Our Last Family Dinner
I thought of the twisted rules they had beaten into me, and the terror of the opposite sex that had been branded into my body.
I thought of that holiday night, the fireworks filling the sky, and the moment I stepped off the rooftop, the relief and the lightness of it.
I thought of Talia's guilt, the apology she had never been able to say out loud, and the note she had left behind.
I thought of Mom and Dad's regret, the way they had wept, and the empty house they would live in for the rest of their lives.
All of it was behind me now.
All of it was over.