Most folk would call that a covered porch, but not Mom. “Well, let’s go.”
Not waiting for an answer, I brushed past her and headed downstairs. She trailed slightly behind and I could feel her eyes boring into the back of me. I started counting. I made it to five and the bottom step before she opened her mouth.
“Have you’ve gotten a haircut recently?”
“No.”
There was a slight huff. “I can tell.”
I sighed. “Then why did you ask?”
Mom didn’t respond until we reached the den that led out to the porch. “What are you wearing by the way?”
“Thrift store shit,” I replied, even though that wasn’t true.
She tasked softly. “Very nice, Avery.”
I rolled my eyes as I pushed open the door, half tempted to race back through the house and start rolling around on all the white furniture. Dad was sitting on one of the chaise lounges, reading a newspaper. Before I could open my mouth, Mom did.
“Look who decided to pay us a visit.”
Dad lowered the newspaper as he looked up. Surprised flickered across his face. “Avery.”
“Hey, Dad.”
Sitting up, he folded the newspaper and placed it aside. “We weren’t expecting you.”
No ‘how have you’ve been’ or ‘happy to see you.’ I sat in one of the wicker chairs. “I know. I’m not going to be here for long.”
“She wants to talk to us.” Mom remained standing. “I cannot fathom what it could be about, but there is a rental in the driveway and there’s a boy in the car.”
I ignored that comment. “This has nothing to do with the rental or who is in the car.”
“I’d surely hope you didn’t come all this way to talk about that,” she replied.
I took a long, deep breath. “I spoke to David.” My father stiffened, and Mom was surprisingly quiet. Good signs. “He told me about Molly Simmons and Blaine Fitzgerald and what happened last summer—what will happen this summer.”
“Avery…”
“No,” I said, cutting Mom off before she could say anything else that would surely piss me off. “I haven’t broken the agreement. I’ve kept my mouth shut all these years. I’ve done exactly what you two told me I should do.”
Mom drew herself up. “David had no right to call you—”
“Why not?” I demanded. “Is it against the law to let me know that Blaine raped another girl, just like he had raped me?”
Dad sucked in a shrill breath, but Mom, she got whiter if that was possible. “There is no reason to put that out there so crudely,” she said, crossing her arms. “We know what you said—”
“What I told you that night at the hospital is the same thing I told the police. Blaine had raped me. It was you two that decided I should drop the charges, which made everyone think that I had lied.”
“Avery,” my father began.
I didn’t let him get any further. “The reason why I even came here is because I need to let go of what happened to me and the only way I can do that is by telling you two what I should’ve said then.” I took a breath, one I didn’t need. “You two were wrong. You were so unbelievably wrong in what you decided.”
Mom stepped forward. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” I stood, my hands balling into fists. “You should’ve told his parents to go fuck themselves. You should’ve told them to get the hell out of your house. You should’ve gone to the police and told then what his parents were trying to do, which was to bribe your daughter into silence. And for what? So you wouldn’t have to go to court? So that no one would ask questions? And you all could still go to the club and things wouldn’t be awkward? Meanwhile, I was labeled a lying whore by everyone? And Blaine was free to do it again to another person? How culpable are we? You should’ve stood beside me and believed me! You should’ve gotten me help. I’m your daughter. You should’ve been thinking about me.”
Dad looked away, and I could understand why. Maybe he’d always suspected the truth. I would be ashamed, too.
“Things haven’t turned out that bad for your, Avery.” Mom let out a noisy breath. “After all, look at what you’ve been able to do with that money. Go to college. Furnish your own apartment.” Her lip curled. “You make it sound like we did nothing for you.”
“Nancy,” my father said, lifting his head.
“What?” She tipped her chin up. “Never once did she think this was hard on us.”