Chapter 5

Later, when I told my therapist about it, I was calm. I even smiled a little bitterly.

I’d knelt for maybe half a minute.

But every second felt like a year.

When I got home, I asked my mother, “Mom, did you fix my scarf? I want to wear it.”

She was in the kitchen, tidying up. She didn’t answer.

I went to my room to look for it.

The scarf had been unraveled. It was just a pile of red yarn now.

My mother said, “Marco’s scarf was too short, and I ran out of yarn. So I took yours apart to fix his. You can buy yourself a new one—it’s not like it was expensive.”

Oh. Okay.

But my heart hurt so much.

All these years, knives had been scraping across it, wounding it till it bled from every side.

That day, I held that pile of yarn, laughing and crying like a madwoman.

My mother asked, “Is it really that big a deal? It’s just a scarf. You have money. You can afford to blow four hundred on a shrink!”

I shot to my feet and screamed, “Am I your real daughter? Mom, don’t you know how awful you’ve been to me? Only Marco is your child, isn’t he? Isn’t he?!”

For the first time in my life, I lost it.

I flipped the dinner table. Plates and bowls crashed everywhere.

“I’m done,” I said. “You can all pretend I’m dead!”

I slammed the door and ran out. The cold wind and snow pellets stung my face, freezing my bones.

I walked aimlessly through the snowy night. My phone rang non‑stop—Enzo demanding I come back to the apartment. I didn’t answer a single one.

When I reached a small park, I realized I was barefoot. I’d lost my shoes somewhere. My soles were cut and bleeding from bits of ice.

I sat on a park bench, clutching that unraveled red yarn, and sobbed.

Later, in my therapist’s office, when I said “You can all pretend I’m dead,” I couldn’t help but laugh.

“It felt so good,” I said. “When I said that, I realized—I am a person. Not someone’s daughter, not someone’s sister. A living, breathing person.”

The therapist listened quietly.

His glasses reflected the light. He looked unfamiliar but trustworthy.

I went on: “That night I ran out into the snow and limped for a long time. Enzo kept calling; I blocked him. I walked onto the Queensboro Bridge and looked at the Manhattan skyline in the distance. And suddenly I forgot a lot of things.”

“I remembered my grandma’s house near the Brooklyn Bridge. The cables looked like white gulls spreading their wings in the sun. I remembered little beautiful things, rising up from the darkness, one by one.”

“I cried. Limping along, tears hot against the wind. And I realized: I’m not broken yet. There’s still so much good energy hidden inside me—it came out to save me just when I wanted to give up.”

“So I decided not to die. I decided to live on my own. Far away from all of them.”

The hourglass had run out.

I looked at the time.

“Oh, almost an hour. Sorry for taking so much of your time.”

He was a famous therapist. Every second cost money.

“Thank you for your help. I’ve really benefited. This is my last session. I can’t afford it anymore.”

I smiled bitterly.

I’d decided to leave Enzo. From now on, I’d live on my own salary.

The therapist took off his glasses, revealing a pair of clear blue‑gray eyes.

“Okay. Now the session is over. We’re no longer doctor and patient.”

He smiled slightly. “Senior, do you remember me?”