Chapter 2 - Nobody Touched the Floor
I called 911.
Nora said that was ridiculous.
I called anyway.
Then I did something more important.
Nothing.
I did not smell the liquid.
I did not touch it.
I did not dip a napkin into it like a detective in a bad movie.
I moved Lily away.
Opened the exterior doors for ventilation.
And waited for people who knew what they were doing.
Nora paced.
“This is absurd.”
Lily kept both hands around my wrist.
I crouched.
“Tell me what you saw.”
Nora interrupted.
“Do not interrogate a six-year-old.”
I looked at her.
“I wasn’t speaking to you.”
She stopped.
Lily whispered:
“Mommy put bad soap in it.”
My stomach tightened.
“What do you mean?”
She pointed toward the service hallway.
“The bottle from under the sink.”
Nora said:
“She saw me cleaning the counter.”
Lily shook her head so hard her hair flew.
“No!”
“Lily.”
“You put it in Daddy tea!”
The first officers arrived.
Then fire-rescue.
The dining room became controlled chaos.
Everyone separated.
Nobody drank anything.
Nobody touched the broken porcelain until photographed.
A hazardous-materials technician eventually collected the liquid safely.
I sat with Lily in the library.
May you like
Nora sat elsewhere.
We did not speak.
