Chapter 5: Last Straw
Cody wasn’t fooling; he didn’t come back to the house for three days. Serena has no idea where he slept, or how he got clean uniforms for work. She’s determined to put all her effort into staying calm and thinking about her uncertain future.
About three in the afternoon on the third day, a Thursday, she hears the familiar sound of his truck coming up the gravel road. Like always, she stows Pony in the playpen and carries Panda outside with her. Cody gets out of the truck and looks his wife up and down, as if she’s some major purchase he’s considering.
“Hey, Serena. Kids okay?’
As if you care…
“Sure,” she says out loud.
“I came to get some more of my stuff.”
“You’re leavin’? For good?”
He ignores these questions and stomps into the house. Serena takes some deep
