Chapter 9 - The Unexpected Visitor
A week before Thanksgiving, an unexpected request arrived at my desk at the newly renovated Sterling Foundation office downtown.
It was an official visitor request from the state women’s correctional facility.
My stepsister Chloe wanted to see me.
At first, I considered throwing the letter in the shredder. But after talking with Gabriel over dinner that night, I realized that facing Chloe on my own terms was the final loose end of my old life that needed closing.
The following afternoon, I sat in the visiting room of the state prison.
The heavy steel door opened, and Chloe walked in, dressed in a plain gray jumpsuit, her hair short and unstyled, her face devoid of any makeup. She looked thin, tired, but remarkably quiet—stripped of the artificial arrogance her mother had fed her for years.
She sat down across the glass partition, picking up the black telephone handset.
I picked up mine.
“Thank you for coming, Nora,” Chloe said, her voice raspy through the small speaker. “I didn't think you would.”
“Why did you ask to see me, Chloe?” I asked neutrally.
Chloe looked down at her hands, which were rough and unmanicured.
“I wanted to apologize,” she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. “Not because I want you to help me get out early... but because I finally realize what Mom and I did to you.”
I remained silent, letting her speak.
“When we were growing up,” Chloe continued, her voice trembling, “Mom kept telling me that you were better than me because your father had money and my father didn't. She made me hate you, Nora. She taught me to take things from you just to prove I could.”
“You had a choice, Chloe,” I reminded her softly.
“I know,” Chloe sobbed, wiping her eye with her sleeve. “I knew selling you that night in the alley was wrong. I wanted to stop her, but I was so scared of Mom... and I was so addicted to the money.”
She looked up at me through the glass, her eyes filled with genuine, painful remorse.
“I’m serving my time, Nora,” Chloe said. “I work in the prison library now. I’m taking community college courses in business ethics. When I get out in five years... I’m going to build a real life. Without Mom. Without lies.”
I looked at my younger stepsister. For the first time in my life, I didn't see a cruel bully or a spoiled brat. I saw a young woman who had been dragged through the mud of her mother’s greed and was finally learning how to stand on her own feet.
“I don't hate you, Chloe,” I said softly, my voice sincere. “I don't forgive what you did, but I hope you finish your degree. When you get out... if you need help finding an honest job, call my foundation.”
May you like
Chloe gasped, fresh tears spilling over her lashes as she nodded frantically against the glass. “Thank you, Nora... thank you.”
I set the receiver down, stood up, and walked out of the prison into the bright, crisp afternoon sun, feeling a profound sense of total closure.
