“Sh,” Emily said between laughs. “Don’t wake up your mom.”
“Let her sleep,” Daniel replied. “She deserves it after taking care of the house all night.”
They opened the door.
Everything was dark, just the upstairs hallway light on, as I always left it so they wouldn’t trip.
“Mom!” Daniel called as he entered.
His voice was slurred.
Silence.
Emily turned on the living room light.
And then they saw it.
The living room was different.
Not empty.
But different.
The Persian rug I had brought from my old house was gone.
The one my mother bought on a trip down south fifty years ago.
The embroidered cushions on the sofa were gone.
The ones I had embroidered myself over months.
The pictures on the walls were gone.
My pictures.
Landscapes from the coast that David gave me on our anniversaries.
“What?” Emily frowned. “Did your mom move things around?”
Daniel walked to the kitchen.
He turned on the light.
The Italian coffee maker was gone.
The ceramic mugs I collected were gone, too.
The apron that always hung on the hook next to the fridge had disappeared.
“Mom,” he called out louder. “Where are you?”
They went upstairs.
Michael told me that’s when the alcohol started to wear off.
My door was ajar.
Daniel pushed it open.
He turned on the light.
The bed was made.
Perfectly made, as I always left it.
But empty.
The closet was open.
Empty of my clothes.
Only the hangers remained.
The nightstand without my books, my glasses, my rosary.
As if I had never existed in that room.
“What the hell?” Emily muttered behind him.
Daniel ran to the bathroom.
My toothbrush was gone.
My face cream.
My comb.
My cheap rose-scented perfume.
All gone.
He went back to the room.
And that’s when he saw it.
On his pillow, a folded letter.
He grabbed it with trembling hands.
He unfolded it.
Emily read over his shoulder.
Michael told me his father’s face changed as he read.
From confusion.
To disbelief.
From disbelief.
To horror.
“What does it say?” Emily asked. “Did she leave? Did your mom leave?”
But Daniel didn’t answer.
He had seen the manila envelope on his nightstand.
He opened it with clumsy fingers.
He took out the deeds.
The deeds to the house.
And he read the name written there in official notary script.
