Chapter 24 - Diane and Emma
Emma was thirteen when she asked to see Diane.
Three years.
No pressure.
Diane had sent birthday cards through therapist.
Emma returned the first two unopened.
Read the third.
No demands.
Then:
“I want to ask her something.”
Therapeutic meeting.
Diane entered.
Older.
No pearls.
Emma noticed.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
Then:
“Why did you hit me?”
Diane took a breath.
“Because I was angry at your mother and father about things that had nothing to do with you, and I used you to make my point.”
“Why boy?”
“Because I believed sons mattered more to family legacy.”
“Do you still?”
Diane paused.
“Sometimes the old thought appears.”
Emma’s face hardened.
Diane continued:
“And I know it is wrong.”
Better than fake instant purity.
Then:
“Would you give me the house if you owned it?”
Diane blinked.
“What?”
Emma:
“If I was your daughter.”
The question was devastating.
Diane whispered:
“I don’t know what I would have done when I was younger.”
Emma looked disappointed.
Then Diane said:
“Today, yes. I would treat daughters and sons the same.”
Emma nodded slowly.
“Okay.”
Then:
“Do you want hug?”
Diane did not ask.
Emma said:
“No.”
“Okay.”
Meeting ended twenty-one minutes later.
May you like
No relationship restored that day.
Just truth.
