Chapter 10 - Charlene's Last Defense
Charlene's hands were shaking.
But her voice was sharp.
"Nobody is making another statement."
Brody sighed.
"Mom."
"Don't Mom me."
She marched toward us.
Her lavender dress swayed around her knees.
The small silver church pin on her shoulder caught the fluorescent light.
I had seen that pin at weddings, funerals, Sunday dinners, and every family gathering where Charlene wanted people to know she considered herself a respectable woman.
At that moment, the pin looked like a costume accessory.
She stopped in front of Brody.
"Do you understand what you've done?"
He stared at her.
"Yes."
"No. You don't. People saw this. People recorded it. My phone hasn't stopped buzzing."
She held up the screen.
Messages filled it.
Some were from friends.
Some were from people who had seen videos posted online.
The ceremony hadn't been livestreamed officially, but dozens of guests had been holding phones.
The moment Charlene stood and accused me had already begun spreading.
And apparently, Brody's confession was following it.
Charlene turned toward me.
"You've humiliated this family."
For years, those words would have made me feel guilty.
That afternoon, they only made me tired.
"Charlene, you interrupted my ceremony."
"Because I thought you were lying."
"After six years of refusing to ask me what happened."
"I asked Brody."
I looked at him.
He didn't move.
"Yes," I said. "You did."
Charlene's expression hardened.
"You're enjoying this."
I almost laughed.
"My arm has been aching since I woke up. I have cried in front of two hundred people. I had to meet a little girl whose father died while I was trying to save him. And I just read a letter my dad wrote before he died."
I took a breath.
"No, Charlene. I'm not enjoying this."
For a moment, she looked uncertain.
Then she turned toward Brody.
"Tell her you didn't mean what you said."
He shook his head.
"I meant it."
"You were upset."
"Mom."
"You were under pressure. That general practically interrogated you."
"Nobody forced me to lie six years ago."
Charlene flinched.
"Don't say that."
"I lied."
"Stop."
"I lied to you. I lied to people at church. I let you believe Erin had caused the accident."
Her eyes filled.
"Why would you do that to me?"
Brody looked at her for a long time.
"Because I thought you wouldn't love me if you knew."
The words silenced her.
I watched something change in Charlene's face.
For one brief second, the anger disappeared.
And beneath it, I saw a frightened woman staring at her grown son.
"Brody," she whispered.
He shook his head.
"I know you love me. I know that now. But back then, all I could think about was how disappointed you'd be."
She reached toward him.
He stepped back.
"I should have told you anyway."
Charlene lowered her hand.
"Your father knew?"
Brody nodded.
"He knew."
She turned toward me.
My stomach tightened.
"Hal knew?"
"Yes."
"All those years?"
I nodded.
Her lips parted.
For a moment, I thought she might cry.
Instead, she said, "And neither of you thought I deserved to know?"
I looked at her.
"Charlene, you didn't want to know."
"That's not true."
"When I came home in a cast, you called me a liar."
She looked away.
"When the Army investigators contacted Brody, you told people they were trying to protect me."
"I didn't understand what was happening."
"You didn't ask."
She stared at me.
I continued.
"You heard a story that made your son look good and me look bad. And you decided that was enough."
Charlene's eyes filled.
"I loved my son."
"So did I."
The words surprised both of us.
I looked toward Brody.
"He was my little brother. He still is. I didn't want him hurt. I didn't want his career destroyed. I didn't want Dad to be miserable. I wanted Daniel alive."
My throat tightened.
"But wanting those things didn't make them true."
Charlene looked down.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then she said something I hadn't expected.
"Hal told me you were angry with him."
I froze.
She rubbed her forehead.
"Near the end. He said you had every right to be."
I stared at her.
"What did he say?"
Charlene shook her head.
"He wouldn't explain. He just said he'd made a terrible mistake with you."
My eyes filled.
"He wrote me a letter."
She looked at the envelope.
"That?"
I nodded.
She reached toward it.
"May I?"
I pulled it back.
"No."
Her expression changed.
"Erin."
"No, Charlene. This is between Dad and me."
She lowered her hand.
It was the first boundary I'd ever set with her that she couldn't argue her way around.
A long silence followed.
Then Brody spoke.
"Mom, I'm going back inside."
Charlene shook her head.
"You can't."
"I have to."
"People will hate you."
He looked exhausted.
"Maybe."
"They'll say terrible things."
"They already are."
She stepped closer.
"You'll lose everything."
Brody looked at me.
Then he answered his mother.
"I nearly lost my life. Three men nearly lost theirs. Daniel did lose his. And I've spent six years pretending the worst thing that happened was that people might stop admiring me."
Charlene covered her mouth.
Brody continued.
"I'm tired, Mom."
The words were quiet.
But I could hear how much they cost him.
"I'm so tired of being your hero."
Charlene began crying.
Not the loud, dramatic tears she sometimes used to end an argument.
These were quiet.
Almost confused.
She seemed to be discovering that the son she had spent years protecting had been suffocating beneath that protection.
I didn't feel victorious.
I felt sad.
Sad for the boy Brody had been.
Sad for the father who had been afraid to disappoint anyone.
Sad for the version of our family that might have existed if someone had been willing to tell the truth six years earlier.
The gym doors opened.
A sergeant appeared.
"Major Lennox? They're ready for you."
I nodded.
"Thank you."
Then I looked at Charlene.
"You can come back inside. But you will sit quietly. And you will listen."
She wiped her face.
"Erin, I—"
"Not now."
I turned toward the gym.
Behind me, I heard Brody say, "Come on, Mom."
And for the first time, he wasn't asking her permission.
He was making a decision.
But as we approached the doors, Dwayne moved beside me.
His expression was troubled.
"Erin, there's something General Haskett wants you to know before the ceremony finishes."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
Dwayne hesitated.
"Rebecca asked whether Daniel's final recorded words were included in the investigation file."
I stopped walking.
I looked at him.
"What final recorded words?"
May you like
Dwayne's face changed.
And I realized there was something about the river that nobody had ever told me.
