5
186words
She kept buying trinkets,drinking ash-water.
Their savings—years of Derek’s labor—vanished.
Then news hit:Derek fell at a construction site,breaking his leg,and was hospitalized.
We arrived post-surgery.A woman with a low ponytail tended to him.
Plain,less striking than young Miranda,she was Derek’s mistress.
Men are odd—scraping by,yet blowing money on affairs to feed their egos.
Miranda,thinking her a nurse,ignored her,rushing to Derek with Mason.
The woman,unfazed,left calmly.
Derek,guilty,clutched the sheets,comical in his panic.
I smirked,settling in the hallway to scroll my phone.
Derek’s injuries weren’t dire,but his leg—shattered—would leave him with a limp,unfit for construction.
The family’s sole income was gone.
Both knew it.
Perhaps from guilt,Derek softened with Miranda.“Hey,the surgery bill’s due.Can you pay it?”
Miranda froze.She’d burned through their money.
Derek’s monthly payments had dwindled to almost nothing, and sometimes he’d stop sending money entirely for months.
When pressed,he’d dodge,claiming expenses.
Miranda,planning to confront him for cash,hadn’t expected his injury.
With no income, what were they supposed to do now?
She stewed,resenting him,worrying for her and Mason’s future.
Derek called again for the bill.
Reluctantly,she admitted the truth.
