His Mother, My Vengeance

he sharp, splintering pain in my

tood at the top, her face a

ir, crueler than the impa

ed in your place, Sarah. N

burned into my mind was not of my killer, but of my daughter, Lily

ead becaus

w, so

ould mourn me for a week, then go back to being a dutiful son, a "mama's boy" unt

ness con

dden, blin

p for

s. The room was familiar. It was my bedroom, the one I shared with Mar

y were whole. I touched m

grabbed it, my fingers trembling. The

ber

y Lily

d terror washed over me. No. It couldn'

al. The sunlight was real. My

. I was given a

giveness. Not a chan

e for r

sive, accommodating Sarah was gone, shattered at the bottom of that staircase. The

s happening to

"kind" gesture that was really about control. And sometime this morning, she would g

old her a hundred times. I had emergency injectors

s said, waving her hand dismissively. "In my day, we d

. "Mom's just old-fashion

ey didn't care. The result wa

this

ange out of my pajamas. I ran out of the bedroom an

s I reached the stairs. Swee

down the st

into the

l kitchen table, her coloring book open. Martha stood beside her, a plate in her

eetie," Martha cooed, her voice thick

r eyes bright and

N

from my throat,

, startled. Martha' s smile tight

earth? You'll

hed the plate from Martha' s hand, and hurled it into the sink. It

ed, her e

a blotchy red. "Have you lost your min

t of my daughter, taking her small hands in mine. Her skin was warm. Her heart was beating

. You can never, ever eat Grandma's cookies. Do y

her grandmother' s, confus

rtha. I stood up slowly, positioning myself between my mothe

arah. I raised three children of my own. I think I know what's best. A little bit of pe

before. The exact same excuses tha

d have felt my voice get shaky and my eyes well up with tears of

't that wo

I said, the words clear and cold. "Your

She had never heard me

you!" sh

said, my voice dropping lower. "And you

ening. "Come on, sweetie. Let's go g

fast?" Lily asked, he

said, forcing a smil

ot giving Martha a second glance. I could feel he

as nothing compared t

inning. I had saved L

d. And this time, I knew all their secrets. I knew ex

. And I was the one