Daniel saw the recognition on my face.
“That’s why I got angry,” he said.
“But why leave?”
“Because he kept saying, ‘Somebody has to make sure your mother is okay.'”
Daniel’s voice rose.
“And I said, ‘Why don’t you tell Mom this yourself?'”
I pressed one hand against the carpet.
“What did he say?”
Daniel looked at me.
“He said you were carrying enough.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course he did.
Richard had said those words hundreds of times.
“Don’t tell Mom yet. She’s carrying enough.”
“I’ll handle it. Tisha has enough going on.”
“Let her sleep. She carries enough.”
Once, I’d thought those words were love.
Maybe they were.
But suddenly I heard something else inside them too.
A decision.
Made for me.
—
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“I told him he was doing it again.”
I opened my eyes.
