Page 54 of Cruel Legacy

The jacket was my moms. I always loved to see her in it as a kid and when she took off, she left it behind, along with some other clothes. I kept them and started wearing them when I got big enough for them to fit. It makes me feel connected to her. Stupid, I know, since she didn’t give a shit about our connection, but girls want their moms. Or so the shrink said.

“It’s nice.” I close the lid and move the box to the side. “But the one I have is fine.”

Uncle Scott disagrees. He’s always got some slick shit to say when I graciously turn down a present. “The leather’s scarred and the underlining is showing through in some places in the back. It’s time to retire it.”

“The way your assistant retired all my other shit?”

They said it was in storage, but I haven’t heard a peep about it since that first day, which makes me think she was telling the truth about throwing it out.

Moira cuts him off before he can respond. “The insurance adjuster is still working through it. He says there are a lot of old items and he’s having trouble assigning a valuation to it. Do you maybe have receipts? That could help.”

“Some of the clothes, like my jacket, are my mom’s things. I wasn’t around when she bought it, and she wasn’t big on paperwork or organization. The sporting gear is second hand stuff I brought at a flea market or thrift store. So no, I couldn’t tell you themonetaryvalue of it.”

“I can’t imagine how hard it was for you growing up. That’s why I’m glad you came here. We’re going to give you the life you deserve. The one you should’ve had.”

She continues talking as if I’m not even sitting here. “I don’t know what Hailee was thinking, and then to have you put in the system. That’s not what was supposed to happen. She was supposed to keep you safe.”

She looks at me with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry you had to grow up the way you did. Without a parent you could depend on. Without someone who held you and comforted you. It’s no wonder you’re averse to touch.”

Is she saying she wants to pretend my life before I came here didn’t exist? I mean yeah, mom made life choices that sucked but she doesn’t get to judge her. Because mom was there. It’s these Jack and Jill come lately’s that are just getting to the party.

Buying me shit doesn’t change the fact that they turned their backs on us, and my issue with touch has nothing to do with mom. It’s the life I led after she stopped being able to hug me that’s got me like this. And tell me one person who wants to be touched by strangers without permission. Go on. I’ll wait.

She waves a hand over her face, drying her tears, and gives me a watery smile. “Now that you’re here, well… you don’t have to ever worry about anything again. That life’s over now.”

She sniffles again, and I lose it. “How. Fucking. Dare. You.” Moira jumps back as if I bitch slapped her. She’s lucky I didn’t.

“Theona!” My attention snaps to my uncle.

“It’s Thea! You’d know that I hate being calledTheonaif you hadn’t just showed up five-seconds ago.”

I turn my fury back to my aunt. “And I don’t know what youthinkyou know about my mother, but you have no right to talk about her like that. Did she hide in booze and fall off the face of the earth? Sure, but neither of us know why.”

I point to Scott. “She’syourso-called sister. You knew her longer than I did, so why don’t you try having a little compassion for the woman when she did it all by herself for as long as she could. Tell me,AuntMoira.” I say the word like it tastes bad in my mouth, because it does. “Where’s the outrage for what my dad didn’t do? I don’t even know that prick but I’d say he deserves some of your vitriol too, since the only thing he left behind was his jizz.”

Scott’s voice is razor sharp when he says, “We have brought you into our home. Show some respect.”

Does he think he’s about to chastise me? Fuck that all the fucking way to hell. I don’t care if he’s pissed, because I am, too. I point an accusing finger at the both of them.

“I didn’t ask to come here. I told you I didn’twantto come here, because I knew what a disaster it would be. But you kept hounding and begging me. So here I am. In all my flawed, unpolished glory. You want some respect? How about you show some goddamn respect for the situation I was in, and the woman who gave birth to me? Despite how you feel, Hailee Murphy was my mom. Sure, it was fucked up when she crawled into the bottle, but you weren’t there. You don’t have the right to judge her, and you certainly don’t have the right to push your guilt over not being around onto me.”

I shove away from the table and slam their phone and car keys on it. “If being here means you get to be total asshats or think you own me, you can take all this shit back, and I’ll take care of myself. Like I’ve done for all these years.”

I’m out the door and out the gate before they can stop me. I don’t have any cash on me to catch a bus and since I gave the phone back, I can’t call a ride, which means I’m walking to town. I hope Mel is at the diner and will let me use the phone.

It takes me an hour to get to the diner on foot, only to find out it’s closed for a special function tonight. If it were earlier, I’d have no problem with walking the fifteen miles to campus, but now, without my tunes, it feels like a bad idea.

I step over to the end of the boardwalk for a moment just to listen to the roar of the surf. The sound alone soothes the rage boiling inside me. After a few deep breaths, I no longer feel like I’m about to erupt. Maybe I can camp out here under the stars tonight.

“Hello.”

I turn towards the sound of the voice. I delve into my memory, trying to remember where I know the older woman from. She tucks her hair behind her ear, then it clicks. She was at the booth in front of me the first time I came here for lunch. Stepping closer, she asks, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I look over at the diner’s sign. “Thought I’d stop in for a bite, but it looks like they’re closed.”

“They’re catering an event tonight.”

“Oh.”

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