Chapter 5 - The Deep Freeze of Marcus’s World
The red and blue lights of the state patrol cars exploded through the front windows, casting rhythmic flashes of crimson and violet across the white kitchen cabinets.
Two uniformed officers stepped through the front door without knocking, their heavy boots clicking loudly against the hardwood foyer.
"Linda Chen?" Officer Patterson asked, his eyes immediately locking onto the silver-haired woman standing by the table.
"You are under arrest for grand larceny, interstate financial fraud, and exploitation of vulnerable adults."
Linda didn't shout; she didn't cry. She simply turned her head, giving me a look of such concentrated venom it would have terrified the woman I was yesterday.
But that woman had died the moment the pink plastic piggy bank hit the counter.
As the officers guided her out into the freezing winter air, the neighborhood residents began stepping onto their porches, whispering to one another as the luxury BMW was hooked up to a commercial flatbed tow truck.
Marcus stood by the window, his forehead pressed against the cold glass, watching his entire concept of success get dragged down the street in the snow.
"Mom..." he whispered, his shoulders shaking as he turned back to face me. "I don't have the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The equity line is maxed out. If you enforce the revocation, I'll lose everything."
"You already lost everything when you decided thirty-five years of motherhood was worth three dollars, Marcus," I said, my voice cold and unyielding as stone.
"You let this woman into my kitchen to count my silver while I was cooking your dinner. You sat in that driveway and called her 'deserving' while I was standing inside with raw hands and an aching back."
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"You wanted to make me look old, Marcus. You wanted to make me look small so you could feel big."
"But it turns out that the youngest son is the one who still has a lot of growing up to do."
