Chapter 6 - Eli Started Feeling Like a Guest in the Place I Bought for Him
Jenna never physically harmed Eli before the sailboat.
But she did something quieter.
She treated his presence like:
interruption.
One Friday we arrived for our weekend.
Jenna was hosting four friends.
Music.
Wine.
Food everywhere.
I said:
“We’re here.”
She laughed.
“I forgot.”
I looked at her.
“My schedule is on the calendar.”
“Sorry.”
She moved the party outside.
Not catastrophic.
But Eli whispered:
“Can we go home?”
Another weekend, Jenna had moved:
his books,
Lego sets,
surfboard wax,
clothes
from the smaller bedroom into boxes.
“Why?”
“I needed closet space.”
“That’s Eli’s room.”
“He’s here four nights a month.”
Eli heard.
I said:
“Jenna.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I’ll put it back.”
Then I did the worst thing.
I put it back:
myself.
No consequence.
No key revoked.
No deadline.
I fixed:
the surface.
Preserved:
the arrangement.
May you like
Exactly the family pattern I claimed to hate.
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