Chapter 6

Three days after the divorce, I moved into the waterfront apartment I'd just bought.

Arlene walked around the rooms with her arm hooked through mine.

"Brandon, the view out that window at night is gorgeous!"

I wrapped my arms around her from behind and rested my chin on her shoulder.

"You like it?"

"I love it!"

"Good. From now on, this is our home."

She turned around, went up on her toes, and kissed me.

In that moment, I thought divorcing Leona was the best decision I'd ever made.

On the weekend we drove out to the suburbs for a getaway, stayed in a lakeside villa, ate candlelit dinners.

Arlene wore a dress I'd bought her and posed for photos in the sunset.

I stood off to the side watching and thought, this is what living is supposed to feel like.

Those years with Leona, what kind of life was that?

Every day glued to the stove, and every time she opened her mouth it was the kids' tuition, the HOA fees, the utility bills.

It wore you down.

This was so much better.

Go wherever I wanted, buy whatever I wanted.

Arlene never asked where the money went, never nagged me about drinking too much at work dinners.

She only knew how to be sweet, how to keep me happy.

This was the life a man like Brandon Gutierrez deserved.

Two months after the divorce, one weekend, Arlene and I went to the mall to shop.

Walking past the supermarket, I stopped.

Leona was standing in front of a shelf in the supermarket's red uniform, straightening the merchandise.

Guy stood beside her in an old T-shirt, holding a box of discounted cookies.

"Mom, can we get this?"

"Be good, Guy. I'll make you something nice when we get home."

"But I want this one..."

Leona crouched down, touched his head, and said something softly.

Guy nodded and put the cookies back on the shelf.

I stood a few yards away, watching the whole thing.

Arlene leaned in. "Brandon, what are you looking at?"

I said it was nothing.

I pulled out my phone, snapped a photo, and sent it to Richard.

"Take a look. This is what she ended up as."

Richard replied fast. "That bad off? Man, you're cold."

I sent back a voice message. "You think I could afford to be soft? If she had what it took, would she be scraping by like that?"

After sending it, I took Arlene's hand and walked off.

Didn't go over to say hello.

No need.

Another month went by, and I remembered a USB drive I'd left at her place with some work files on it.

I called the landlord, wanting to swing by and grab it.

The landlord said, "She moved out last month. Didn't say where."

"Moved out? Where'd she go?"

"No idea. Left in a hurry."

I paused.

Moved out?

That didn't add up. A woman alone with two kids, where could she move to?

She had no relatives, no friends. Who was there to take her in?

Then I thought, who cares where she went.

None of my business.

If the USB drive was gone, it was gone. Nothing important on it anyway.

I put the whole thing out of my mind.