“He wouldn’t do that, which you’d know if you’d given him a chance,” Tiffany said. “But you didn’t. You were so rude to him.”
“Oh, please. You don’t know anything about that guy. You just want to fool around. When are you going to grow up? Do your friends get away with this kind of behavior?”
“You’re overreacting.”
“I don’t want you seeing him again.”
“You can’t tell me what to do. I’m an adult.”
“Then start acting like one. Get a job. Or don’t, but if you want to keep living under this roof, you’ll do as I say.”
“Maybe I don’t want to live here anymore.”
“No? And where are you going to go with no money? If what you want is to screw around all day and shop and party, then find a husband who can afford to take care of you. I guarantee you won’t find him on a construction site.”
“You don’t even care what I want,” she said, her voice rising. “You just want me to roll over and do everything you say without questioning it. Like Lake.”
“You’re nothing like Lake,” he snapped.
They went silent. My heart raced, as if I were there, standing in the room, only it was worse because I couldn’t see anything. It was true—I did do everything my dad asked. And Tiffany did nothing he asked. I wished, for once, she would just try with him instead of deliberately pushing his buttons, getting him to say things to hurt her.
Dad spoke first. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“I know what you meant,” Tiffany said. “I’m not Lake and I never will be. If you don’t like the choices I make, then kick me out. I’m not going to stop dating someone just because you tell me to.”
“I will, Tiffany. Don’t test me.”
“You’d put your own daughter on the street?”
“If I did, it’d be for your own goddamn good. You need to learn—”
“Fine,” she screamed so loud, I actually pulled away from the door. “I’ll be gone in the morning.”
After a few silent seconds, Dad’s footsteps pounded the floor and a door slammed shut. My breath caught in my throat. Maybe Tiffany and I had our differences, but oh my God, I didn’t want her to be homeless. I had no idea where she’d even go. Tiffany and I had grown up in this house, a bathroom apart. I stood there so long, listening to the silence, not breathing, I started to see stars.
I let myself into her room. “Tiff?”
She was still sitting where she was when I’d left, staring at her door. “What?”
“Are you okay?”
She blinked a few times and turned to me. “Are you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
My hands shook. Tiffany tried so hard to be tough, but I knew she wasn’t. Maybe I was the only one who knew that besides my mom. I couldn’t imagine how it’d feel to be on the receiving end of those things Dad had said to her. I crossed the room and she opened her arms right as I launched myself into them. I was the one who started to cry.
“Stop,” Tiffany said. She laid us back on the bed, petting my hair. “They’re not worth crying over.”
“Who?”
“Men.”
“Even dad?”
“Especially dad.”
I drew my eyebrows together. I wasn’t sure what she meant by that. I’d heard her crying enough times after their fights. “Are you leaving?” I asked. “I don’t want you to go. Please, just go apologize to him.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“But you said . . .”
“I’ve said it before. I wasn’t serious, and he knows that. He’s not going to kick me out.”
I couldn’t remember any of their arguments ending that way. It was as if Tiffany wanted to see how far she could push him. I looked up at her. “Why didn’t you just tell him you’d stop seeing Manning?”
“Because that’s exactly what he wants. He’s trying to control me and you and Mom.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “He just wants what’s best for all of us.”
“For you and Mom, maybe. Me? He just wants to pretend I never happened. His life would be easier if I weren’t around.”
She said the words so simply, someone else might’ve thought they didn’t affect her. That she didn’t care. I knew she did, though. How could she not? He was her dad. Even after all the fights I’d witnessed, I couldn’t believe she truly thought that. “He loves you,” I said. “Things are just weird right now. When you find a job, he’ll ease up.”
“You don’t know anything, Lake. You’re too young to understand. I’ll never get the kind of job he wants me to. You will. I’m not going to be a doctor or a lawyer or any of those boring things. He can’t stand that he’s worked as hard as he has to give us opportunities just to have me waste mine.”
Tiffany didn’t even try. She’d barely studied, and she’d skipped a lot of classes, especially her senior year. I didn’t know if I was smarter than my sister, but I definitely tried harder. “You could do whatever you want, Tiffany. If you apply yourself—”
“Shut up,” she said without inflection. “You sound like dad. He says that all the time.”