Not quite awake, she imagined for a moment that the room was full of snakes but then saw a shadowy figure cross their room. Highly attuned to danger, she pretended to be asleep until he’d left. Choking, she suddenly realized that it wasn’t snakes she could hear but gas. Jumping up, she grabbed Mickey and ran with him to a neighbor, who called the police. It was only later that my mom realized the shadowy figure she’d seen at 3 a.m. was her father. She recognized his gait and distinctive smell of fresh yeast. Roy had come back from his shift, turned on the gas, and left.
