They leave with Melina and I head to the whiskey. By the third glass, doubt sets in. My feet move of their own accord even though I know where they're taking me. I open Victor's safe and remove the 10 by 10 metal box. The lock broke years ago. The dented metal is green with paint flakes scratched off here and there. Victor gave me the box on the one-year anniversary of me coming to live here.
I lift the hinged top and move aside the top newspaper clipping. I placed the latest one in here a few days after Victor and Cindy's funeral. The other clippings are about me. I go to the bottom of the box and pull out the thin strip of paper. It shows a burned down home on the outskirts of Austin, Texas.
Fire kills two
Investigation underway
There's more about my mother and her latest boyfriend.
