“What?”
“He doesn’t get to hit me and come home like nothing happened.”
My father nodded.
“That is enough for today.”
Hunter arrived before noon.
I knew because he called from downstairs.
This time I answered.
“Let me up.”
“No.”
“Jamie, this is my apartment too.”
“The contract is in my name.”
“We’re married.”
“You’ve said that several times today as if it’s a password.”
His breathing changed.
“Your father is there, isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“That explains this.”
I looked at my father, who was standing several feet away and could hear only my side of the conversation.
“No, Hunter.
You explain this.”
“You humiliated my whole family.”
“You slapped me in front of them.”
“Because you were disrespecting my mother.”
There it was again.
Not denial.
Justification.
I put the call on speaker.
My father’s eyes lifted.
Hunter continued, unaware.
“You don’t walk into my mother’s house, throw food everywhere, and threaten us with money.
You’re my wife.
You need to start behaving like one.”
My father stepped closer to the phone.
“Hitting her is how a husband behaves?”
Hunter went silent.
Then his voice changed instantly.
“Mr.
Patterson, you don’t understand what happened.”
“I understand exactly what you just admitted.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“You said you hit my daughter because you believed she disrespected your mother.”
“It got out of hand.”
My father looked at me.
Hunter’s explanation had finally reached someone he wanted to impress, and suddenly his certainty was disappearing.
I ended the call.
For several minutes, nothing happened.
Then Mrs.
Joyce called.
I let it ring.
She called again.
And again.
Finally, I answered.
Her voice was no longer commanding.
“Jamie, we need to settle this.”
“There’s nothing to settle about breakfast.”
“This is bigger than breakfast now.”
