- 3.
In the end, I didn’t get picked up, the security
guard took me home.
It’s after midnight when I finally get there.
My phone’s still silent.
The Landry house is lit up, the sound of
laughter spilling out into the night.
I don’t say a word.
If the maid hadn’t opened the door, I think I
would’ve stayed out there forever.
“Wow, you look awful!
And your clothes are a mess.”
Chad’s the first to speak, can’t help but blurt
it out.
Mom seems shocked.
“Ashley, honey, you’ve lost so much weight!”
How could I go from a chubby–cheeked girl
to someone who barely tips the scales at
eighty pounds in just five years?
Even Dad looks a little sad, immediately
telling the maid to fix me something to eat.
“We were going to pick you up, but Brittany
wasn’t feeling well, so we…”
I get it.
This is their special way of making amends.
They can ignore me and put me down in front
of Brittany without a second thought, not
even caring if they hurt my feelings.
Then, afterward, they toss me a bone, hoping
I’ll forget all the pain.
I used to eat it up.
But now, I don’t care.
I start to speak, but Chad cuts me off.
“Give me a break, it’s just a ploy to get
attention.
Probably dieting again and blaming it on the
hospital?
Just wants you to feel sorry for her so she
can stay here!”
Mom scoffs at him, then turns to me, her
eyes soft and gentle.
“We haven’t found your real parents yet, so
you can stay here.
You can call me Mom again, I’ll still think of
you as my daughter!”
“It’s okay, Mrs. Landry, I’m so grateful you’re
letting me stay!”
That one formal address puts a vast distance
<
between us, where once there was the
closest bond imaginable.
Mom can’t hold back the tears, and starts to
cry.
I’m not the headstrong girl she used to know
anymore.
If I complained, if I yelled, if I blamed her and
Dad for those years of neglect, it’d be better
than this weak, pathetic version of myself.
