Tabitha Stay With Me Online

She looks at the car. Then back at me. Then at the house—our house—with the light still on in the kitchen, the two dinner plates still on the table, the food gone cold an hour ago.

She drops the suitcase.

It lands with a dull thud on the wet grass. She doesn’t pick it up. She walks toward me, slow at first, then faster. Her yellow raincoat is soaked through. When she reaches me, she doesn’t hug me. She puts her cold hands on my face, looks me in the eye, and says: tabitha stay with me

She finally turns. Her face is pale, wet, and I can’t tell if it’s rain or tears. Maybe both. Maybe that’s the same thing now. She looks at the car

Now the silence is different. It’s the sound of rain hitting her shoulders. The sound of her not turning around. She drops the suitcase

I cover her hands with mine. They are shaking.

This time, she does.