I was walking a little ahead of Debra, admiring the Halloween extravaganza, when I heard her scream. I whipped around to see my genteel mother-in-law engaged in a fierce tug-of-war over her purse with a mugger wearing a cheap but creepy Pennywise mask (at least he had the holiday spirit) under his hoodie. Rather than let go like a sane person, Debra lunged at him, pulled the mask out by the elastic strap, and snapped it with a zing. The thug cursed and released the purse strap, but Debra was just getting started. In one fell swoop she poked him in the eye and kneed him in the crotch. He doubled over, hands on knees, moaning and rocking painfully on his heels. Before he could recover, she wound her arm up like a major league pitcher and whack!—the purse caught him square in the jaw. I knew that purse weighed a good ten pounds because Debra, like every good grandma, kept it overstocked with useful sundries and could produce from it, like a magician’s hat, practically anything you needed on demand. She kept swinging her lethal weapon with the terrifying skill of a ninja flourishing a katana, until the hapless thug, walloped at least six times across the head, face, and back, skittered away on all fours like a scalded dog.

“Why don’t you get a job!” Debra yelled after him. “Instead of picking on defenseless old ladies!”

Out of breath, she smoothed her hair and casually slung the purse strap over her shoulder as if she hadn’t just kicked the ass of an attacker twice her size.

“Defenseless?” I said, after I’d picked my jaw up off the ground. “Mom, if you’re defenseless, I guess Chuck Norris is defenseless too. I never knew you were so scrappy!”

“What do you mean? The jerk tried to mug me. And I didn’t let him get away with it. Simple as that.”

“No, Mom, you beat that thug up. How weren’t you afraid?”

“It’s not complicated. I took a class and learned how to defend myself.”

“But…how?” I was incredulous. Who was this fearless woman before me?

“If you knew how I grew up, Felicity, you’d understand that self-defense is one of the most important gifts you can give yourself. I’ll never be a victim again. And I’m not afraid to stand up for others.”

I only knew bits and pieces of Debra’s past, but I hadn’t given it more than a passing thought until now. We never made it inside the mall, as I was too freaked out to head anywhere but home after that. But I saw something in Debra that I wanted. Strength to fight back. Courage to face my failures. And it started with the truth, no matter what it cost me, even if that meant jail.

I considered all the secrets that needed to come out, especially my own. And Marin’s.