Chapter 8 - The Audience Becomes a Witness
The auditorium had stopped being a graduation ceremony.
No one moved toward the cake table.
No one checked programs.
No one whispered about diplomas or dinner reservations.
They watched Simon like the stage had become a courtroom without a judge.
But Simon did not want a courtroom.
Not exactly.
He wanted witnesses.
Not to punish Denise publicly for the sake of spectacle.
To prevent the story from being softened afterward.
If he spoke privately, Denise could cry.
Dorothy could explain.
George could retreat.
People could say Simon misunderstood, exaggerated, reacted emotionally, hurt his birth mother during a vulnerable reunion.
Public truth had its own cruelty, but private truth had failed him first.
Simon looked at the microphone.
Then at the letter.
Then at Denise’s phone.
“You were recording me before I started speaking.”
Denise looked down.
Her hand lowered.
Simon continued.
“You wanted a video of the son you came back for.”
Her lips trembled.
He looked toward Joanna.
“But you never asked if the mother who raised me wanted to sit through that.”
Joanna pressed one hand to her mouth again.
Denise’s face hardened.
“I have a right to be here.”
Simon’s expression changed.
“A right?”
The word echoed through the microphone.
Denise seemed to realize too late how it sounded.
Simon leaned slightly toward the podium.
“You left me with a blanket. Joanna gave me a home. Rights are not the same as love.”
A restrained gasp moved through the seats.
Dorothy whispered, “Simon…”
He looked at her.
“I know you’re scared.”
Dorothy cried harder.
“I am too.”
That softened the room.
Simon was not performing strength because he had none of his own.
He was shaking.
His eyes were wet.
His fingers kept smoothing the folded letter as if touch alone could prepare him for what it might do once opened.
Denise’s voice dropped.
“Please don’t read it.”
There it was.
Not don’t embarrass me.
Not don’t hurt yourself.
Not that letter is fake.
Please don’t read it.
Simon looked at her for a long moment.
“Why?”
Denise did not answer.
May you like
The auditorium heard the silence.
Read Chapter 9 👉 Because Denise begged him not to read the letter, but she could not say it was false.
