When Mom arrives, she sets down her suitcase and asks where my new husband’s hiding. Andromeda saves me. From her cage in the kitchen, she squawks, “Let’s go to the kitchen, Honey. Want some caw-caw-caw-coffee?” She’s running back and forth at the bottom of the cage, excited to see Mom.

Mom looks pretty much the same as she did at our wedding, so it’s hard to imagine cancer buds blooming in her breast. When I take her hand, the chill makes me flinch. 

In the kitchen, I let Andromeda out of her cage and pour Mom a cup of coffee. Andromeda hops across the Scrabble board and up onto Mom’s shoulder, whistles and presses her beak against Mom’s lips and say, “Freedom! Mwahhh! I love you, Honey!” Pushing her yellow feather-mohawk into Mom’s neck, Andromeda says, “Wanna snuggle?” 

Mom pets her and says, “You’re such a good girl!” Then she turns to me and asks, “Seriously, where’s Colin, or are we starting without him?”

I take a deep breath. Stare at the Scrabble board and chew a hangnail. I need an explanation that is true enough not to be a lie. “He’s sorting things out at his house. It isn’t getting many viewings. Probably staying the night.” The truth-truth is that an hour ago I helped Colin secure another load of his things to return to his house, which thankfully hasn’t sold yet.

Andromeda whistles and squawks, “Let’s go nigh-nights,” then hops into her open cage. Mom plays along and covers the cage. Andromeda makes the exaggerated snoring sounds she’s been making every time Colin walks into a room since he moved in a few months ago. My heart drops into my stomach. 

Colin clears his throat behind me.

Mom looks past my shoulder and says, “I was beginning to wonder where Penny was keeping you hidden.” 

I think of him stepping into the bathroom to text during our honeymoon, the long absences once we returned. The tired-looking but buxom blonde real estate agent who needed him to fix the leaky faucet. Clean the gutters. Re-caulk the windows. 

When I turn to scowl at him, the empty boxes in his arms make the hair at the back of my neck prickle. 

Colin comes between us to kiss Mom’s cheek. She teases, “Are you already moving out? You’ve barely finished unpacking!” 

I know she doesn’t suspect it’s true, so I plead Colin with my eyes as I pull the cover off Andromeda’s cage to make her stop snoring. Andromeda chuckles, looks at Colin and says, “Want some caw-caw-caw-coffee, shithead?”

He grits his teeth and says, “Fuck off, stupid bird.” Then he turns to Mom, his voice an octave lower than usual, and says, “And, yes, Penny’s asked me to leave.” 

Adrenaline floods into my fingers and toes. I’m afraid I’m going to fly up and slap him. Spit in his smug face. Burst into tears. 

Mom frowns for a moment then shrugs and says, “Well, Penny must have her reasons.” She places a C on the double-letter score. “CRUMB,” she says, dismissing him from the conversation. “Fourteen times two is twenty-eight.” 

I scribble down Mom’s score. Squeeze the icy hand she extends. Behind us, Colin says, “I’m taking half of everything in this goddam pantry.” The whip of a garbage bag opening, crinkle of bags—maybe pasta, chocolate chips, trail mix. Cans or jars thunk against the floor. Andromeda chuckles again and makes exaggerated farting noises. Probably pork and beans. 

The game board blurs. Mom’s doctor said she should have no added stress, so Colin agreed not make a scene. I don’t know why I still trust anything he says. 

Andromeda soothes, “Don’t cry, Honey. You’re a good girl.”

A cupboard door bangs shut. Colin growls, “And this pepper grinder belongs to me!”

I add “HEAT” to Mom’s “C.” No triples or doubles, but I don’t care. Yesterday, I stopped at Colin’s to surprise him with lunch—he was supposed to be re-caulking the kitchen windows—but he wasn’t there. Apart from the condom wrappers in the still-furnished master bedroom, nothing much had changed. I’d suspected someone else before the ceremony, but he told me it was just pre-wedding jitters.

Mom adds an “ER” to CHEAT and raises her eyebrow. I nod. She brushes a strand of hair behind my ear, leans in and whispers, “Nobody deserves to suffer longer than necessary.” She holds out the tile sac, and we replenish our letters. 

I twist off my wedding band. Lay it on the table between us. Whisper, “He was supposed to be gone before you got here.” 

Colin stomps out of the kitchen muttering about my false accusations. Andromeda squawks, “See you later, shithead!” 

When the front door slams shut, I shake my head and sputter, “I don’t know where to start. He wasn’t supposed to show up.” 

In unison, Mom and Andromeda coo, “Aww Honey, don’t cry.”

Mom wipes my cheek and says, “Let’s just play. Lord knows he’ll be back for a second performance.”

I nod and open Andromeda’s cage door. She hops onto my shoulder and squawks, “Freedom! Mwahhh. I love you, Honey!” and nuzzles my neck.