Chapter 14 - THE APOLOGY AT THE SAME TABLE
Mom asked to apologize to Mason in the dining room.
I almost said no.
Then Mason said he wanted to hear her.
Lauren sat nearby.
I stayed at the other end of the table.
Mom sat across from Mason.
She didn’t touch him.
That mattered.
“I said something terrible to you.”
Mason looked at her.
“You said I didn’t belong.”
“Yes.”
“Did you mean it?”
My mother’s eyes filled.
“In that moment, I was angry and trying to support Vanessa. But it was wrong.”
Mason thought.
“You turned Mom’s picture over.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Mom glanced at me.
Then stopped herself.
“Because I was making choices about your family that weren’t mine to make.”
That was better than an excuse.
Mason looked toward Emily’s photograph.
“Did Mom want me here?”
Mom broke.
“Oh, sweetheart. Yes.”
He nodded.
Then asked, “Can Vanessa make me leave?”
“No,” I said immediately.
Mom repeated, “No.”
Mason got up.
He didn’t hug her.
He returned to his Legos.
Mom accepted that.
At the door she whispered, “Will you ever trust me again?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked hurt.
For once, she didn’t argue with uncertainty.
That evening Vanessa came for another set of belongings.
She saw Mason’s chair back at the table.
She saw Emily’s photograph upright beside it.
Her eyes lingered there.
“I never wanted to become this person.”
I believed her.
“Then you should figure out why you did.”
“With you?”
“No.”
The word hurt both of us.
“With whoever helps you stop needing a seven-year-old to lose something so you can feel like you gained something.”
Vanessa picked up her bag.
Before leaving, she asked:
“If I really change, is there any chance?”
I couldn’t give her hope just because she was finally asking the right question.
“I don’t know.”
She nodded once.
May you like
Then walked out.
For the first time, leaving was her choice to carry.
