Chapter 6 - Godfrey Came Home
Godfrey served his sentence before Selina finished hers.
He contacted me through his probation officer.
Wanted to apologize.
I declined.
Six months later, he asked again.
Phedra surprised me.
“Meet him.”
“Why?”
“Because you're thinking about it.”
“I hate him.”
“I know.”
“You hate him.”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
“Because not knowing what he wants is taking more space than hearing him once.”
So I met Godfrey in a café.
Public.
He looked different.
Thin.
No designer clothes.
No gold watch.
He sat across from me.
“Phedra okay?”
“Yes.”
“Cancer?”
“Remission.”
He closed his eyes.
“Good.”
I waited.
Then he said:
“I knew.”
My stomach tightened.
“Knew what?”
“That Mom wasn't paying for treatment.”
I stared.
“I told myself it wasn't my decision.”
“You ate in the house while she starved.”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
“You made her clean.”
“Yes.”
“You called her bald.”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He cried.
Not dramatically.
Quietly.
“Because if she was the problem, then what we were doing with the money wasn't.”
That was disturbingly honest.
Godfrey had needed Phedra to deserve mistreatment.
Otherwise he had to admit his new business existed partly because a sick woman wasn't receiving care.
“So you made her guilty.”
“Yes.”
I sat back.
“Do you expect forgiveness?”
“No.”
“Money?”
“No.”
“A relationship?”
He hesitated.
“I'd like one someday.”
“That's expecting something.”
He nodded.
“Then no.”
He accepted it.
Before leaving, he said:
“Mom still thinks you betrayed her.”
“Of course.”
“She says the money was family money.”
“It wasn't.”
“I know.”
That was new.
Godfrey eventually rebuilt his life.
Not through me.
He found work as a mechanic.
Rented a room.
Paid restitution monthly.
Tiny amounts.
I never contacted him.
Then Phedra did.
Three years later.
A birthday card.
Nothing more.
Why?
“He's your brother.”
I stiffened.
She laughed.
“Not like that.”
Then she explained.
“He did terrible things. But I don't want terrible people deciding whether I become terrible too.”
I understood.
Her kindness wasn't access.
It was her choice.
Godfrey sent a thank-you card.
No request.
That mattered.
Eventually, we saw him once a year.
Then twice.
Always because Phedra was comfortable.
He never entered our home without invitation.
Never touched our finances.
Never asked for loans.
Trust didn't return.
Something smaller did.
May you like
A relationship with walls.
Sometimes walls make relationships possible.
