Morning comes gray through the blinds, and Kade's chair is empty.
Cal is awake down the hall, and I hear his voice before I see him.
Bode: He slept through. Didn't even roll over.
Cal: Mommy, can we go home now?
I get down on his level and hold his little shoulders.
Dara: Yeah, baby. We're going. Right now.
Bode says my name behind me, but I don't stop.
The front door is right there. Twenty feet of shitty carpet and we're out.
Kade: Door's locked.
Dara: Move, Kade.
His hand closes around my arm and squeezes until I feel the bone.
Kade: I said the door's locked. You deaf now?
Dara: Let go of me, you bastard.
Kade: You want to walk out? Fine. Look at this first.
Dara: What the fuck is that.
It's a court filing. Emergency custody petition.
Arlen's name is on it. Mine is on it. Cal's is on it.
Kade: He filed it yesterday. Says you abandoned your son.
Kade: Says you left him alone with strangers and took off.
Dara: That's a lie. He locked my baby in a unit. He hit me.
Kade: I know it's a lie. The county don't.
Kade: He's got a lawyer. He's got a judge who owes him.
Kade: You walk out that door, he takes Cal by Friday.
Dara: You don't know that.
Kade: That's his lawyer. He's got a bed for Cal at county.
Kade: A foster home, Dara. With people you don't know.
Dara: Stop.
His thumb digs into my jaw, right where Arlen left his mark.
Kade: Only thing that stops him is a bigger claim.
Kade: My claim.
Dara: Your claim. You mean I'm your fucking property.
Kade: I mean I'm the only man in this city who can stand in that court and say she's mine.
Kade: And mean it.
My face burns. Not from the tears. From the way my body hears the word mine.
My nipples go tight under the hoodie and I hate him for it. I hate myself more.
Kade: You want to keep him? You're mine. Say it.
Dara: You're a sick fuck.
Kade: Say it, or I open that door myself.
I look down at Cal. He's got my eyes. He's got my whole stupid life in his little hands.
Dara: I'm yours.
Kade: Say the whole thing.
Dara: I'm yours, Kade. My son is safe because I'm yours.
Kade: Good girl.
The words go through me like a hand. My thighs press together before I can stop them.
Kade: Door's open now. You can go. You won't.
He walks away, and the door stays shut, and my feet don't move.
The price has a shape now. I just have to live inside it.