Then I looked toward the doorway.

Brenda had already taken one step backward.

She knew exactly what I had seen.

And suddenly I understood why my wife had been afraid every time my mother entered our apartment.

PART 2 — WHAT HAPPENED WHILE I WAS AT WORK

My first instinct was to demand an explanation.

My second was worse.

I wanted to put my hands on my mother.

I did neither.