Chapter 12 - THE CONVERSATION NAOMI NEVER EXPECTED
Vanessa asked to meet Naomi.
Naomi initially said no.
Then, weeks later, agreed to a mediated conversation.
No Graham.
No Maisie.
Just the two women and a family therapist.
Vanessa looked smaller somehow.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Naomi began:
“Why my gifts?”
Vanessa stared at her hands.
“Because Maisie got excited.”
Naomi’s face tightened.
“That’s the point of gifts.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because every time something came from you, she talked about you for hours.”
Naomi felt anger rise.
“She’s my daughter.”
“I know.”
“You keep saying that as if it explains anything.”
Vanessa looked up.
“I wanted there to be something that belonged only to us.”
Naomi sat back.
There it was.
Not cruelty for entertainment.
Possession.
Vanessa continued.
“I thought if she felt more rooted at Graham’s house, everything would calm down.”
“So you made her think I didn’t care.”
“Yes.”
Naomi’s eyes filled.
“She cried over me.”
“I know.”
“You watched that.”
Vanessa began crying too.
“Yes.”
Naomi wanted to scream.
Instead she asked:
“When did you know it had gone too far?”
Vanessa answered without hesitation.
“The first time she defended you.”
Naomi frowned.
Vanessa continued.
“Maisie said, ‘Mommy always comes back.’”
Her voice cracked.
“I should have stopped.”
“But?”
“I told her she was remembering wrong.”
Naomi felt physically sick.
That was the deepest violation.
Not hiding presents.
Not manipulating Graham.
Vanessa had taught a four-year-old to distrust her own memory.
Naomi stood.
The session was over for her.
At the door she looked back.
“You didn’t just lie about me.”
Vanessa looked up.
May you like
“You taught my daughter not to trust herself.”
Vanessa had no answer.
