“Daddy… Mommy’s boyfriend hit me with a baseball bat. He said if I cry, it’ll hurt more…”

The sound of footsteps.

Something shifted between them.

Ethan sobbed again, louder this time, as if the tension had become too much to contain.

—Dad… —she whispered—.

“I’m here,” I replied, even though I knew he couldn’t hear me directly.

But I needed to say it.

I needed to believe it.

—Marcus—I said—. The police should be arriving by now.

Another pause.

—Not yet—he replied—.

I looked in the rearview mirror.

No siren.
No lights.

Only the traffic, slow, indifferent, as if the world didn’t know that something was breaking down at that moment.

—Then go —I said—. Take it with you.

The words came out quickly, desperately.

But as soon as I said them, something inside me hesitated.

Because leaving meant leaving Kyle there.

And leaving meant… not knowing what would come next.

Marcus inhaled deeply.

I could hear it.

“If I leave now,” he said, “this doesn’t end here.”

He was right.

And that was what terrified me the most.

—But if you stay… —I began.

I didn’t finish the sentence.

It wasn’t necessary.

We both knew what it entailed.

One more step.
One more line crossed.

Something that could not be undone.

Time seemed to slow down.

I could hear the invisible tick of each second, stretching, becoming heavy, almost physical.

“Dad…” Ethan repeated, weaker.

That sound decided something inside me.

It wasn’t a clear idea.
It wasn’t logical.

It was instinct.

“Take it out,” I said, this time more firmly. “Now.”

The silence that followed was different.

Not of doubt.
But of acceptance.

Marcus did not respond with words.

It just moved.

Quick steps.
A slight struggle.

Kyle let out a brief scream, more surprised than furious.

Then, the sound of a door opening forcefully.

Air.

Space.

Motion.

“I’ve got it,” Marcus said, breathing more heavily now. “Let’s go outside.”

I felt my shoulders drop slightly, as if some of the weight had shifted, but not disappeared.

“Don’t go,” Kyle shouted from the back, his voice distorted by the distance. “This isn’t over.”

That phrase hung in the air, like an awkward promise.

Marcus did not respond.

He just walked.

The sound of gravel under their footsteps returned, clearer now, closer to something certain.

“We’re outside,” he said.

Ethan was breathing in short gasps, but he was no longer crying.