Chapter 8 - The Fresh Start
The transition wasn't completely painless, of course. Small-town family drama has a long half-life, and for a few months, distant relatives whispered at family reunions about how “cold-hearted” Maggie Barrymore had become. But distance is a funny thing; once you stop answering calls that demand your surrender, the noise eventually fades into silence.
Drew and Marcus had moved out of their sprawling four-bedroom rental in an upscale suburb and into a modest, three-bedroom townhouse across town. For the first time, Cody and his siblings were attending the local public school. According to my mother—who had begrudgingly started visiting them on Tuesdays instead of demanding I chauffeur her—Cody was actually adjusting well, having joined the school track team and learning, rather painfully, that popularity in the real world isn't measured by who has the newest iPhone, but by who can actually run the fastest.
One evening in November, my phone lit up with an unfamiliar number. I almost ignored it, but curiosity won out. I swiped to answer.
“Hello, Maggie?”
It was Drew. Her voice was quiet, stripped of its usual theatrical screeching and venomous entitlement.
“Drew,” I said neutrally. “What do you need?”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line, filled only by the static hum of the connection and a muffled television in her background.
“I just… I wanted to tell you that Cody made the regional track finals,” she said, her voice trembling slightly. “He wanted me to call you. He… he said he was sorry about the cake, Maggie. Really sorry. He said he knows you bought him his birthday presents every year when Mom and Marcus forgot, and… well, we just wanted to say thank you for not letting us drag you down completely.”
I stood by my kitchen window, watching the yellow cabs crawl down 86th Street beneath the amber glow of the streetlamps. I didn't offer to send money. I didn't invite her over for Thanksgiving. But the knot of bitterness that had lived in my chest for six long years finally dissolved into clean air.
May you like
“Tell Cody congratulations on the track finals,” I said softly. “Keep working hard, Drew. Both of you.”
I hung up the phone, placed it gently on the counter, and walked over to the living room where Theo was laughing loudly while building a massive Lego castle with a brand-new set we bought with my business’s new profits.
