Page 17 of Caramel Apple Cupcake

“So, why are you here, RJ? Were you summoned as well and told to get a mail-order wife?”

Her mother gasped. “Harper. You will watch your tone in our home. I didn’t raise you to be so dismissive.”

Harper couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mother’s mouth. With everything else on her mind, that was her breaking point. “Raised me? You didn’t raise me. I raised myself. You raised RJ. Your golden child. I was the one who had to live in his shadow. I love you, but we’re not going to rewrite history.”

RJ guffawed, almost choking on his wine. “Did you really just say that to Mom?”

Her father finally lifted his head from his mobile device to pay attention to the people around him. “You will apologize to your mother. I swear, you’ve always been a disappointment.”

Harper didn’t care what either of them had to say. The only person she was focused on was her mother. The woman who should have been her biggest champion. The person who was meant to help Harper grow into the woman she was meantto be. The only one who never stood up for her. When her father ignored her, compared her to RJ, and shooed her away from him when others were around, she always expected her mother to stand up for her. To push back. To tell her father to stop being such as ass.

But she never did. Not once. Her father behaved as if she meant nothing to him. Like she was just another mouth to feed. Never a kind word. Never a hug when she had nightmares as a child. No, all his attention was focused on RJ.

Every football game. Every school competition. They would stay up for hours talking about RJ’s future and what he wanted to do. But those conversations were never had with her. Not once. Oh, she had tried. Several times. He would tell her it wasn’t his job to help her with her future. That she knew what was expected of her as a Bryan, so she needed to make sure it happened. No excuses allowed.

That was it. When she asked her mother for help, she would usually say. “Just listen to your father. He knows more about that stuff than I do.” It was pathetic. She always saw her mother as a strong, fearless woman when she was a child. But she wasn’t. The sad thing was, Harper only saw her now as weak. A woman who had no mind of her own. Someone who wouldn’t protect her own child from hurt.

Harper turned to look at her father. “Why do you hate me?”

RJ looked shocked again. Luckily, he kept his mouth shut this time. But his eyes were wide as he leaned back. For a moment, she thought she noticed a look of pride on his face and a subtle nod in her direction. As if to say, “It’s about time.”

Her mother stood from the table. Her hands were laid flat on the surface. “Listen, little girl. You will stop this disrespectful behavior right now. What you’re not going to do is come into my house and speak to me and your father this way. What the hellis wrong with you? You have lost your damn mind talking to us that way.”

Laughter bubbled up, and Harper couldn’t stop herself. That was the first time she’d ever heard her mother use language that she’d always referred to as ‘those gutter words’ that no self-respecting Black person should say. Which, interestingly enough, told Harper she was onto something. Looking back and forth between her parents, she saw them communicating silently with their eyes.

Goosebumps rose on her skin. “Oh, fuck no. You have got to be shitting me.” Her hands raised to her temples. She thought about her father’s behavior over the years. The preferential treatment of RJ. How she was almost invisible to him. His borderline contempt for her very presence.

“Mom, please tell me this is not true. Because you got me fucked up right now.”

RJ must have caught on to what was happening, because he was finally engaged in the conversation beyond looking like a deer in headlights. “Wait a minute. Harper, what are you accusing Mom and Dad of?”

She threw him a look of disgust. Did he know? Is that why he treated her so horribly over the years? “Don’t act stupid, RJ. You’re too damn smart for that. So, tell me, Father. Why do you seem to hate my mere presence? Why am I never as good as anyone else in this family? Hmmm? Something you two want to tell me?”

The sinking feeling in her stomach ballooned when her mother started silently crying. Tears fell down her face as she retook her seat. Her father leaned back before dropping his head in what appeared to be defeat.

“Who was it?” Harper needed to know the truth.

It wasn’t even that she wanted to know the details. But if what she fully expected was true, that would change her life.Everything she thought she knew about herself would be a lie. All the struggles she had gone through to make herself the perfect daughter in the perfect family were for nothing.

No matter what she did, Rodney Bryan, Sr. never would have loved her. And her mother was too afraid to do anything but live in a world where her daughter was ostracized.

“It doesn’t matter now.” Her mother finally said into the silence of the room. “Your father and I were separated. We didn’t think we would ever get back together. He had someone he thought…”

Her father interjected. “She doesn’t need to know all that, Athena.”

Harper thought it was completely relevant. “Did you leave Mom for another woman?” Both her parents chose not to answer.

Athena continued. “Yes, you’re right. It’s all water under the bridge now. Well, as I said, your father and I were separated.”

RJ was shocked. “When was this? I don’t remember that at all.” He genuinely looked upset, which was a first.

“You were too young, RJ. Anyway, things happened. And then your father wanted us to come back home.” She looked at Harper. “I loved your father so much.” Athena realized what she said and quickly corrected her words. “Rodney. I love your father, Rodney, so much. He is the only person I have ever loved this way. Everything that happened back then was a mistake.”

“You mean, I was a mistake.” No matter how prepared she was to come here and burn it all down and not look back, hearing the words still tore her up inside. It explained so much and nothing at all.

“No, you were not a mistake. You’re my child,” Athena said. Her voice was shaky. Uncertain.

Of course, Harper felt for her. Any woman placed in that situation would probably do the same. She only hoped and wished her mother had shown her she loved her as much as she said she did. At this point, words meant nothing.

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