The Slap

The brutal silence stretches on. The tension in the living room spikes, suffocating and heavy. My mother slowly lifts her chin. She looks at me with a cold, calculating stare, then shifts her icy gaze back to Maya.

"Dinner is served," my mother announces, her voice flat and clipped. "Let's eat."

She turns and glides toward the formal dining room, expecting us to follow. Maya shoots me a desperat