Chapter 1: The Fifty Dollars
My wife told my son to pack his bags over fifty dollars she couldn't even prove was missing.
I was still holding my coffee when Pamela stood in the middle of our living room, arms crossed, and said the words I never expected to hear from her.
"Anthony, I want your son out of this house."
I set the mug down slowly.
"Pamela, where is this coming from?"
She straightened, chin lifted, already certain of herself.
"Fifty dollars is missing from my purse.
He's the only one who was home."
That was when Marcus walked in, still wearing his backpack from practice, his face shifting from confusion to disbelief.
"I never touched your purse.
I was at practice all afternoon."
Pamela's mouth curled into something close to a smirk.
"That's convenient timing, isn't it?"
I felt something in my chest go cold.
I had watched Pamela misplace her own keys twice a week for three years.
I had watched her blame the cleaning service, the mailman, even her own sister for things that later turned up in her coat pocket.
But the moment something went missing in this house, it was never an accident.
It was always Marcus.
I stood up.
"You lose your keys twice a week, Pamela.
But the second something goes missing, it's automatically my son?"
Marcus's voice came from behind me, quieter than I wanted to hear it.
"Dad, I really didn't do it."
I stepped in front of him.
"I believe you, son."
I turned back to Pamela, and for the first time in our marriage, I didn't soften what I was about to say.
"You don't get to accuse my child with zero evidence and demand he leave his own father's house."
Pamela's arms tightened across her chest.
"Anthony, I know what I know."
"No," I said.
"You're assuming what you assume.
And I'm done watching you look for reasons to push him out."
I looked at her for a long moment before I said the rest.
"Pack your things, Pamela."
Her eyes went wide, her mouth opening as if the sentence hadn't fully landed yet.
She had walked into that conversation certain she would win.
She had no idea I had already made my decision three arguments ago.
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Will Pamela finally face what she's done to Marcus — or will she find a way to turn this around on Anthony?
Comment **"NEXT"** if you want Part 2.
