Chapter 18 - THE FIRST LETTER
Nolene wrote Liesl when Liesl was thirteen.
Through counsel.
No direct contact.
I held it unopened.
Liesl decided whether to read.
“No.”
Fine.
At sixteen:
“Yes.”
The first letter was bad.
I only wanted your cousin to have the same chance you had.
Liesl stopped.
“That makes it sound like my oxygen was extra.”
“Yes.”
She folded it.
“Done.”
No pressure.
Two years later another letter.
Better.
I used Elliott’s illness to justify controlling what did not belong to me.
Then:
I told myself removing your oxygen briefly was harmless because doctors were nearby. That was something I invented so I could keep believing I was the helpful person in the room.
Liesl read slowly.
Then:
I am sorry.
She cried.
Did not respond.
No obligation.
At twenty-one she allowed one mediated meeting.
May you like
Not yet.
That comes later.
