Chapter 5 - The Choice David Could No Longer Avoid
By the following evening, two things had changed in the Bennett house.
David had arranged several days away from work, and Isaiah was eating downstairs again.
The first dinner was uncomfortable.
Isaiah sat in his old chair, the one closest to the kitchen doorway.
He kept glancing toward the stairs whenever he heard footsteps.
David noticed how quickly his son finished eating, as if he expected to be told to leave.
When Isaiah started collecting everyone's plates, David gently stopped him.
"Sit and finish your drink. I'll get those."
Isaiah looked uncertain.
David didn't make a speech about it.
He simply cleared the table.
Afterward, he went to the garage, where Jordan was sitting on a folding chair beside his design equipment.
The young man was staring at his phone.
"Mind if I sit?"
Jordan shrugged.
David settled onto an overturned storage bin.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then David said, "I remember the first time you came to this house."
Jordan gave a faint smile.
"I spilled orange soda on your couch."
"You did. Your mom was embarrassed. You looked ready to run away."
"You told her it was just a couch."
"Because it was."
Jordan put down his phone.
David continued.
"I never wanted you to feel like a visitor here."
"I know."
"But somewhere along the way, Isaiah started feeling like one."
Jordan looked away.
David let the silence remain.
At last, Jordan said, "Mom thought he was making everything hard."
"Did you?"
"Sometimes. He could be stubborn."
"That doesn't explain what happened on those steps."
Jordan rubbed the back of his neck.
"We were arguing. I was tired of the arguing."
"About the chest?"
"Yeah."
David waited.
Jordan glanced at him.
"I didn't want him to get hurt."
David felt his chest tighten.
"That's not the same as saying you didn't hurt him."
Jordan's eyes became wet.
He stood abruptly.
"I need some time."
David didn't block the doorway.
"All right."
But before Jordan left, David added, "If you're afraid of hurting your mom, I understand. She's your mother. That doesn't make Isaiah's injuries disappear."
Jordan stopped, though he didn't turn around.
David continued quietly.
"You don't have to stop loving her to tell the truth."
Jordan left the garage without another word.
That night, David talked to Isaiah about returning to school, about the follow-up care for his injuries, and about who he could call if he felt unsafe.
He also apologized.
Not once, but specifically.
For dismissing his request to eat together.
For accepting explanations without asking him directly.
For assuming that keeping everybody under one roof meant everybody felt at home.
"I should have seen more," David said.
Isaiah sat cross-legged on his bed.
"I didn't want you to hate her because of me."
"Whatever happens between Sabrina and me is our responsibility. Not yours."
Isaiah studied his father's face.
"Even if she leaves?"
"Even then."
The next morning, David woke to the sound of something heavy scraping across the front porch.
He hurried downstairs.
Sabrina stood outside with one of the cardboard boxes marked FOR AUNT RENEE.
Jordan was beside her.
The cedar chest remained in the hallway, but Sabrina had taken the box of Isaiah's belongings from the garage.
David opened the door.
"Where are you taking that?"
Sabrina straightened.
"I'm moving it out of the way."
"Then put it down."
She gave a sharp laugh.
"Are we seriously going to fight over a box now?"
"Those are Isaiah's things. He decides what happens to them."
Sabrina turned toward Jordan.
"Would you please put it in the car?"
Jordan reached for the box.
Then he stopped.
David watched his face change.
Jordan looked toward the scratched wooden chest visible through the open door.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Finally, Jordan stepped between his mother and the box.
"Mom, stop."
Sabrina stared at him.
"Jordan?"
He pulled off his red knit cap.
His hands were shaking.
"I'm not doing this anymore."
David looked at him.
"Doing what?"
Jordan swallowed.
"Letting Isaiah take the blame."
Sabrina went pale.
"Jordan, don't."
May you like
But Jordan turned toward David.
"I need to tell you what I did."
