Chapter 4The Stranger I Know

After that day, Aidan wasn't just a regular in the factory breakroom; he started coming over for dinner. My mother, suddenly the gracious hostess, would insist he join them whenever she cooked something special.

She was just so relieved that my father was back to his old, cheerful self. In her mind, a deadbeat friend was a far safer bet than a secret mistress. An unambitious buddy was a threat she could manage.

She even offered to set Aidan up with a girlfriend.

The atmosphere at the dinner table immediately went cold.

"Can you just stay out of other people's business?" my dad snapped.

Aidan, looking mortified, excused himself and left, his bowl still half-full. My dad got up and followed him out.

My mother was left alone to clear the table, hurt and confused. She couldn't understand what she'd said that was so wrong. She was just trying to be nice.

Later, when I went downstairs to take out the trash, I saw them in a shadowed corner of the alley. My father and Aidan, holding each other in a tight, desperate embrace.

That was the moment I knew. I was young, but I wasn't stupid.

My father had never, ever held my mother with that kind of gentle, protective tenderness.

When I got back upstairs, my mother was reading a novel. I sat beside her, my heart pounding, trying to figure out how to tell her. The book was about a woman whose husband was having an affair with her best friend. Everyone knew, except for the wife.

Just then, my father walked in.

My mother, whether intentionally or not, said aloud, "If I were this man's wife, I'd kill them both. I'd chop those two bastards to pieces."

My father sat down, his face a perfect mask of indifference, though I saw the flash of panic in his eyes.

The words I was about to say died in my throat.

My father was cheating with a man. My mother could become a murderer.

Between those two realities, the thought of my mother spending the rest of her life in prison was the one I couldn't bear.

So, at ten years old, I decided I had to talk to my father.

I had to convince him to end it with Aidan.