- 2.
This time around, my saintly mother didn’t
even glance at Mikey. She was standing
there, tears in her eyes, arguing with Uncle
Joe about why she did what she did.
“Why wouldn’t I love my son? Of course I
wanted to save him! But there was another
child! He’s just a little boy! What about him?
All lives are precious. Didn’t he deserve to be
saved?”
A crowd had gathered, and they were all
nodding, agreeing with my mom’s nonsense.
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“She’s right, Martha is right. All lives are
equal. And little Timmy is younger. He should
be saved first.”
“Yeah, Martha is a good woman. She always
puts others first, even her own son.”
“That’s right! And all the good she does!
Always helping people, giving away her
money. She’s a saint!”
My mom looked like she was about to fly. She
looked at Uncle Joe like “See, I am not
wrong.”
The boy and his family were long gone, and
they forgot to say “thank you.”
Saint? She only gave to others!
My chest tightened with every breath when I
thought about my brother’s last days.
Uncle Joe, who never lost his temper, was
furious. He slapped my mom across the face,
hard.
“So, you didn’t call for help? You didn’t try to
save your son? You just let him lie there
under the rubble?”
Smack!
Another slap.
“He’s little? What about Mikey? He’s only
eighteen! He’s only a month older than that
kid!”
“And that boy had a table protecting him!
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What did Mikey have? Nothing! And you just
stood there and did nothing? Is he even your
son?!”
Uncle Joe yelled.
My mom was silent. “They’re all saved, right?
No one died…” she mumbled.
“You…” Uncle Joe was so angry he couldn’t
talk. He raised his hand to hit her again, and
she screamed and curled into a ball on the
ground, shaking.
The crowd turned on her.
“I thought she was such a good person, but
she abandoned her own son.”
“Exactly! She cares more about strangers
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than her own kids. I bet…” The women eyed
my mom up and down.
“I bet she still has a thing for Timmy’s dad!”
Everyone gasped and began talking about my
mom’s “colorful” past.
Mom’s face turned red. “Stop! Don’t talk
about that!”
I grabbed Uncle Joe. “Uncle Joe, let’s get
Mikey to the hospital.”
Uncle Joe hesitated for a moment, then
scooped up my brother and put him in the
car.
“If anything happens to Mikey, I’m going to
kill you!” Uncle Joe shouted to Mom.
I limped to the car, following Uncle Joe.
I turned and stared out the window at my
mom, a mess on the lawn.
If anything happens to Mikey, you’re going to
pay.
