After Mom’s divorce, she found solace in Chris, a charming ex-con she met while working as a correctional officer. “He’s been through some things, but he’s turned his life around,” she assured us. For a while, he did—working, attending probation meetings, and calling us his “kids.” It felt good to have a man around again.

But Chris’s past caught up with him. The FBI arrested him, linking him to his family’s drug trade in Texas. Mom stood by him, sending money and calling daily. When he returned, he was meaner, drinking heavily and clashing with Mom. “Don’t start with me, Linda,” he snapped one night. Things spiraled further when Chris’s coworker revealed his affair with Darla, who was also pregnant.

Mom decided enough was enough. “Pack it all. I don’t want anything of Chris’s left in this house,” she ordered. We dumped his belongings on the curb, confronting him when he returned. His cruelty cut deep: “Darla’s giving me a kid—something you never could.”

Chris didn’t disappear quietly. He stalked us, but his reckless actions led to his arrest for driving without a license and illegal gun possession.

Years later, Chris was alone and broke, while Mom found love again with Gary, a kind and steady man. As Mom always said, “What’s done in the dark will come to light.”