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Cash shootsthe spot our dad used to clai his fist every ti at the dinner table has yet to be patched Hart wanted to leave it for “sentih about nohen they’re reood old days They used to find it hilarious when et riled up But I suppose those kinds of things can be funny when they’re not targeted directly at you—or your innocent mother

Hart didn’t see half of what I saing up Neither did Tripp If Cash ever noticed, he never said anything to me about it

They didn’t see Daddy put his hands around Ma too much on presents And they didn’t see the marks he left because she wore turtlenecks for teeks after They never saw the way he’d grab her when he’d been drinking too much and wanted a piece It didn’t ently rebuffed him—he’d force her into the bedroom To this day, the pop of their bedroom lock still makes me flinch

For reasons I’ll never know, Ma boy of the family

So stories, I watch et teary-eyed and put on a wistful facade for their sake But deep down, I know she’s relieved he’s not around to hurt her any the sah-skinned hands that once struck the woman who loved him and those lips that spewed hateful veno six feet under

That pathetic pile of ash and dust has no power over us anymore

Blaire asked rets

I regret that things didn’t work out for us the e planned—not that I had any control over that

But I’ll never regret doing what I had to do to save my mother from that monster

25

Blaire

“We couldn’t help but notice you didn’t coht,”it slower this time, just one lap around the block The doctors sent him home with a cane, but he refuses to use it He says it’ll make him look older than he is, but I told hio white a few years back

“Didn’t Odette tell you? I went to Petty Cash then crashed at a friend’s,” I say Nudging h school anymore You don’t need to keep tabs on me …”

He chuckles “Old habits die hard, Blaire And a parent’s job is never truly done You’ll learn that someday when you have children of your own”