“Yes.”
“All this time?”
Walter closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Something inside me broke.
I slapped the table so hard the jewelry box jumped.Education
“How could you?”
Walter didn’t defend himself.
“How could you live across the street from me with this?”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
My voice cracked.
“You don’t know.”
I grabbed the envelope.
“I wondered if he was scared.”
Walter’s eyes filled.
“I wondered if he called for his mother.”
I was crying now.
“I wondered if he remembered me.”
“He did.”
“You let me wonder.”
“I did.”
I hated how quietly he said it.
No excuse.
No argument.
Just the truth.
“You could’ve mailed it.”
“Yes.”
“You could’ve left it in my mailbox twenty-eight years ago.”
“Yes.”
“You could’ve knocked on my door once.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Walter stared down at his hands.
“When I came home, I wasn’t right.”
