But the words would remain with him for the rest of his life.
Chapter 5: The Long Road Forward
When Adam returned home, he found his mother sitting in bed beside the window.
She looked worried.
“Where have you been?”
He stood in the doorway, holding grocery bags.
For a moment, he could not speak.
Then he began to cry.
His mother reached for him.
“Adam? What’s wrong?”
He sat beside her and told her everything.
The bread.The store owner.
The police.
The courtroom.
The judge.
He expected anger.
Instead, his mother wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.
“Oh, sweetheart,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
She stroked his hair.
“You should have told someone how bad things had become.”
“I didn’t know who to tell.”
She closed her eyes.
That was the part that hurt her most.
Her son had carried a burden that should never have been his alone.
