find the hem of my black top and hold on.
"Don't you say his name like that," I said. My voice came out low and shaking. I wasn't yelling. I couldn't. "Don't you use him."
Vanessa scoffed, but she didn't lower the phone. "I'm not using him. I'm protecting him. Someone has to."
"He's right here," I said. I kept my hand behind me, on Leo's back. I could feel his quick breaths through his shirt. "You're not protecting him. You're threatening him to scare me."
Marco came up behind Vanessa, his hand out, palm open. "Give me the phone."
She pulled it back against her chest. "You want to be first now? Fine. Be first. Tell her she's wrong. Tell her this isn't okay, letting him sit in tears while she makes us the villains."
Gloria stood then, slowly, her hands empty for once. She looked at the phone in Vanessa's hands, then at me kneeling over Leo, then at Marco.
"Vanessa," she said quietly. "Not like this."
But Vanessa didn't give it back. She held the black smartphone with both hands, screen now lit, her thumb on the glass like she was one swipe from a call that wouldn't end with family at the door. She stared at me over Leo's head.
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"Last chance, Elena," she said. "Let us help the right way, or I call someone who will make you."
I didn't move from in front of Leo. I felt Marco's weight beside me, not yet between us, not yet choosing, and Leo's fingers tightening in my shirt.
