Chapter 9 - Say It Yourself
Dad called Karen from his kitchen.
I stayed by the sink, close enough to hear his side and far enough away to let it belong to him.
"Your mother's saying I'm confused," he said.
"I'm not. I remember your call exactly."
He listened.
"No, I don't want Rick posting anything. I want the people who saw that lie to hear the truth."
Another pause.
"From you."
When he hung up, his hand shook.
He slid it beneath the table.
I pretended not to notice until he said, "That took more out of me than replacing a clutch."
"You did fine."
"Didn't ask for a grade."
We both smiled.
An hour later, Karen called me.
"My mother says deleting it will make her look guilty."
"Then she understands the situation."
"Rick, I'm trying."
"What did you tell her?"
Silence.
"Start there," I said.
That evening, Karen wrote in the family group chat.
She said she had uninvited Jack.
She said he had not refused to attend, had not pressured me to leave, and had done nothing to deserve it.
She named the other gatherings too.
I read the message twice.
It didn't repair everything.
It was the first thing she'd done that cost her something instead of asking Dad to pay.
Elaine answered immediately.
You do not owe anyone an explanation for protecting your home.
Karen replied:
I wasn't protecting it. I was excluding someone because I was afraid you'd criticize me.
Howard called me three times.
I let him leave messages.
The first was angry.
The second was louder.
I deleted neither.
Megan called after reading the exchange.
"Mom asked if she could bring Grandpa his pictures."
"That's between them."
"Are you coming home?"
I sat on the edge of the narrow bed in the furnished room I'd rented across town.
"I don't know yet, sweetheart."
She went quiet.
"I love both of you," she said.
"You get to. Nobody gets to make that difficult for you."
At nine, Dad called.
"Karen asked to come over tomorrow."
"Do you want me there?"
May you like
"No."
Then he added, "And don't wait outside in the truck."
