I turned the brass handle and shut the water off completely.

The house went totally silent.

I bent my head closer to the floor grate, trying to make out the words coming up from below.

Someone was talking in a furious, rhythmic hiss.

It didn’t sound like my mother.

Then there was a loud metal crash.

The sound shook all the way through the floor joists and into my shoes.

It was the heavy, dull bang of cast iron striking hard linoleum.