Chapter 4

"Renee, that's enough!"

Mervyn was on his feet.

But in my head all I could see was her hitting our son, and the ache came fast and hard.

I thought too about what would happen if we divorced—whether the boy would get laughed at at school later, the way I was as a kid.

The more I thought about it, the worse I felt, and the more afraid I got.

I stood up quickly and pressed my hand over Mervyn's. "Mervyn, leave it alone."

"You—"

Mervyn was so angry he was nearly in tears. He turned and walked out.

I looked at Renee. "I'll go earn money right now. I'll go shine my boss's shoes."

And with that, I turned and left.

Renee let out a cold laugh, smug. "You think I can't handle you?"

Her friend leaned in, frowning. "Renee, isn't this a bit much, treating your husband like that? He's making almost a hundred thousand a month. Aren't you afraid someone else will snatch him up?"

Renee sneered. "He grew up with one parent, and the thing he's most afraid of is his own son growing up the same way. He wouldn't dare. Besides, this is exactly how he used to treat me!"

Her friend scratched her head. "Renee, the way he treated you back then—wasn't that for both your sakes too?"

Renee glared at her. "What's that supposed to mean? You've got your eye on my husband? Taking his side now?"

Her friend had nothing to say and just walked off.

Back at the company, I knocked on my boss's door.

She was lying on the sofa taking her afternoon rest. When she saw it was me, she sat up, a little surprised. "Something wrong?"

I hesitated, then got the words out, my throat dry. "Boss, didn't you once say that if anyone was short on money, they could shine your shoes for you? I—I'm short on money right now."

Freda Henson blinked, then gave an awkward laugh. "That was a joke at the team retreat. You actually took it seriously?"

The thought of coming back with no money, of Renee hitting our son again, was too much. Before I could stop it, the tears just came.

"My dear director, what are you doing?"

Freda got a fright. She quickly picked up one of her heels and held it out. "Shine it, go on, shine it, I'll pay you!"

She was curious what had gotten into me, so while I worked on the shoe, I told her.

Then she gave me two hundred dollars, and mentioned, by the way, that her shoes weren't meant to be cleaned with water. I'd ruined a pair worth over a hundred thousand.

I felt terrible about it.

Back home.

I handed her a hundred dollars, pulled on my DoorDash uniform, and got ready to go run deliveries.

But Renee suddenly grabbed me and started searching me.

I wanted to push her off, but she looked straight at our son, so I just let her do it.

Out of my pockets Renee pulled a hundred dollars, a pack of cigarettes, and a box of pills.

"Where'd you get the money for cigarettes?"

Renee demanded.

I took a deep breath. "Mervyn gave them to me."

"Confiscated."

"Now go."

Renee took the money, the cigarettes, and the pills, all of it.

My throat was dry as I said, "At least give me the medicine."

"You bought it with stolen money. No."

"But I apologized!"

"You didn't write a request form!"

I shook my head, gave a bitter smile, and turned to leave.

A few more words and my blood pressure would only climb higher.

I'd barely ridden off on the scooter when I got a strange order, sent from the station, telling me to go pick something up at a private club.

An hour or so later, I reached the club.

A staff member led me to a suite, and the moment the door opened a faint fragrance slipped into my nose.

A very familiar perfume.

Freda appeared out of nowhere, waving me over. She said,

"My dear director, I was afraid you'd wear yourself out."

"Hand your uniform to the attendant and let him run your deliveries for you."

"Come inside. Let me get you something good to eat."