Chapter 7 - The Dinner Before the Storm
By evening, heavy rain covered the neighborhood.
Claire prepared roasted chicken, potatoes, and green beans because they were foods David usually liked. Her hands shook as she set three plates on the dining table.
The packed bags remained hidden in the car.
The battery was still disconnected.
Rachel had no idea they were planning to leave.
Claire’s broken phone could not make calls.
But Emma still had the old smartphone hidden in the pocket of her cream-colored dress.
Before dinner, Claire knelt beside her.
“If anything happens, go upstairs and lock your door.”
“I do not want to leave you.”
“You must do what I say.”
Emma’s eyes filled with fear.
“Are we still going?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Claire looked toward the rain outside.
“I will find a way.”
David entered wearing a dark button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. He had shaved and combed his hair as though the dinner were an ordinary family event.
He sat at the head of the table.
Claire and Emma took their places.
For several minutes, only the sound of silverware and rain filled the room.
Then David looked at Claire.
“Where are the documents?”
Claire’s fork stopped.
“What documents?”
“The birth certificates. The insurance papers. The copies from the filing cabinet.”
“I moved them while cleaning.”
“To the car?”
Emma looked at her mother.
Claire remained silent.
David laughed once.
“You thought you could leave with my daughter?”
“Our daughter,” Claire said.
His eyes hardened.
“You do not have a job. You have no income. You could not support her for a week.”
“I can work.”
“Doing what? Shelving books?”
Claire felt the old shame rising, but she forced herself to stay calm.
“I am taking Emma somewhere safe.”
David leaned back.
“Safe from what?”
Claire looked at the damaged cabinet visible through the dining room doorway. She looked at Emma’s lowered head.
“From this.”
David’s expression changed.
“You are going to accuse me after everything I have done for you?”
“I am not accusing you. I am telling you that we are leaving.”
Emma’s hand moved slowly beneath the table.
She reached into the pocket of her dress and touched the smartphone.
David did not notice.
He looked at Claire as though she had become a stranger.
“You will sit down and finish dinner.”
“I am already sitting.”
“Then stop talking back.”
“I am not talking back. I am making a decision.”
The words were quiet, but they were the most dangerous words Claire had ever spoken in that house.
David slammed his palm onto the table.
The plates shook. A glass tipped over, sending water across the tablecloth.
Emma flinched and dropped her spoon.
Claire instinctively placed one hand in front of her daughter.
“Don’t you ever talk back to me!” David shouted.
The house seemed to hold its breath.
Claire stood and reached for Emma.
“We are leaving now.”
David pushed his chair backward and stormed around the table.
Claire had only enough time to turn slightly.
His open hand struck her face once.
Her head turned, and she stumbled into a dining chair. The edge caught her sleeve and tore the fabric. Pain spread around her eye and jaw.
Emma screamed.
Claire steadied herself and looked toward her daughter.
“Please,” she said to David. “Our daughter is watching.”
David raised his hand again.
He did not see the smartphone recording from Emma’s pocket.
He did not see that the child had moved closer.
Emma ran between them and wrapped both arms around his leg.
“Daddy, please! Don’t hit Mommy again!”
David froze.
For one second, silence replaced the storm.
Then Claire moved.
She pulled Emma away, lifted her into her arms, and rushed toward the front door.
Behind them, David knocked over an empty chair.
“You walk out that door, don’t come back!”
Claire opened the door.
May you like
Cold rain struck her face.
She ran barefoot into the night, carrying her daughter away from the yellow windows.
