Chapter 14 - Vanessa Had to Learn That Lenora’s Anger Was Never Her Responsibility
For weeks, Vanessa asked the same question in different forms.
“Why was Lenora mad at me?”
“Did I do something?”
“Was it because I was stubborn?”
That last one came directly from Lenora’s words during the attack.
I answered every time.
“No.”
“But she said—”
“She was angry about something that happened before you were born.”
“To you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you do something bad?”
I could have protected myself with a simpler answer.
Instead I said:
“When I was young, I helped tell a story that hurt Lenora’s mom. I didn’t understand everything then, but it still hurt them.”
Vanessa considered that.
“So Lenora was mad at you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she grab me?”
I swallowed.
“Because sometimes people put their anger on someone who didn’t cause it.”
She leaned against me.
“That’s not fair.”
“No.”
Four-year-olds occasionally summarize twenty-four years of family damage better than adults.
No.
It wasn’t fair.
Not what happened to Elaine.
Not what happened to Lenora.
May you like
And certainly not what Lenora tried to do to Vanessa.
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