Page 8 of Venom Sweeter than Honey
My voice cracks as I shout, willing her to be okay. For her to just be sleeping off her hangover.
“Mom!”
My heart pounds so loudly it echoes in my ears as I finally open the envelope.
My Precious Baby Boy,
That line alone nearly kills me, and I stare at it, terrified to go any further.
A choked sob breaks free as I force my eyes to see beyond my water-blurred vision to read her letter.
You and I both know that I died the same night as your father, and I’m so sorry that I don’t have the strength to be what you need me to be.
You’re too young for that kind of responsibility. To financially, mentally, and emotionally support someone who is beyond recovery.
And I will not allow you to, especially if it means you following in your father’s footsteps. You know how he felt about that.
Your father died protecting us. Do not waste it as I have.
You are destined for so much more than either of us, tesoro.
I love you more than life itself.
- Mom
P.S.
Don’t go in my closet.
And I never thought I’d say such a thing, but... call the police.
No.
Push-kicking the flimsy door, the lock buckles beneath the force and the door swings open. My eyes frantically scan her empty bedroom, willing her to be there, asleep in bed.
Alive.
That she wrote this letter in an impulsive, drunken stupor and didn’t follow through.
Instead, my eyes catch on the sliver of light leaking onto the bedroom carpet from beneath her closet door.
Rushing to the closet, I yank it open.
What I find on the other side is an image that will haunt me for the rest of my life, no matter how I try to bury it.
LEVI
SIX MONTHS LATER
Aknock pries my sluggish mind from the TV screen. I’m watching one of my favorite movies for the hundredth time—Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
Movies are my only reprieve from crippling anxiety, insomnia, and depression.
Hitting pause, I manage to croak, “Come in.”
The bedroom door opens, but only saddened silence follows. Shifting to look at my doorway, I find Astor standing in the frame, wearing a frown. “You missed class again.”
I stare blankly at him. Numb. “Yeah.”
