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With her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide, she glanced around the table first at Conor then at Finn finally landing on me.
I could not help but smirk and nod my head. “Do you think I choose to get bruises like this for nothing?”
Realizing what I had said, and the current bruise that showed on her beautiful face, I reached over and put my hand on her thigh.
“Kenna, I’m sorry I didn’t mean it like that.”
Looking down at my hand, she said, “Stop! It is all right. Everyone needs to stop being sorry. It happened and it is over now. Let’s just move on. Brad isn’t here. He can’t hurt me anymore.” She paused a moment, then added, “Holy shit. I can’t believe this is happening, but I don’t understand why I’m just finding out about this trust. Now.” She studied Finn and Conor, trying to understand. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
No one answered Kenna. We all sat silently, letting her digest the news she was just given.
“You’re telling me that there’s an account with my name that has money? Not a little but a lot? Are you fucking kidding me right now? I spent the last year of my life giving half my tip money to Jeff so Brad could not take it. And all along, I would’ve had money to get away from him?”
We all stared at each other as if unsure of what to say.
“I lived in a shitty fucking apartment in one of the worst neighborhoods and there is money in an account for me. You could have told me. You should have told me! What the fuck is wrong with you guys. I lived in hell with no money and a man who fucking enjoyed hitting me. I could have run sooner. Hell, I could have come home sooner.”
Kenna turns to face me and with both hands, pushes me.
“Move,” she yelled.
I instantly jumped from the booth and Kenna pushed her way out. I stayed standing beside her, watching as she faced her brothers, pointing a finger at them.
“I can’t fucking believe you wouldn’t tell me. You should’ve told me. I’m leaving! Don’t follow me. Don’t call me. Don’t text me. Leave me alone. I can’t look at any of you.” Then she turned and ran out of the diner.
13
MACKENNA
Christmas Time
With Michael Bublé’s Christmas album playing, I begin opening the ornaments I bought for my very first Christmas tree that I had bought for my new place.
Yup,I thought,the past few weeks have been crazy.
I learned that my daddy had a trust made for me before he passed away. I gained access to the money on my twenty-fifth birthday. It’s hard to believe a few months ago, I was secretly giving money to one of my best friends for him to hold so I could get away from my abusive boyfriend.
Now, here I am, twenty-five, with money to afford my own apartment, money to furnish the new apartment, and money to do oh, so much more.
Here, today, I’m decorating my very own two-bedroom apartment.Excitement bubbled up inside me. It has a humungous kitchen with marble countertops.I can’t lie.I splurged on a few things, including a large Christmas tree with tons of decorations.
I’ve settled into a new normal back home. I made some contacts with local bands and helped a few write new songs. I’m back to journals strewn about all over my apartment, so I can write whenever something comes to mind. I walk to the park around the corner most days and sit with my guitar and write. I’ve yet to write something for myself, but I’m enjoying writing for other local artists for the time being. I’m super excited to start a new gig.
Recently, I signed up with a local production company that books gigs for local artists. Soon, I’ll begin traveling to local bars, clubs, and resorts to play for mostly tourists.
I would like to say everything was going great but that would be a lie.
The lunch I had with my brothers and Ryan, the one where I learned about the trust and a third ownership in the gym and family home, didn’t end the way they had expected. Looking back, I wish I could have changed my reaction.
Hell, I don’t even know why I ended up reacting the way I did.
At the time, everything that happened with Brad was still very fresh. I lost a lot of who I was during that relationship. So, as I sat in that booth and listened to Conor and Finn tell me about the money, the gym, and our family home, I lost it. At first, I sat there in shock, I couldn’t help but get angry. No, pissed off that they were hiding things from me.
The money could have helped me.
We’re supposed to be family. We should be having each other’s backs.
But sitting there, I realized one thing. We knew very little about each other. Our lives had changed over the years, and we had drifted apart. That realization made me angry. Angry at them and angry at myself.
