Page 120 of Borden 3

I didn’t say anything. Shame burned my cheeks. I was momentarily speechless.

“Don’t go to him,” she said calmly. “He’s no good for you.”

“You’re wrong,” I snapped. “He’s good for me, Granny. He makes me feel alive.”

“You are alive regardless of him. You will stay alive if you let him leave.”

I felt my cheeks burn. “How…?:

How did she know he was leaving?

“Officer Young is dead, and those that are guilty scurry.”

My insides roared at the reminder of Officer Young's death. “He didn’t kill Officer Young.”

“Perhaps not directly.”

I didn’t respond to that.

The news hadn't made a single mention of a shoot out with dealers.

They simply said Officer Young had been gunned down.

The backpack’s weight made me fidget. I refused to put it down. I clenched the strap tightly, determined to go. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I don’t want to live with you. I just want to be free.”

“Free?” she repeated. “Emma, whatever prison you’re in, it’s not me that shackled you. Wherever you go, it will follow. You won’t be free until you set yourself free.”

I rolled my eyes, tired of these kinds of talks. “You don’t understand.”

“I do—”

“No, you don’t.” I took a step closer to her and pointed to the ground. “I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to live with you. I don’t want you. I want him.”

She stood up and began to come to me. I shook my head, stepping back, keeping the gap present between us. “Don’t! I don’t want to hear it—”

“Don’t leave me, Emma—”

“Stop!”

“—I know I’m old, but I’ll keep up, I promise! I’ll keep up, darling. I promise.”

“No more promises!” I yelled. “I hate promises! I don’t want to hear anymore of them ever again from you or anyone else—”

“I promised to love you, and I have!”

“I don’t care!”

“I promised I’d be there for you, and here I am, fighting, Emma—”

“I’m going, Granny, stop! I made up my mind.”

“He’s too damaged—”

“You don’t know him!”

“But I do. I know him. I know all about him.”

I hesitated, tears threatening to spill. “What do you think you know?”

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