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"'We don't want anything from you,' my father said. What a laugh that was. They would never want more from me than they were about to want.
"'We just want this to go forward with the least amount of pain for you. Your mother and I have agreed that you will continue to live here with her. I'm moving out. You won't lack for anything. We'll both see to that,' he said and then I did smile with disgust.
"'I won't lack for anything? Is that so, Mommy?'
"'Now Misty, you're old enough to understand all this,' she said.
"'Am I?' I looked at Daddy and he suddenly seemed like a bad little boy to me. His eyes dropped and he lowered his head.
"I felt the tears building in mine, but I didn't want to cry in front of them," I wanted them both to think I didn't care about either of them at that moment."
Jade nodded, her eyes welling with tears. Cathy looked like she was chewing the inside of her cheek and Star stared at me with a look of pure terror on her face as if she was looking back at herself, I thought. I could just begin to imagine what her memories were like.
"'Where are you going to live, Daddy?' I asked with barely a hint of emotion. I could easily have been asking him where his next business trip would be,
"'Oh, I'll be nearby. I've found an apartment in Westwood,' he said with a smile as if that was it. That would make everything all right. 'You'll come stay with me on weekends,' he promised.
"'When he's here,' Mommy quickly pointed out.
" make sure I see you often,' he insisted over her infuriating eyes.
"I remember I felt like I couldn't breathe, like the air in my chest was so hot, it was better not to bring it up through my throat and nose, but it was so heavy, I had to take a deep new breath.
"'When is all this going to happen?' I asked them.
"'It's already happening,' Daddy replied. 'Our attorneys are in touch and I' m leaving this afternoon.'
"Where had I been while all this was going on? I wondered. They had spoken to counselors, lawyers.
Daddy was leaving the very same day they told me. He was already packed!
"One day, they woke up in the morning, looked at each other and decided they were never again to be man and wife? Was that the way it worked?
"All the cards and all the promises, all the beautiful gifts and happy laughter, all the kisses and the hugs that each rained down upon the other were tossed into the wastebasket. I imagined every nice word they had spoken to each other, every pledge of love was sucked back into their mouths and swallowed,
"Only I was left remembering my happy heart beating at the sight of the two of them holding hands, walking on beaches and on streets together, kissing at dinner tables, embracing each other with me sometimes in between.
"Only I was left to recall the music and the singing, all the happy birthdays, the Christmas mornings, the New Year's wishes, the sound of laughter.
"I was alone, on an island of remember when's, looking out across an ocean where waves tossed and turned under cloudy skies.
"So that's it,' Mommy said. 'I'm sorry, honey, but we promise not to put you through any pain, if we can help it.'
"'That's right,' Daddy said.
"I laughed."
Jade, Star and Cathy's eyes widened with surprise.
"That's right, I laughed. I laughed so hard my stomach began to hurt. The two of them, Mommy especially, looked at me with such surprise and confusion, I had to laugh harder. I actually folded up and fell to the floor.
"'I don't understand what's so funny,' Daddy said to Mommy.
"She shrugged.
"'Neither do I,' she replied.
"Look at them, I thought. They're finally in agreement again.
