"After all, Louise is still Norma's sister, and Percival is your own brother..."

I looked at these two—my in-laws who had wept and knelt before me after Norma and I got married, swearing that everything before had been their fault, promising they'd never contact Louise or Percival again, begging for my forgiveness.

Now I understood. They were cut from the same cloth as Norma.

I shook my head slightly and said words that completely betrayed what I felt inside.

"Percival is my brother and Norma's brother-in-law. It's only right that she picks him up."

The Pruitts praised me for being sensible and understanding, yet they made no move to leave.

I knew why. They couldn't tell whether I knew about the acceptance letters.

I made an excuse about going into town to buy medicine and left.

At the pharmacy, I searched every pocket and couldn't scrape together enough for a tube of burn ointment.

I was about to leave when I heard Percival's familiar voice from behind a curtain.

"Norma, it's just low blood sugar. You really didn't need to bring me to the clinic."

"You spend so much money on me all the time. Doesn't my brother have a problem with it?"

Norma's voice dripped with indifference. "He's a man I support. What opinion could he possibly have?"

"Besides, you're down one kidney. You need to be extra careful."

"Doctor, I'll take all those supplements you mentioned. And throw in some candied fruit—he doesn't like bitter things. Something sweet for him to snack on."

"Thanks, Norma. Maybe... get some for my brother too? I don't want him overthinking."

Percival spoke, but I heard the contempt in Norma's reply.

"Why waste the money?"

"Besides, he can stomach any kind of bitterness. He doesn't need it."

"Last year, when those two fat pigs at the school got sick, he insisted on taking them all the way to town to see a vet."

"I didn't bother with him, so he dragged that flatbed cart off by himself. Wore himself out completely. If you ask me, he brought it all on himself."

"The pigs were sick—just slaughter them and be done with it. Why go through all that trouble?"

Percival let out a snort of laughter.

"Those two pigs had to weigh at least two hundred pounds each, right? Gotta hand it to my brother—he's really something else."

"Still, good thing he hauled them off to the vet. Otherwise, I wouldn't have touched meat from sickly pigs!"