The Walkie-Talkie That Exposed Everything I Gave Away

The walkie-talkie slipped from my trembling fingers and clattered onto the floor. I stared at the wall that separated our apartments—the very wall I’d helped pay for, brick by brick, sacrifice by sacrifice.

The same wall they were already planning to turn against me. My own son. The boy I had carried through every storm.

Fed. Clothed. Fought for.

Loved with everything in me. How could he? The static cut out, leaving behind a suffocating silence that felt louder than their voices.

I didn’t sleep that night. Or the next. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard Lila’s cruel laughter and Thomas’s easy agreement—like my years of sacrifice were nothing more than background noise in their plans.