God,I hoped not.
“Oh,absolutely,” Dad agreed. “You talk to her and get back to us. But son?”
“Yeah?”
Hiseyes glimmered with sympathy as he reached out to lay a hand over my knee. “Thehouse is still yours, regardless. You’ve wanted to take care of it for a longtime now, and we’re ready to let you do it. We need to get out of here, and youneed your own space. You’re thirtyfreakin’ yearsold, forcryin’ out loud.”
“Dad,”I snorted. “Don’t I know it.”
34
GetEverything I’ve Wanted
MOLLY
“SO,WHAT ARE YOUgonnado?” Morgan asked fromacross the kitchen counter.
Iscooped a heaping spoonful of coconut milk yogurt into a bowl. Next came twohandfuls of granola and a dozen strawberry slices. The bout of turmoil racingthrough my mind was enough to kick me back into my old habits. Food was stillcomfort. But at least, I told myself, this washealthyfood. There wasjust a lot of it.
AfterChad had left to get his stuff done at his house, Morgan and I had a long chatabout the virtual battle I hadn’t been fighting. I told her about my past ofbeing bullied in high school, and the uncertainty of what I wanted to do withmy musical career. She’d already known about the comments online—God, everybodyknew—and that saved me the torture of having to read them again.
“Idon’t know what I’mgonnado,” I admitted. “I feellike I need to address it.”
“Ifthat’s what your gut’s telling you, then you should.”
Ilifted my eyes to hers as the spoon lifted to my mouth. “What was high schoollike for you?”
InstantlyMorgan’s cheeks flushed, and her gaze dropped to the countertop. “Um … well,honestly, I was a really mean kid.” That was hard for me to believe, and withwide-eyes, I stated as such. Shame deepened the color in her face as shenodded. “Yeah, I, uh … I grew uppretty poor, and I’dregularly go to school without lunch. There were holes in my clothes and shoes,and …” She shrugged. “Anyway, it was rough, and when kids started to tease me,I turned it against them and teased them back. But I was angrier, I guess, so Iwas meaner. I started rumors, got the attention away from me, and … yeah.”
Iblinked my shock away and shook my head. “God. I’m sorry.”
Herhand waved dismissively. “Don’t be. My family went through some rough times,after my dad left, but my mom got us out of it.”
Iinhaled the admission and it stuck in my throat. As I swallowed, I shook myhead and immediately felt closer to my roommate and friend. How had I not knownthis about her? Did she know the same had been true about me?
“Ididn’t know your dad left,” I mentioned feebly.
Morgannodded solemnly. “Yeah, he did. He went to work one day and decided not to comehome. He abandoned his wife and three kids like we werenothin’to him, and things were really hard for a while.”
Inodded. “I know thefeelin’. My dad walked out on us,too.”
WhenI looked to my friend’s glistening eyes, I saw in them a whole newappreciation. “Fuck ‘em. You turned out great, andobviously, I’m doingpretty wellfor myself now, too.We overcame the shitty hands we were dealt. And while I was getting throughmine, Ikindalearned that everybody’s got baggage,and we all deal in different ways. It doesn’t make it right when someonechooses to lash out against innocent bystanders, like I did, but I guess itmade me a little more sympathetic toward the so-called villains, you know?”
Inodded contemplatively. “I honestly never thought about it like that before.”
“Thingsaren’t always black and white, you know? Like, we grow up with theseDisneymovies that teach us there aregood and bad guys, but the real world isn’t like that. There are so,somany shades of grey, and even the bad guys have hearts that are hurting.” Then,she smiled. “Well, usually.”
Withanother contemplative nod, I lowered the bowl to the counter. “You’re soright.”
Morgansmiled bashfully and shrugged. “I’m just trying to give another perspective.”Then, her eyeswidenedand her hands fluttered. “O-oh!And I’m not trying to tell you not to address the issue or anything. Youshould! But maybe you can do it more diplomatically. Don’t fight fire withfire, you know? Don’t be like I was.”
***
I wastyping passionately and with a purpose when my phone rang from beside me.Keeping my eyes on the computer screen, I grabbed my phone and answered withoutchecking who was calling. “Hello?”
“Hey,Molly!” It was Kylie, Devin’s purple-haired wife.
Ismiled at the voice of my friend. “Hey, lady. Long time, no see,” I laughed.I’d seen her and the others just the day before, but Lord, I missed them allterribly. “Happy to be home?”
