The morning Warren threw him out began with an envelope.
Theo came into the kitchen holding it between two fingers.
“Mom, who is Mara Vale?”
I looked up from the sink.
“I don’t know.”
The envelope had been opened.
Warren’s name was written on the front.
Inside was a photograph of a young woman standing beside an older woman I had never seen.
The younger woman had Warren’s dark eyes.
On the back, someone had written:
Mara’s graduation. You promised you would come.
Before I could ask anything else, Warren entered.
The moment he saw the photograph, his expression changed.
“Where did you get that?”
“It fell behind your desk,” Theo said.
“You went into my office?”
“The door was open.”
Warren snatched the envelope from his hand.
Theo did not back down.
“Who is she?”
“None of your business.”
“She looks like me.”
The room became silent.
I looked at the photograph again.
Theo was right.
The same eyes.
The same slight bend in the nose.
Even the same dimple near the left corner of the mouth.
“Warren,” I whispered.
He ignored me.
Instead, he pointed toward the stairs.
“Pack your things.”
Theo stared at him.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“For finding a picture?”
“For invading my privacy and accusing me in my own house.”
“I asked a question.”
“You’ve been disrespectful for months.”
