Chapter 4 - The Price of Keeping Peace
By Friday morning, Vanessa had changed her strategy.
She was no longer shouting.
She was crying.
Marcus found her at the kitchen table beside a cup of untouched coffee.
“I know I lost my temper,” she said. “But you're acting like I'm some kind of monster.”
Marcus sat opposite her.
“I haven't called you that.”
“You don't have to. You sent Nia to your sister. You called the school behind my back. You're treating me like a criminal.”
“I checked the facts because you accused my daughter of stealing.”
Vanessa wiped her eyes.
“I was upset.”
“Being upset doesn't make something true.”
She stared at him.
“You're going to destroy our marriage over two hundred dollars?”
Marcus shook his head.
“This isn't about two hundred dollars anymore.”
“Then what is it about?”
“The way Nia feels in her own home.”
Vanessa leaned back.
“Nia has always been sensitive.”
“She's thirteen.”
“She knows exactly how to get sympathy.”
“Vanessa, enough.”
His voice was quiet.
That seemed to disturb her more than shouting would have.
Marcus explained that he wanted them to meet with a family counselor and that Nia would decide when, or whether, she felt comfortable participating.
Vanessa shook her head.
“So I have to go to counseling because a teenager doesn't like me?”
“No. Because we have a serious problem that we haven't handled.”
She folded her arms.
“And what happens until then?”
“Nia needs a home where she isn't being accused and intimidated.”
“This is my home too.”
“I know.”
“And I pay half the bills.”
“I know that too.”
Vanessa looked directly at him.
“Then you'd better think carefully before you start making demands.”
The warning was not empty.
They shared the lease on their townhouse. Marcus worked as a maintenance supervisor for an apartment complex, and although he earned a steady income, paying the entire rent would be difficult.
Vanessa knew that.
She continued in a softer voice.
“You can't afford this place without me.”
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
He thought about Nia asking to sleep somewhere else.
Then he thought about how carefully she had packed her toothbrush.
“We'll figure out the bills,” he said.
Vanessa stared at him.
“You're serious?”
“Yes.”
She stood so abruptly that her chair scraped across the floor.
“Fine. But don't expect me to pretend I did something I didn't do.”
She took her coffee upstairs.
Marcus sat alone.
For eighteen months, he had responded to every disagreement by trying to keep everyone under the same roof.
He had believed that preserving the household meant protecting his daughter.
Now he understood that a house could remain intact while the people inside it stopped feeling safe.
That afternoon, he went to Camille's apartment.
Nia was at the dining table doing homework.
She looked up when he entered.
“Hey, Daddy.”
“Hey, baby.”
He sat beside her.
“Can we talk?”
She nodded.
“I spoke with your counselor.”
Nia's pencil stopped.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No.”
“Did Mrs. Palmer tell you everything?”
“She told me you've been having a hard time.”
Nia stared at the worksheet.
Marcus continued.
“I should've noticed.”
“You work a lot.”
“That's true. But it doesn't excuse how I handled things when I was home.”
Nia rubbed her thumb over the pencil's eraser.
“Vanessa says I remind you of Mom too much.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What?”
“She says you feel guilty about Mom, so you let me get away with everything.”
He felt the words like a physical blow.
“Does she say that often?”
Nia shrugged.
“Mostly when you're working.”
Camille, who had been preparing dinner, stopped at the kitchen counter.
Marcus swallowed.
“Your mother will always be part of our family,” he told Nia. “That isn't something you should ever have to apologize for.”
Nia's lips trembled.
“I don't want you to be lonely again.”
Marcus had not expected that.
He moved his chair closer.
“Sweetheart, my job is to take care of you. It is not your job to protect my marriage.”
Nia wiped her cheek with her sleeve.
“What if Vanessa leaves?”
“That's a decision Vanessa and I will have to deal with.”
“Will you blame me?”
Marcus felt ashamed that she needed to ask.
“No.”
He waited until she looked at him.
“No matter what happens between us adults, I will not blame you.”
Nia nodded, but Marcus knew a promise was not yet proof.
On his way home, he checked his phone.
Vanessa had sent him a message.
If Nia wants to come back, she needs to admit she exaggerated what happened. I'm not apologizing for something I didn't do.
Marcus read it twice.
Then he typed his reply.
Nia does not have to apologize for being falsely accused. We need to talk tonight.
May you like
For once, he did not soften the message after writing it.
He pressed send.
