Chapter 5 - The Hidden Key
When we returned to Pilsen,
I didn't go inside immediately.
I stood in the hallway,
looking at the lock on our door.
There were no scratches.
No signs of forced entry.
My mother had a key.
I remembered leaving a spare with her a year ago,
just in case of emergencies.
I felt like a fool.
I walked down to the basement,
finding the building manager.
He was an older man,
usually grumbling about trash bags.
"Frank,"
I said,
handing him twenty dollars.
"I need the locks changed on my door."
"Right now."
He looked at the money,
then at my face.
He must have seen something desperate there,
because he didn't argue.
"Give me ten minutes,"
he said.
I went back upstairs,
waiting with Megan in the hallway.
She sat on our suitcase,
staring at the floor.
Frank arrived with his tools,
swapping out the brass cylinder.
He handed me two shiny new keys.
"Nobody else has these,"
he said.
"Thank you,"
I whispered.
We stepped inside,
and I turned the deadbolt.
The metallic click felt significant,
but it didn't bring peace.
The apartment still smelled like the soup I had made,
May you like
the food she couldn't eat.
It still smelled like fear.
