Then I pulled onto the shoulder.
The roadside looked ordinary.
Dry grass.
Telephone poles.
Passing cars.
No Laura.
No babies.
No bag of crushed cans.
But I could still see her standing there.
I remembered Serena throwing that fifty-dollar bill into the dirt.
I remembered Laura refusing to pick it up.
For months afterward, I thought that had been pride.
Now I understood.
It had been dignity.
She had lost her home.
Her marriage.
Her financial security.
Her reputation.
Almost everything I had the power to take from her, I had taken.
But I had never succeeded in making her small.
I rested both hands on the steering wheel.
Once, I had believed I was the victim.
The wealthy husband betrayed by the woman he trusted.
That story had protected my ego.
The truth was uglier.
Laura had been betrayed by two people.
Serena had created the lie.
But I had chosen to believe it.
Serena planted evidence.
I refused to question it.
Serena blocked the calls.