her mortgage.
Jessica’s tuition.
$47,000 for a wedding I was forbidden to attend.
I wasn’t above anyone.
I was exhausted.
She started to invoke Dad.
I stopped her.
If Dad had still been alive, he never would have allowed her to tell me I wasn’t family.
Silence.
Heavy enough to feel physical.
I could hear her swallow.
I could hear the kitchen clock Dad bought at a flea market in 1998, still ticking too loudly.
I told her I didn’t need her agreement.
I was done.
Done paying.
Done
