Ray walked in right then, holding a beer, and started laughing. Not a nervous laugh; it was a full-on, condescending laugh like I’d just told the world’s dumbest joke.
He shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I wiped my hands and left the room. That night, I barely slept. It sank in slowly: they’d stolen my future and wrapped it up in a bow to make it look like a gift.
After that, I kept quiet.
Just counted the days. My eighteenth birthday was seven months away. I figured I’d hold it together until then — graduate, get out, and never look back.
But last weekend?
That plan blew up.
Ray’s side of the family came over; there were loud voices, clinking beer bottles, and kids running around. My dad’s house was filled with people who had never met him or cared that he existed. They laughed on his couch, touched the books he picked out, and spread out in his living room like they owned it.Continue reading…
