Chapter 3 - Mason’s Old Scar
Mason had a small mark near his left wrist.
I had seen it.
Everyone had.
Seven months earlier Erin told us he brushed against the grill while trying to grab a hot dog.
Accident.
Kids.
Walter blamed himself for leaving the grill accessible.
Or that was the story I remembered.
The next morning after Lily’s injury, Erin called.
Her voice shook.
“Mason says it wasn’t an accident.”
I sat in my kitchen.
Lily asleep upstairs after pain medication.
Ava had stayed overnight in the guest room.
“What happened?”
Erin cried.
“I don’t know.”
“Stop.”
“What?”
“You know something.”
Silence.
Then:
“He told me Grandpa did it.”
“When?”
“After.”
“How long after?”
“Two days.”
I could not speak.
Erin continued quickly.
“He said Dad touched the tongs to his wrist because he kept reaching for food before dinner.”
My stomach turned.
“Touched?”
“Briefly.”
“Burned him.”
“Yes.”
“And you told everyone accident.”
“I didn’t know if Mason was telling the truth.”
“Did you ask Dad?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That Mason was exaggerating. That he held warm tongs near him to scare him and Mason jerked into them.”
“Did you believe him?”
“I wanted to.”
That answer was worse than no.
“Did Mom know?”
“Yes.”
Of course.
“What did she say?”
“That Dad would never intentionally hurt him.”
“Then?”
“That Mason gets dramatic when he thinks I’m angry.”
I stood and paced.
“What did his doctor say?”
Erin went quiet.
“You took him?”
“Urgent care.”
“What story did you give?”
“That he bumped the grill utensil.”
There.
Not an explicit false police report.
A misleading medical history.
“Did Mason tell doctor different?”
“I was in room.”
That answered.
“Why?”
Erin started crying harder.
“Tyler and I were in court.”
Her ex-husband.
Mason’s father.
They had separated the previous year.
Custody schedule still unstable.
Walter and Denise provided childcare three afternoons a week while Erin worked.
“What does court have to do with it?”
“If I admitted Dad burned him while he was supposed to be supervising, Tyler would say my childcare was unsafe.”
“Yes.”
“I could lose school-week placement.”
“You could change childcare.”
“With what money?”
There.
Erin was a dental hygienist.
Worked four days.
Rent.
Legal fees.
After-school programs were expensive and waitlisted.
Our parents did childcare for free.
“So you let Mason go back.”
“No.”
She corrected.
“I kept him away from Dad alone for three weeks.”
“And then?”
“Mom said Dad understood.”
“Understood what?”
“That physical discipline wasn’t okay.”
“Did Dad agree?”
“Mom said he did.”
Again.
Denise interpreting Walter.
Then Mason returned.
Not alone at first.
Then eventually.
Because families slide back to normal when the cost of changing is high.
I sat down.
“You knew enough to protect him.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t.”
She whispered:
“I know.”
I hated her then.
For perhaps six hours.
Later I would understand more.
May you like
Understanding would not erase it.
────────────────────
