He said:
“You still have this?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
She shrugged.
“It’s part of my life.”
“Do you wear it?”
“No.”
“Want to donate it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
She thought.
“Because I don’t need to prove I’ve moved on by getting rid of it.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
Then she looked
at him.
“Want your hair back?”
“Absolutely not.”
They laughed.
The wig stayed.
Not miracle.
Not burden.
An object.
Finally allowed to be ordinary.
-END OF Chapter 3–
Part 4
Ethan was twenty-six when Lily called me.
Not him.
Me.
That frightened me instantly.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
She hadn’t called me that in years.
“Lily?”
“I’m okay.”
Never start with that unless the next sentence is bad.
My stomach dropped.
“What happened?”
“The cancer’s back.”
I sat down.
Eleven years.
Remission.
College.
Career.
Life.
Then this.
“Does Ethan know?”
“No.”
“Why
are you calling me?”
Silence.
Then:
“I don’t want him to become fourteen again.”
