Isaiah sat watching the activity. He had walked in the house and headed directly for the stairs. Not stopping even to talk to look for Mona who had been curiously absent. His eyebrows drawn together, he scowled at Karen's inattention. She hadn't even looked up when he had entered the room. Now he watched silently as she flung clothing into suitcases. "You're not going to even say why you're leaving?" No answer. Not that he truly expected one. "Where's Mona?" He would be happy with an answer to any question. Just for starters anyway. "How the hell should I know?" Isaiah felt the ice-cold chill of her eyes when she turned to him. Then watched as she returned to her packing. "She didn't say a word? Where she was going. What she was doing." "Not a word." Sighing, Isaiah fell back on the bed. The tension in the room was exhausting. "That's not like her." "Maybe she took another day off." "That's not like her either," he said.

***

Karen pounded off into Bobby's room, pushing him aside when he tried to block her efforts. "Why are we leaving now?" Bobby followed his mother to his dresser. Grabbing each item she tossed into the suitcase and tossing it back into its drawer. "I don't want to go."

"You have no choice." Karen grabbed the latest item and threw it back into the suitcase. Looking up with amazement when Isaiah took it back out. "Stop it!" The sound of her own scream sent shards of pain through her brain. Karen fell to the floor. Sitting with her legs crossed and her head between her knees, she gasped for air. If this was what a nervous breakdown felt like, it was a scary thing. Her heart pounded. Her mind flashed with images that conflicted and shrieked at her. She wiped her palms on her thighs. Her skin was clammy and cold. Feeling Isaiah's hands on her shoulders as he knelt down behind her, she felt her shoulder blades tense. She fought the comfort of his arms as they wrapped around her from behind. She didn't want his comfort. She wanted the nightmare to end. "Why are you mad at me now?" He tried to think of a reason for her anger. Usually it wasn't too hard to figure out. This one had him stumped though. "I'm not mad at you." Her voice came out in a tiny whisper. Isaiah had to struggle to hear her. He held her tightly as her shoulders heaved. No sound matched the sobs from her body. Her body shuddered and tears fell hot and wet to his hands as she cried silently in his arms. "Are you mad at Bobby?" Isaiah loosened his grip slightly when she shook her head violently. "Cause it was just a kid thing. You know. Nothing we can't work out." Izzy ignored the boy as he stormed from the room, shouting over his shoulder that he wasn't a kid. Karen looked up into the sorrow filled eyes above her. She felt his love, his concern, through his arms wrapped tightly around her. She knew she had to tell him. She felt the knot in her stomach as she prepared to spill her tale of deceit. Karen felt him release her as she came to the end of her story and was sure he would stand and walk out of the room. Expecting her to leave. She turned around and looked at Isaiah who had sat back letting the full scope of it sink in. "Didn't I tell you about the Raid?" Karen didn't say a word. She nodded meekly, waiting for him to make his move. "Just tromping on the floor doesn't do any good. But a big can of Raid will get them cockroaches every time." Isaiah smiled slowly, revealing his pearly, white teeth. He worried when Karen pulled back, he must look like a shark. He felt predatory at the moment, like a lion protecting his den.