I did not need Dad to calm down before I could take what happened seriously.
I did not need Mom to admit that standing in the doorway had been a choice.
I did not need Emily to tell me whether she wanted the money.
Those conversations might matter emotionally someday, but they were not the next step.
The next step was simpler.
Protect the evidence.
Protect the apartment transaction.
Protect myself from making a decision while shaken and furious.
I scrolled through my phone.
Dad’s number appeared.
I passed it.
Mom’s appeared.
I passed it too.
Then Emily’s.
I did not call her either.
That was difficult in a different way.
Emily had been the reason Dad gave for his demand.
Tuition.
College.
Family obligation.
For years, those words had been enough to open my wallet before I stopped to ask whether anyone else was being asked to sacrifice the same way.
