Little by little, I began to realize that I was not just taking away Mom’s belongings.
I was trying to get Mom out of our house.
Then he started to get into my room.
I caught her once standing next to Mom’s graduation dress, with the dress bag partially open.
What are you doing?
“Reviewing if there are moths.
In my closet?
He looked at the dress.
Your mother wouldn’t want her work destroyed.
Don’t talk about my mother.
Her smile changed.
“You really think you’re kind of a little replacement for her, right?
I ordered him to come out.
That night, I told Dad what had happened.
Instead of defending me, he said that Shirley was trying to help.
She also lost Kathy.
She lost a friend. I lost my mother.
Dad looked exhausted.
I can’t with this tonight.
That was the moment when I realized that I could no longer count on him to protect the things I cared about.
Two weeks before graduation, one of the handmade flowers by mom was released from the neckline.
I cried more than the damage deserved, because I felt another part of it disappear.
Gary took me to an arrangement store run by Mrs. Howard.
When I explained that my mother had made the dress before she died, Mrs. Howard promised to be very careful.
Then, as he examined the stitches, he suddenly fell silent.
Has anyone else brought this dress here?
“No.
Perhaps photographs?
My stomach tightened.
Mrs. Howard explained that a woman had gone to her store a month earlier with detailed photographs of a dress almost identical to mine.
I wanted an exact copy finished before graduation.
