Mother’s Comeback
Chapter 1
It was Dad’s birthday. He was blowing out the
candles, making a wish, when Mom leaned in
and whispered something in his ear.
My dad, Mr. Safety–First, the guy who wore a
helmet to mow the lawn, just… lost it.
He walked straight to the window and
jumped.
After he was gone, everyone was all over
Mom, practically begging her to tell them
what she said.
I heard some real estate agent even offered
her a million bucks, just to know those words.
L
Mom clammed up tighter than a drum.
She didn’t say a word.
Then, on my wedding day, she shows up.
And whispers that same sentence to my
fiancé, Mark…
- 1.
After Dad died, Mom was suddenly infamous.
He was so scared of everything!
So, for him to just… off himself, it had to be
because of whatever Mom said to him.
People were crawling out of the woodwork,
wanting to know what the magic sentence
<
was.
Some snooty rich lady whose husband was
cheating even offered Mom a cool million, just
to get her hands on that deadly line.
Mom wasn’t biting.
Not even when the cops grilled her.
She just stared at the floor and kept her
mouth shut.
They ended up slapping her with a
manslaughter charge and tossed her in the
slammer for three years.
After the funeral, I went to see her. I was so
confused. “Mom,” I asked, “what did you say
to him? Why would he do that?”
We were separated by thick glass, but Mom’s
face was like stone.
“He didn’t want to live anymore,” she said.
“What’s that got to do with me?”
Her being so calm and cold just made my
heart ache.
“Dad freaked out if he got a paper cut,” I told
her. “He’d be rushing to the emergency room,
worried about blood poisoning.
His birthday wish every year was to live to be
a hundred and see me get married and have
grandkids.
Why would he suddenly want to die?”
I was hurting, so confused,
My dad was a good man.
He loved Mom, they were always happy
together.
Why would she say something to push him
over the edge?
What were those words?
Mom just stared at me, that look in her eyes.
“Don’t ask,” she said finally. “Knowing too much won’t do you any good.”
