Chapter 10 - The Future He Changed
The housing employee was kind, which somehow made everything worse.
“Because the reservation payment wasn’t completed, the room was released,” she explained.
“There’s a note saying you planned to commute.”
“I live three hours away.”
“I understand.
Let me see what we can do.”
I sat at Julie’s kitchen table while she typed.
My father had not just missed one important day.
He had been quietly reducing my future to something he could afford after spending the money meant to help me reach it.
There was a waitlist.
There were no promises.
I thanked the woman and asked her to remove Dad as a contact.
Then I called him.
“Were you going to tell me I wasn’t living on campus?”
He went silent.
I was starting to hate that silence.
“I thought community college might make more sense.”
“I got into the nursing program.”
“You can transfer later.”
“You don’t get to decide that for me.”
“I was trying to give us time.”
“Us?”
“To rebuild the account.”
“You mean you needed me to delay my life so nobody would find out.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s what you did.”
Dana spoke in the background.
“She’s being dramatic.
Plenty of kids commute.”
“Tell her to look at a map,” I said.
Dad lowered his voice.
“Don’t talk about my wife like that.”
I closed my eyes.
There he was.
Quick.
Certain.
Protective.
So he did know how.
“Goodbye, Dad.”
I hung up before he could answer.
Julie took the chair beside me.
“We have options.”
“I don’t want to be everybody’s emergency.”
“You’re my niece.
You’re not an emergency.”
We called the school again.
We asked about temporary housing, canceled rooms, payment plans, and scholarship deadlines.
I worked the dinner shift with a headache and came home smelling like coffee.
At ten, an email arrived from the housing office.
A double room might open.
I needed to confirm interest by morning.
I clicked yes immediately.
Then another message appeared.
It was from a woman named Marcy.
Your aunt contacted me about a camera I bought. I think it belongs to you.
Attached was a photograph.
Mom’s brown leather case.
May you like
And beneath it:
There’s a memory card inside. You may want to see what’s on it.
