Chapter 6 - Shattered Glass
The dining room table was set with Evelyn’s finest china, polished silver, and crystal wine glasses. Dinner was supposed to be a celebration of Dylan’s upcoming deployment rotation, but the atmosphere hung heavy with unspoken friction.
Evelyn poured herself a glass of Chardonnay and beamed across the table at Dylan. "Your father would have been so proud of you, Dylan. A real man of action. A true warrior. He always said the military would make something of you. Unlike some people who couldn't handle the pressure and took early retirement."
Mia calmly sliced her roast beef, neither acknowledging the slight nor letting it touch her. She had endured three years of covert extraction missions in the rugged mountains of Helmand and Kunar; her mother’s passive-aggressive barbs were less dangerous than a splinter.
"Mom," Dylan said, his voice trembling with an anger that shocked both Evelyn and Vanessa. "Shut up."
The entire room went dead silent. The clinking of forks stopped instantly.
Evelyn stared at her son, her fork suspended in mid-air. "Excuse me? Dylan Carter, how dare you speak to me like that?"
"I said shut up!" Dylan slammed both palms onto the mahogany table. The crystal glasses jumped, wine splashing onto the white linen cloth. Dylan stood up, his tall frame shaking with an intensity that made Vanessa recoil in her chair. "You have no idea what you're talking about! You sit here praising me like I'm some hero, and you treat Mia like garbage! Do you have any idea what she is? Do you have any idea what she did?"
"Dylan, sit down," Mia commanded softly. Her voice didn't rise, but the absolute authority in her tone caused Dylan’s knees to buckle slightly.
"No, Mia! I won't!" Dylan’s eyes filled with hot, furious tears. He turned toward his mother, his voice cracking under the agony of his own shame. "I was an arrogant punk today, Mom. I had my friends standing around the guard gate, and when Mia came to visit me, I took her visitor pass and threw it in the dirt. I laughed at her. I told my buddies she was just a pencil pusher who couldn't hack it."
Evelyn blinked, thoroughly confused. "Well... she is civilian support, Dylan. You don't need to be so dramatic—"
"She is a Major in the United States Air Force!" Dylan roared, his face turning crimson. "She is a Combat Controller! She flew under Joint Special Operations Command! Master Gunnery Sergeant Hollis—the most decorated Marine in my entire regiment—bowed his head to her today and cried like a baby because she saved his life when his entire unit was surrounded by enemy fighters!"
Vanessa’s mouth dropped open. She stared at Mia, whose expression remained completely unreadable.
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"What... what are you talking about?" Evelyn stammered, her hand fluttering to her throat. "Mia was discharged for a medical issue... she worked in logistics..."
"That was her cover story, Mom!" Dylan choked out, tears spilling over his cheeks. "Because everything she did was classified Top Secret! She almost died! She took bullets and shrapnel while saving American lives, and you spent the last four years telling the neighbors I was the only child who made something of myself! I am a nobody compared to her! A complete nobody!"
