Chapter 5: The Album

Esther looked at me before she let him in.

I nodded once.

Gary came into her hall and stood on the mat dripping, holding the album in both hands.

"I'm not staying," he said. "Janet's asleep. I took it from Kayla's room."

He held it out.

I took it and opened the front cover.

My mother stood on a dock in a yellow dress, laughing at whoever held the camera.

Her handwriting was under it: Hallie's first swim. August.

I closed it again.

"Thank you," I said.

"I should have gotten it before you left." He rubbed his face. "I should have done a lot of things."

Esther pulled out a kitchen chair and set it at the end of the hall.

"Sit down, Gary. You look like you'll fall."

He sat, and his big shoulders sagged.

"The peanuts," he said to the floor.

I waited.

"I didn't know. I swear to God. Janet told me you were fussy about food. She said you made up things to get attention."

"I've carried an EpiPen in my bag for ten years, Uncle Gary."

"I never saw it."

"You never looked."

He flinched and nodded.

"No," he said. "I never did."

The kitchen clock ticked.

Esther leaned against the doorframe and kept her arms crossed.

"Why are you here, Gary?" she said. "Not the album. The real reason."

He reached inside his jacket and took out a thick cream envelope.

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