Chapter 19 - The PhoneThree years after Lily's call, she found my old phone in a closet.
The phone was dead.
The case was scratched.
But I knew it instantly.
“The phone I used to call Grandpa?”
“Yes.”
She held it carefully.
“I used to think this phone broke our family.”
I swallowed.
“Do you still think that?”
She shook her head.
“I think it told the truth.”
My eyes filled.
Dad looked away.
Diane cried.
Lily asked:
“Can we throw it away?”
I looked at the phone.
For years, it had been evidence.
A symbol.
A reminder.
Maybe I didn't need it anymore.
“You decide.”
We removed the old case.
Inside the case, we placed two things:
The tiny glow-in-the-dark star from her childhood bedroom.
And a photograph of us together.
The phone itself was recycled.
We didn't erase the past.
We simply stopped worshipping it.
Later that night, Lily asked me:
“Mom, did I save you?”
I smiled.
“You helped me.”
“That's not what I asked.”
I laughed.
“No.”
She looked surprised.
“Then who saved you?”
I thought about my father.
Nora.
The police.
Jenna.
Mark.
Diane.
Ben.
And myself.
“All of us helped.”
“That’s cheating.”
I kissed her forehead.
“Then here's the real answer.”
“You told the truth.”
She waited.
May you like
“And?”
“I finally listened.”
