Chapter 2
His hand hit the door and the whole room shook.
I was on the floor with Teresa's arm around me, my face pressed into her apron, and the brass plate on the other side rattled when my dad pounded it again. The light above us was buzzing. The shelves with the white towels made the room look smaller than it was. I could smell cleaning spray and dust.
"Claire!" Dad called through the wood. His voice was loud and close. "Claire, are you in there?"
I lifted my head. Teresa's hand tightened on my shoulder. She didn't let go.
Melanie's voice came from the other side, right by the door. She wasn't yelling. She was calm in a way that was worse. "Deaken, stop. You're scaring her."
"Open this door," Dad said. My dad's knuckles hit the brass again. "Melanie, give me the key. Right now."
"It's locked for a reason," she said. I could hear her shoes shift on the other side of the wood. Her shadow moved under the crack at the bottom. "She needed a timeout. She was acting out, Deaken. I told her to come down here and collect herself. Teresa volunteered to sit with her."
I stared at the door. That wasn't what happened. She'd grabbed my collar in the hallway. She'd pulled me past the sconces while I tried to lean back. My sweater had twisted around my neck.
Teresa leaned forward toward the door, her other arm still around me. Her voice was low and steady, but I felt her chest shaking when she breathed.
"That's not true," she called through the wood. Her hand smoothed my hair once. "She's a child. She's not a problem. You don't lock a child in a storage room."
There was a pause. On the other side, Dad didn't answer right away. I heard him step back. The floor creaked out there.
"Melanie," he said, quieter now. "What did you do?"
"I did what we talked about," Melanie said quickly. "Boundaries. You said we needed structure. She wouldn't listen to me, she was rude, she—"
"She's eight," Teresa cut in. She raised her voice just enough that it cracked a little. "You pulled her down the stairs."
I felt my throat close up. Dad said my name again, softer this time, right against the door.
"Claire-bear? Baby, can you hear me? Are you okay?"
That was the moment I had to choose. Teresa looked down at me. Her eyes were wet but she wasn't crying the way I was. She whispered, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I'm here."
I could have stayed quiet. Part of me wanted to. If I stayed quiet, maybe Melanie would just unlock the door and pretend nothing happened and we could go upstairs and it would be over. If I cried out, I knew she would be mad.
But Dad's hand was still on the brass plate. I could see his shadow under the door, his shoes right at the edge.
I took a breath that hurt my chest and I shouted, "Dad! Dad, we're in here!"
My voice broke on the second Dad. It was loud in that small room. Teresa pulled me closer into her side.
On the other side, Dad hit the door with his palm. "Jesus— Melanie, unlock it. Now."
"I don't have the key on me," Melanie said. Her voice got higher at the end, like she was trying to make it sound reasonable. "It's— it's in the kitchen, I'll get it later. Let them cool off first. You're making this bigger than it is, Deaken."
"You locked it from the outside," Dad said. His voice dropped. He wasn't yelling anymore. He was realizing it. "You pulled it shut and locked it. That's not a timeout, Melanie. That's a lock."
There was silence for a second except for the fluorescent light humming. I could hear Melanie breathing out there.
"It's for her own good," she said. "Maybe now you'll both learn your place."
Dad tried the handle again and it didn't move. The brass jangled. He shoved the door with his shoulder and it held. Teresa didn't answer Melanie. She just held me tighter and turned her body a little so I was away from the door.
"Daddy?" I said again, smaller this time.
"I'm here," he said through the door. His hand flattened against the wood. "I'm right here, Claire. I'm not going anywhere. Teresa, keep her with you, okay?"
"We're okay," Teresa called back. "We're together."
Outside, Melanie's shadow moved away from the crack under the door. I heard her heels click once on the basement stairs. Dad didn't leave. His shadow stayed.
"Melanie!" he called after her, but she didn't answer. Then he crouched down again. His voice came through the bottom crack, close to the floor. "Claire, I need you to listen to me. I'm going to get that key. Do you understand me? I will get you out."
May you like
I nodded even though he couldn't see me. Teresa nodded for me and said, "We hear you."
I kept my face against her apron and listened to my dad breathing on the other side of a door he couldn't open.
