He passed me as if I were transparent. No goodbye. No glance. Just the displacement of air as he moved, leaving me alone in the vast, echoing house.<\/p>\n
My day was a cycle of servitude. I cleared, I scrubbed, I polished. I believed, with a foolish, desperate heart, that if the floors were shiny enough, if the dinner was savory enough, if\u00a0I<\/span>\u00a0was perfect enough, the old Tremaine would return. I didn\u2019t know then that the old Tremaine was dead.<\/span><\/p>\n At noon, I picked Zariah up. It was the highlight of my existence. \u201cMommy, I got five gold stars today!\u201d she chirped, her small hand warm in mine.<\/p>\n \u201cFive? My daughter is a genius!\u201d I laughed, pinching her nose.<\/p>\n But the darkness was waiting for us at home.<\/p>\n As I unlocked the front door, the roar of a motorcycle cut through the suburban quiet. A courier in a bright vest jogged up the driveway. \u201cDelivery for Nyala!\u201d<\/p>\n
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