Chapter 3

That evening, I packed a bag and bought a train ticket home. Neither of us said a word the entire ride.

By the time we arrived, it was already dark. I pushed open the front door and found Troy sprawled across the couch, completely absorbed in a video game. He didn't even glance up when the door opened.

I was long past expecting anything different. I walked straight to my old room without giving him a second look. The room was cramped and stuffed with junk. I gathered the few things I wanted, planning to head out and stay at a hotel.

But the moment I started dragging my suitcase toward the door, a parade of relatives came flooding in. My aunt, my uncle, and my father's older brother all packed into the living room until there was barely room to breathe.

My aunt, Ruth Lennox, grabbed my arm first. "Keira, what is wrong with you? Your mother raised you and your brother all by herself. Do you have any idea how much she suffered? How much she sacrificed?"

Gary Lennox, my uncle, chimed right in, "She's right. Family doesn't drag each other to court. Just give your mom a little more each month and show some respect, and we can all put this behind us."

My other uncle, Dale Hadley, took a drag of his cigarette, his voice heavy. "Your mother always treated you and your brother the same. She pinched every penny and gave you both everything she had.

"Even if she wasn't perfect, she still put in the work. You can't be this selfish. And you certainly can't be this ungrateful."

They all piled on, one after another, every single one of them blaming me and pressuring me to give in. As far as they were concerned, I was the one in the wrong. That was never in question.

I stood in the center of it all, hemmed in by a wall of relatives, and something I'd been holding down for years finally broke through. I lifted my head and swept my gaze across every face in the room.

"Treated us the same?" I repeated quietly, my voice laced with something sharp. "I'd love for any of you to tell me what 'the same' looks like."

I looked straight at Aunt Ruth, my voice clear and steady. "You should remember this. Troy had every extracurricular imaginable growing up—art classes, dance classes, tutoring, one after another, never a gap. Mom said boys needed to be well-rounded and that he couldn't afford to fall behind."

My fingers curled tighter, and my throat went dry. "But me? In junior year, I was falling behind in math. I asked to enroll in a tutoring class outside of school.

"The tuition was 800 dollars. And you know what Mom said? She said girls didn't need good grades because we'd just end up married anyway, so there was no point wasting money on extra classes."

The room went dead silent. Every relative who had been running their mouth a second ago had nothing left to say.

I turned to Mom, whose face had gone rigid, and kept going, "I scored over 1500 on my SATs and got into a top college. I didn't get so much as a congratulations.

"Troy failed his entrance exams and ended up at trade school, and you bought him the latest smartphone and brand-name sneakers without batting an eye. Money was never an issue when it was for him.

"And you call that treating us the same?"

Troy heard all of this and clicked his tongue in annoyance, his fingers never pausing on his game.

I took a deep breath and swallowed the ache building in my chest. "And do any of you know how much Mom gave me for living expenses in college? Do you know how she sent it? She gave me—"

Mom cut me off with a sharp bark, "Enough!"

She stared me down, her eyes panicked but defiant. "If I'm such a terrible mother in your eyes, then fine. I won't waste my breath defending myself. Forget the family. We'll let the court decide. However much support they say I'm owed, that's what it'll be."

The day of the hearing, the sky was overcast, and everything was washed in gray. I arrived at the courtroom on time with the lawyer I'd hired.

Mom was already seated at the plaintiff's table, wearing a brand-new coat, her hair carefully done.