Love.
Abandonment.
Right.
Wrong.
Simple stories are comforting.
Real people rarely are.
Goldi had loved Leo from the beginning.
She had also made a decision that hurt him deeply.
She had been manipulated by fear.
She had also allowed that fear to control her for far too long.
Her father had threatened us.
But after he was gone, shame became another prison.
None of the truth erased what I had done.
The sleepless nights.
The therapy appointments.
The lunches packed before sunrise.
The school meetings.
The fevers.
The birthday cakes.
The arguments over homework.
The endless repetitions of the same terrible jokes.
The first job interview.
The first time Leo took the city bus without me.
The night he came home heartbroken because a girl he liked didn’t feel the same way.
I was there.
I am proud that I was there.
