Chapter 8 - WHAT MOM KNEW
Mom sat at my kitchen table while James copied the flash drive.
Her hands would not stop trembling.
"How long have you known Lauren could be violent?" I asked.
Mom looked at me. "A long time."
"How long?"
"Since she was a teenager."
I almost stood up.
"And you kept telling me I was too sensitive."
"I was trying to keep peace."
"No. You were trying to keep Lauren calm. Those are not the same thing."
Mom flinched.
James did not interrupt.
She told us about broken mirrors, holes punched in doors, a boyfriend Lauren had slapped hard enough to split his lip. Dad had paid for a new apartment door. Mom had begged the boyfriend not to press charges.
"She always cried afterward," Mom whispered. "She always promised it would never happen again."
"And you believed her?"
"I wanted to."
James looked up from the laptop. "The full file is here. Three hours, twenty-two minutes."
We watched the minutes before the slap.
Lauren had already finished nearly a bottle of wine.
Twice she complained about Emma crying.
Once she said, "If that kid screams in my ear again, I'm going to shut her up myself."
Nobody at the table reacted.
My skin crawled.
Then came the slap.
After James forced Lauren out, the camera kept recording.
I watched myself leave the room with Emma.
I watched James follow.
Then Dad turned on Mom.
"You'd better fix this," he snapped.
Mom whispered, "She hit the baby, Richard."
Dad slammed his palm on the table.
"And if Sarah calls the cops, Lauren could lose her job. James could ruin all of us."
Uncle Bob said, "Richard, you can't keep covering for her."
Dad glared at him.
Then came the line that changed everything.
"We covered Tyler," Dad said. "We can cover this."
Mom buried her face in her hands.
I stared at the screen.
There was no misunderstanding now.
There was a history.
And my father had just confessed to it on video.
Then the doorbell rang.
May you like
Mom went white.
"That's your father," she whispered. "He tracked my car."
