“Why are you here?”
Her eyes shifted toward the ridge.
“Dad intended this land for the family.”
“No.”
“I saw the letter.”
My mother’s face changed.
“What letter?”
“The one he left me.”
She recovered quickly.
“He was old.”
“He knew exactly what he was doing.”
“Rebecca.”
“No.”
I had spent eleven years being interrupted by guards.
Lawyers.
Judges.
Prison officials.
I was not going to be interrupted on my own land.
“You sold the house.”
“You kept Lily from me.”
“You never visited after the second year.”
“You never told me Granddad left this.”
“You let me walk out of prison believing I had nothing.”
Elvira looked uncomfortable.
“We thought the property had been lost.”
“Who is we?”
She did not answer.
“My brothers?”
Silence.
“Do they know I’m out?”
“Yes.”
“Did they ask about me?”
My mother looked away.
That answered enough.
Then she said.
“You cannot live in a cave forever.”
“I don’t plan to.”
“You need money.”
“I have some.”
“You have nothing.”
I almost smiled.
“That’s not true anymore.”
Her face hardened.
“Developers are asking about this land.”
There it was.
The real reason.
“You want me to sell.”
“It would be sensible.”
“For whom?”
“For everyone.”
I laughed.
My mother hated that.
She stepped closer.
“Your brothers have families.”
“So?”
“You could divide the proceeds.”
“Why?”
“Because this came from your grandfather.”
“To me.”
“He would not want one person keeping everything.”
“The letter says otherwise.”
She became pale.
“What exactly did he write?”
I smiled.
“You should have waited for me to come home.”
Then I walked away.
She left angry.
But I was shaking afterward.
Patch pressed against my leg.
I sat on a rock.
I wanted my mother to love me.
Even after everything.
That was the humiliating truth.
I wanted her to turn around.
Come back.
Say she was sorry.
She did not.
Two days later, my older brother Samuel came.
He drove a black pickup.
He looked older than I remembered.
Of course he did.
We all were.
He stood near the cave entrance.
“Rebecca.”
“Samuel.”
He looked at me for a long time.
Then hugged me.
I stiffened.
Then hugged him back.
It lasted only seconds.
But I cried afterward.
“I’m sorry.”
He said it first.
“For what?”
“Not visiting.”
I looked at him.
“Why didn’t you?”
He rubbed his face.
“Mom made everything complicated.”
