Page 111 of Gone Tonight
Because I don’t want to look at her right now, I reach into my backpack for the folder Tin left me. I picked it up from her desk before getting lunch for me and my mom.
I pull out the contents. There are a few forms Tin wants me to fill out, and a dental plan pamphlet, and a blue-and-white parking sticker for Sunrise with its name and logo and the current year.
I stare down at the parking pass, thinking that I’ll never get to use it since I’ll be giving Tin my resignation for a second time.
“There’s one more thing I want to ask you about,” I say.
My mother’s eyes are closed, but she opens them at the sound of my voice.
“Ethan. The night of our anniversary…”
My mom sighs and sits up a little straighter.
Whatever she is going to tell me carries the feel of vital importance. It will reveal not only how honest she is committed to being now but will also help me gauge if her deceptions were not solely to protect me but also to keep me close and exert control over my life.
“You drugged him.”
“What?”
Her shock appears genuine. But it isn’t enough to convince me.
“He said you poured him a drink and then he passed out.”
My mother shakes her head.
“Here’s what really happened. He left his phone at our apartment the night before.” This computes with what I know, so I nod for her to continue.
“It got wedged into one of the cracks between the couch cushions. I didn’t even know it was there until I got off work that afternoon and was watching something on TV and felt it vibrating beneath me.”
My mother’s eyes are steady on mine.
“I’m sorry, Catherine. It was vibrating because someone was texting him. When I pulled out the phone, I could see the first line of the message on the screen.”
My stomach twists. I feel a little nauseated. I know what my mother is going to say before she utters her next sentence.
“It was another woman.” Her voice is gentle, but even after all this time—and with everything else going on that should make Ethan’s betrayal as inconsequential as the bee buzzing around me—it hurts badly enough that I fold my arms across my stomach.
It feels like no one in my life was who they pretended to be.
I take a shaky breath before asking, “What did the message say?”
“I could only read the first bit since his screen was locked. But it was enough for me to know they’d slept together the afternoon before.”
The afternoon before, when Ethan told me he was busy with preparations for our anniversary. I’d imagined him buying roses and washing his sheets and writing me a love note on a card, not screwing another woman.
“So you set Ethan up?”
My mother shakes her head. “I went out and bought a bottle of vodka. I offered him a drink when he came by. He made his own choices.”
I drop my head into my hands.
“I poured him his first drink, but he poured his second one. Andthe ones after that. This was sipping vodka, but he wasn’t sipping it. That’s the only reason why he passed out.”
I don’t know what to think. Everything is muddy.
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” I cry. “Why can’t youevertell me the truth?”
My mother’s hand lands on my shoulder but instead of soothing me, it burns. I shake it off.
