She began crying again.
“I just wanted you to be interested.”
She covered her mouth.
I looked away.
I wasn’t going to comfort her out of that realization.
Not this time.
Then my father approached.
His face was red.
“Are you happy now?”
Mom lowered her hand.
“Dad—”
He ignored her.
“You made us look like fools.”
I stared at him.
“You testified that I couldn’t hold down a job.”
“Because you never told us what you were doing!”
“I did.”
He waved a hand.
“Don’t start with that.”
I felt something settle inside me.
It wasn’t anger.
It was recognition.
Even now, after hearing the records, he wanted the problem to be the way I’d communicated.
Not the fact that he’d refused to listen.
“You could’ve settled this,” he continued. “You could’ve given us a reasonable share and kept the family together.”
