Chapter 16 - The Last Time I Saw Caleb
Years earlier, I imagined confronting Caleb.
In those fantasies, I screamed.
Sometimes I hit him.
Sometimes he apologized.
Reality was quieter.
I agreed to one final mediated meeting.
Caleb entered wearing institutional clothing.
He sat across from me.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
“You changed your name,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Dramatic.”
“No.”
He smirked.
“You've always loved attention.”
I almost laughed.
Even now.
Still the same script.
“You asked for this meeting,” I reminded him.
His smile disappeared.
“Mom visits you?”
“Sometimes.”
“She won't visit me.”
“That is between you and her.”
“Elise ruined my life.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“You ruined it.”
“You think you're perfect?”
“No.”
“You ran away.”
“Yes.”
“You abandoned everyone.”
“I was fifteen.”
He looked away.
That was when I realized something extraordinary.
Caleb needed me angry.
If I hated him, he remained important.
If I fought him, we remained connected.
So I gave him the one thing he couldn't manipulate.
Nothing.
“I hope someday you take responsibility for what you've done.”
He laughed bitterly.
“And if I don't?”
“That's your life.”
I stood.
“Mara.”
I turned.
His expression changed.
For one second, he looked like the frightened teenager beneath everything else.
“Do you hate me?”
I thought carefully.
“No.”
He seemed surprised.
“I don't want to spend enough of my life thinking about you to hate you.”
I left.
My hands didn't shake.
Outside, Ortiz happened to be leaving the building after another matter.
She saw me.
“How'd it go?”
“It's over.”
She understood.
Not legally.
Personally.
Caleb had finally become what he should have been twelve years earlier.
May you like
Someone else's responsibility.
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