I only remember knocking on her door so hard that my palm hurt.
When she opened it, I didn’t give her time to say hello.
“What happened to Tessa?”
Nadine’s face changed.
“You saw.”
“Of course I saw! She came home hiding under a hood like she’d done something terrible.”
“Marla—”
“Her hair is gone.”
“I know.”
“What did you do?”
Nadine stared at me.
For some reason, the fact that she didn’t defend herself immediately made me even angrier.
“What did you do to my daughter?”
“I didn’t cut her hair.”
“But you were with her.”
“Yes.”
“And she told me to ask you.”
Nadine sighed and stepped onto the porch, closing the door behindher.
“She asked me not to explain it.”
“She’s twelve.”
“I know how old she is.”
“Then stop treating this like some secret between the two of you.”
Nadine’s expression tightened.
“It isn’t a secret against you.”
“It certainly feels like one.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Nadine said quietly, “There’s a choir performance tomorrow night.”
I stared at her.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Come.”
“Nadine.”
“Come to the performance.”
“I have work.”
The moment the words left my mouth, something flickered across her face.
Not anger.
Disappointment.
That irritated me even more.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m some terrible mother because I work.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Nadine folded her arms.
“Tessa asked me not to tell you because she wants to explain it herself.”
“Then she can explain it tonight.”
“No.”
“Excuse
“Tomorrow matters to her.”
I laughed once, bitterly.
“This is ridiculous.”
Nadine looked directly at me.
“Then humor me. Be there at six.”
“I have a deadline.”
“Marla.”
Something in her voice made me stop.
“Be there this time.”
This time.
Two words.
And somehow they found every place in me I had been avoiding for years.
I thought of the winter concert I had watched through Nadine’s phone because I’d arrived after the last song.
The science fair where I showed up while teachers were folding tables.
The parent breakfast Eric attended alone because I had a meeting.
I hated that she was right enough to hurt me.
“Don’t make this about my job.”
“I’m not.”
