The Carousel Lies Chapter 04
Author: Quinn Loves Cilantro
Jasmine’s expression smoothed out. She patted our son on the shoulder.
“Mom will be there.”
He was overjoyed. He dragged me out to buy craft supplies, and when I went to pay, he proudly pulled out his own change instead.
Every bit of it was money he’d earned collecting bottles, saved up over a full year, and now he spent it all without a second thought.
That night, he spent three hours building a beautiful little house, complete with a family of three holding hands out front. He lay in bed staring at it, refusing to close his eyes, until he finally couldn’t fight sleep any longer and drifted off with a sweet smile on his face.
The next afternoon, my son and I got to the preschool early. He held the little house against his chest, standing tall and proud. Before long, families arrived one after another, hand in hand. I watched his expression turn visibly anxious.
A cold sweat broke out down my back. I silently prayed that Jasmine wouldn’t let him down again. But over the next half hour, I called her dozens of times, and she never picked up.
Watching his knuckles go white around the little house, I couldn’t just sit there and wait anymore. I left him at the school and sprinted straight for Jasmine’s office.
It was rush hour, so I slipped in easily with the crowd. Not knowing which floor she was on, I searched level by level, drenched in sweat by the time I finally found her on the thirty-third floor.
But before I could even smile, I saw Jasmine and Josh standing around a little boy, celebrating his birthday. The boy had fair skin and a bright, happy smile. Jasmine reached out and ruffled his hair, her eyes soft with affection, every bit the doting mother.
I couldn’t stop myself from thinking of my own son. The same age, the same absence of a mother’s love, the same threadbare life. In that moment, I didn’t care about dignity or keeping the peace anymore.
My eyes burned red. I wanted the whole world to see these two for the shameless people they really were. But just as I gathered every ounce of strength to shout, a hand shot out from behind me and clamped hard over my mouth.
Security dragged me out with a hand still pressed over my mouth. A second later, Josh turned his head slightly and gave me a small, mocking smile. A massive wave of humiliation exploded in my chest.
In the end, I was tossed out the front door of the building like a stray dog. Ignoring the scrapes on my arm, I scrambled back up and tried to force my way back in.
“I’m Jasmine Pepper’s husband! Let me in!”
The two security guards shoved me back down, their voices dripping with contempt.
“Quit talking nonsense. Our CEO’s husband is upstairs. Look at the state of you. Are you out of your mind?”
The CEO’s husband. I repeated those words back, half laughing, half crying.
Finally, I gave up and got to my feet, running back toward the preschool instead. Charlie had already lost a mother in every way that mattered. He couldn’t afford to lose a father too.
By the time I made it back, drenched in sweat, the sight in front of me nearly broke my heart. My son stood alone in the crowd, still hugging his big cardboard house, looking lost.
A few kids pointed at his shoes and laughed. “Dad, look at his shoes!”
He curled his toes back reflexively, and that was when I noticed the small hole worn into the side of his shoe. My head roared. I wanted to slap myself right there on the spot.
I ran over and pulled him into my arms. I’d come back alone, and he accepted that fact almost instantly. His face showed neither sorrow nor joy. In that moment, he seemed far too composed for a six-year-old.
He stared down at the big cardboard house in his hands for a long moment, then reached in and pulled out the little figure of the mother. He looked up at me with a small smile.
“Dad, it can still enter the contest like this.”
Neither of us said it out loud, but I understood. We’d reached an agreement without a single word.
After the contest, I pulled Charlie out of school. I sent Jasmine the divorce papers, and the two of us boarded a train and left that place behind for good.
