At fifteen, I got pneumonia so bad I ended up hospitalized, and my mother called from the car on her way to Tyler’s band showcase. She told me the nurses were taking good care of me and that Tyler couldn’t miss his big audition for my convenience. I stared at the hospital ceiling after we hung up and realized my family would prioritize a garage band over my health.
The worst betrayal involved a stray dog named Scout that I found behind a gas station when I was sixteen. He was a gentle, watchful animal who followed me home and slept with his nose against my bedroom door every night. Tyler hated that the dog loved me, so he faked a scratch on his arm and told our parents that Scout had attacked him.
The next day, I came home from school and found Scout’s bowls were gone and the house was silent. My father was in the garage, and when I asked where my dog was, he just said the animal was taken care of. Something hardened in me that day, a slow turning of water into ice that eventually led me to the Army.
The military gave me rules and a world where effort actually counted for something, which was where I eventually met Terrence. He was helping build wheelchair ramps for a charity in Austin and made me laugh before he ever even tried to flirt with me. He loved me in practical ways, like filling up my gas tank or putting clean sheets on the bed.
I was taping a box shut when the doorbell rang, a sound so impatient and familiar that it made my skin go tight. I looked through the front window and saw my mother’s designer purse before I even saw her face. They had finally decided to show up, and judging by the look on Tyler’s face, they hadn’t come to grieve.
Part 3
My first feeling when I opened the door wasn’t rage, but a deep and immediate sense of disgust. They stood on my porch dressed in expensive resort clothes, looking rested and tan from their time in Hawaii. My mother was wearing cream slacks and pearl earrings, while Tyler wore jeans that probably cost more than my car payment.
“Rose,” my mother said, using that practiced softness she employed when she wanted something from me. “Can we come in?”