“Mother?” called Logan. “Ugh! Where is that woman!” She stormed around the house calling after her.
“What is it, Logan?” Mrs. Silverstone yelled from upstairs.
“Ah, there you are,” said Logan as she ascended the stairs.
“What is it, Dear?”
“Well, Mother, I just wanted to know where my pearl necklace is.” Logan entered Mrs. Silverstone’s bedroom and saw her fiddling through her desk.
“Mother,” Logan said as she approached the desk, “What are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m just looking through some things,” she paused, “for some things.”
There was a long silence between them then Mrs. Silverstone began sifting through papers again.
“It’s unlike you to be so cryptic.”
“I’ll find your pearls, Dear.”
Logan nodded and went to turn away when something caught her eye; a stack of envelopes, addressed, and bound by a rubber band.
“What are those,” Logan said as she reached for the stack.
“Oh that’s nothing. Those are just-” Mrs. Silverstone reached for the envelopes, but Logan had them in her grasp. She removed the rubber band and thumbed through.
“Are these,” Logan paused and looked up, “letters from John?”
“I-” she sighed and put her hand to her head.
“But, John hasn’t spoke to us in months,” Logan said as she looked at her mother with skeptical eyes, “right?”
“Logan,” she reached for Logan, who pulled away.
“They couldn’t possibly be from John because he doesn’t want to talk to us, to me. That is what you said, isn’t it?”
Mrs. Silverstone shifted her stance, “Look, Dear, I-”
“Don’t lie to me,” said Logan as she leaned forward and pointed at her mother. Mrs. Silverstone’s face grew serious and she looked down.
“Logan, he has been contacting you-”
Logan sank like she had just been punched.
“-every letter, he’s answered.”
She shook her head and her eyes swelled with tears.
“Oh, don’t you get all emotional over him! I was protecting you.”
“How could you,” Logan yelled as she choked back tears, “How could you let me believe my own brother hated me? I wondered for months about what I did wrong, why he left, and all along the answers have been right here.”
“Logan you don’t understand,” said Mrs. Silverstone, “what’s in those letters might hurt you.”
“That isn’t your decision to make! What right do you have to keep me from my brother?”
“Your brother made his choice!” She yelled.
Logan stepped back.
“What choice? I thought you didn’t know why he left?”
“Well, I- I’m getting all mixed up. I meant that he chose to leave.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” Logan demanded.
There was more silence.
“Mom!”
“Fine! I gave your brother an ultimatum.”
“What kind of ultimatum?”
Mrs. Silverstone sunk into the chair next to the desk in fatigue. She looked as if she’d run a marathon.
“Oh, Logan you know the stress isn’t good for my health,” she held the back of her hand to her forehead.
“Mother, spare me the act. What ultimatum?”
Mrs. Silverstone sighed and flopped her hand to her lap.
“I told him that unless he left, I’d never let him speak to you again.”
“Why would you make him leave? And you lied! You never gave me his letters and he still left.”
“That was the first time.”
“What?”
“The first time I asked him to leave, I gave him the ultimatum and he stayed. This time, I told him to get out or I would call the cops.”
“The cops, Mom, on your own son?” Logan paced the room and held her head. “All because he stole from you?”
“Stealing was the last straw this time. Logan, John was dealing and using drugs.”
Logan stopped pacing.
“That’s why you kicked him out? You kicked him out for using drugs?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you get him help?” Logan yelled. “He’s your son, why wouldn’t you help him?”
“You don’t understand everything! Everything is perfect in your little world and you think you know the right decisions to make, but you’re wrong.”
“My world isn’t perfect! You’re an alcoholic since John left, he's been missing from my life for months, and my father has been on “vacation” in Sri Lanka on and off for the past 4 years.”
“Oh, you know that your father is a very busy man,” said Mrs. Silverstone.
“Do you even believe that?” Asked Logan. Mrs. Silverstone sat back in her chair with a confused look. “He’s staying away from you! For some odd reason, I’m the only one who can stand to be near you,” she said.
“Hold your tongue!”
“You can’t boss me around anymore, I’m not  child! You may choose to lie and to manipulate people, but you can’t do it to me anymore. You won’t,” Logan started walking out of the room.
“Where are you going? You can’t just walk out on me,” called Mrs. Silverstone.
Logan stopped and turned around, “I used to be the one you could count on and go to for anything, the one who was always there for you no matter what happened with John and Dad, and you were the same for me. Not anymore.”
“Logan, dear, please cut the dramatics,” Mrs. Silverstone rolled her eyes, “I’m not going to just not be your mother.”
“You’re not my mother. The woman sitting here today is just some b**** who lied and stole my brother from me.”
Logan walked out and left Mrs. Silverstone, dumbfounded.