Claire’s jaw tightened.
“Mom.”
“It’s true.”
Claire turned back to me.
“Robert worked constantly after Dad left. He paid bills. Made my lunches. Walked me to school.”
“Then what happened?”
“He got tired.”
“Robert wanted to leave town.”
Their mother said, “He got selfish.”
Claire stood.
“He was twenty-two.”
“He promised he’d stay.”
“He was twenty-two, Mom.”
Silence followed.
Claire sat again.
“He told me he’d come back for me.”
“Robert wanted to leave town. Mom kept telling him the family needed him.”
“What did he do?”
“One morning, he packed.”
Claire looked toward the window.
“He told me he’d come back for me.”
“Did he?”
“Two years later.”
“Mom wouldn’t let him see me.”
Their mother started crying again.
Claire continued.
“Mom wouldn’t let him see me.”
I stared at the older woman.
“You turned him away?”
She shook her head.
“I told him he’d already made his choice.”
