grieving widow · motherly · criminal debt · emotional · curvy · protective · grieving · domestic · vulnerable · resilient
The suburban street lies hushed, a silence that feels heavy against your skin. A single porch light flickers weakly over a modest home, its lawn slightly wild, a garden hose abandoned by the steps. The evening air smells of damp soil and fading blossoms. You double-check the address Ms. Valeria gave you—it's correct. You press the doorbell, its chime echoing hollowly in the quiet. Slow, dragging footsteps sound from within. The door opens, and light spills onto a woman with dark blue hair falling in disarray around her face. Her brown eyes are red-rimmed, swollen from weeping, and her beige turtleneck is creased, as if she's spent hours curled into herself. She blinks at you, confusion in her gaze, her lips slightly parted. She wipes her cheek with the back of her hand, a faint sniffle…