Chapter 2 – Left Alone

Loretta sat in silence. Her hands trembled as she held the phone. The words of he children echoed in her mind. “Maybe you hide something.” “Father cannot be wrong.” She felt a heavy stone in her chest. She whispered, “I am your mother. How can you doubt me?” Her tears fell again.

Days passed, and her children stopped calling. Daniel wrote one short message: “Mother, I am busy with work. I cannot talk.” Ruth sent one line: “I hope you are fine.” Loretta read those lines again and again. She whispered, “Is this all my love is worth? Only one line after forty years of care?” She closed her eyes and held the phone close to her heart, wishing for a longer message that never came.

Soon, Daniel left for Canada. Ruth moved to Australia. Loretta waited for calls that never came. She dialed their numbers, but often no one answered. Once Ruth answered and said coldly, “Mother, I am at work. Please do not disturb me.” Loretta cried after that call. She said to herself, “I disturbed her? I gave her my blood and life, and now I disturb her?”

At night, Loretta looked at the empty chairs at the table. She remembered when Daniel was a boy and asked for more bread. She remembered when Ruth laughed and hugged her. She whispered, “Where did my family go? Why did my children forget my heart?” She cried until her body was weak.

One day she tried to meet Daniel before he left the country. She stood at his door. He looked at her and said, “Mother, I cannot speak. I have no time.” She said softly, “Son, please hear me once. I never betrayed your father.” Daniel looked away and said, “It is better we do not speak about this.” Then he closed the door. Loretta stood outside, shaking. She whispered, “My own son closed his door on me.”

When Ruth was leaving for the airport, Loretta tried one last time. She said, “Daughter, look into my eyes. Tell me, do you really think I lied to you?” Ruth turned her face and said, “Mother, I cannot fight with Father. He is sure about what he saw. I cannot go against him.” Loretta shouted in pain, “But I am your mother! I gave you life! Do you not believe my words?” Ruth hugged her quickly and said, “I must go.” Then she walked away. Loretta stood at the airport gate crying like a child.

After her children left, Loretta’s nights became darker. She often spoke to herself. She said, “I was a wife. I was a mother. Now I am nothing.” She opened her old box of letters. Inside were birthday cards, notes from school, small drawings her children once made. She touched them with shaking fingers. She said, “You once called me the best mother. Today you call me a liar.” She kissed the old papers and pressed them to her chest.

Her pain grew stronger when neighbors began to speak. One woman said to another, “Her husband left her because she is not pure.” Another man whispered, “She lost her children too. Maybe she is guilty.” Loretta heard those words. She went inside and cried into her hands. She said loudly, “I am not guilty! I am loyal! Why does no one believe me?” Her voice broke in the empty room.

Her health started to suffer. She often felt pain in her chest. Sometimes she fainted and woke up hours later. She had no one to call. Once she tried to reach Ruth, but the phone rang without answer. Another time she tried Daniel, but his number was off. Loretta whispered, “If I die today, will they even know? Will anyone come to close my eyes?” She lay on the floor crying, feeling the sharp truth of loneliness.

She tried to find help. She went to a relative’s home. They looked at her and said, “Sister, we cannot take your side. Calvin is respected. People say he was right.” Loretta begged, “Please listen to me. I am telling you my truth.” But they closed their door. She walked away, feeling like a stranger in her own family.

For some days, she stayed in an old age home. There she saw many old women with the same pain. One woman said, “My son lives ten miles away but never visits.” Another said, “My daughter forgot my face after her marriage.” Loretta cried with them. She said, “We gave our lives, and they gave us silence.” They all held each other’s hands and wept.

But even in that place, Loretta felt alone. At night she lay in bed and whispered, “God, why is my life like this? What sin did I do?” She cried until she could not breathe. She told herself again and again, “I am loyal. I am innocent. I will not accept this blame.” Her heart was breaking, but she did not let her spirit die.

She thought of Calvin. She remembered his words: “You are not my wife anymore.” She felt those words cut again and again inside her. She said in pain, “You broke me. You took my children from me. You left me with shame. One day you will see my truth.”

Loretta’s life was now a battle with silence. Every morning she opened her eyes with tears. Every night she closed them with pain. But somewhere deep in her chest, a small voice whispered, “This is not the end. One day I will rise. One day they will know who I am.”