Chapter 6 - Lucy Started Avoiding Aunt Vanessa
About eight months before the birthday lunch, Lucy said:
“Is Aunt Vanessa coming?”
We were driving to:
Thanksgiving.
“Yes.”
She became quiet.
“Why?”
“She makes jokes.”
“What kind?”
“Mean ones.”
I glanced at:
her.
“About the chair?”
She shrugged.
That was enough.
I asked Vanessa privately that evening:
“What have you been saying to Lucy?”
She became offended.
“Nothing.”
“She says you make jokes.”
“Kids are sensitive.”
“What jokes?”
“I called her Princess Wheels once.”
My stomach tightened.
“You called her what?”
“She laughed.”
“Did she?”
“She smiled.”
Children smile when:
uncomfortable.
Adults know this when it benefits them.
Forget it when it requires:
accountability.
I told Vanessa:
“Never call her that again.”
She said:
“Fine.”
I considered it:
handled.
Lucy continued avoiding:
her.
May you like
That was clue one.
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