“Did you hide these?”
Robert looked away.
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“Your mother was becoming ill.”
Robert explained that Gladys had started forgetting appointments and leaving appliances on. She had wandered away from home several times and occasionally forgotten to collect Kyle from school.
The doctors could not explain what was happening.
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“I was frightened,” Robert admitted. “I thought watching her disappear little by little would destroy you.”
“So you told me she had abandoned me?”
“I thought it would hurt less.”
Kyle stared at him.
“You let me hate my mother for thirty years.”
Robert began to cry.
“At first, I thought I was doing the right thing. Then too much time passed. Every year, it became harder to admit what I had done.”
“You placed her in a care facility and removed my name.”
“I never imagined she would live this long.”
Kyle looked toward the car, where Gladys was smiling at Mia through the window.
“I lost thirty years anyway.”
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Robert apologized, but Kyle did not immediately forgive him.
“I believe you’re sorry,” Kyle said. “But I’m finished allowing you to decide what I can survive.”
Then we left.
PART 3: FINDING HER WAY HOME
