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Victoria turned away from her. “You got addicted,” she muttered resentfully.
The words were petty, and Julia sneered. “And I got clean, too. And I’ve stayed clean. Why? Because I knew I couldn’t get custody of Alexi when I was eighteen if I was on drugs. I wouldn’t be able to protect her. I got clean. Was it hard? Yeah. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But I’m still clean, and heaven help me, I’ll stay clean until the day she doesn’t need me anymore. You couldn’t do that one thing for us. That’s what I want. And you can’t give it to me. You can’t give me your love.”
“I do love you,” she said quietly.
“Not enough. Your love shriveled up the day we buried Dad.”
“How dare you!” Victoria’s anger spiked again, and she whirled around to face her daughter. “If Alexi wants me in her life, then you have no right to keep her away from me. If she wants to go back with me tomorrow, then I’m taking her.”
“I don’t!” Alexi burst into the room, tears running down her face. Jordan was right behind her, looking panicked. “I heard everything.” She ran over to Julia, threw her arms around her, and sobbed.
Julia squeezed her eyes closed and hugged Alexi tightly. “Oh Lex, you weren’t supposed to hear all that.” Julia sounded heartbroken.
Victoria looked stricken. “Alexi, dear—”
“No!” Alexi pulled away from Julia to face her mother, propping her hands on her hips. “You…you tried to sell me to buy drugs! How could you?” Her voice broke. “Julia’s right. I don’t want anything to do with you!”
Victoria looked like she had been slapped. Julia cringed ever so slightly and reached for Alexi, but she ran from the room, still crying. Jordan looked between Julia and Victoria before following Alexi out.
“I hope you’re happy now.” Victoria sniffed, malice dripping from her voice. “You’ve turned her against me.”
“That was never my plan.” Julia rubbed her forehead with both hands. “If that had been my plan, I would have told her everything ages ago.”
Victoria threw her hands in the air. “Now what? She’s never going to speak to me again!”
“Quit being dramatic.” Julia sighed. “Give her time. But until she’s ready to talk to you, she isn’t going to. My rules still stand on her visiting you. And I think it’s best for you to leave.”
Victoria glared silently. Her eyes flickered to me, but she said nothing. She walked out the door and slammed it behind her. Julia flinched at the noise. As she stood there, facing the closed door, I could see how close she was to falling apart. I wrapped my arms around her, and she buried her head in my chest.
“I’m so sorry you had to hear all that.”
“Shhh, it’s okay. It’s okay.” I closed my eyes, my heart hurting for her. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m here and I’m with you.”
Several minutes passed while Julia cried silently against my chest. I smoothed the hair back from her face and whispered a few consoling words to her in my language.
I couldn’t imagine what she was feeling. My grandfather had been physically abusive, but I didn’t have a sibling to worry about. For most of my childhood, I had been able to run off into the woods, or spend time with other boys in the village, giving me a reprieve from home. I never had to protect anyone but myself from him. All Julia wanted was what was best for Alexi. She was doing the best she could, while at the same time trying to protect herself from her mother as well. It was an awful place to be.
There was movement in the rest of the house, and then Alexi appeared in the doorway. Her face was red and there were still tears in her eyes, but she seemed a bit calmer. Julia looked up from my chest and wiped her nose.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Alexi’s tone wasn’t accusatory, but it was full of despair.
Julia pulled away from me and went to hug her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to find out like that. I didn’t tell you because…because I didn’t want you to know about that side of her. I still wanted you to be able to love her and see her.”
Alexi shook her head, allowing Julia to hug her but not returning it. “I don’t want to see her anymore. I can’t believe she did all those things.”
“Drugs do strange things to peoples’ minds.” Julia shrugged helplessly. “She never realized how destructive her behavior was.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was mean to you before.”
“It’s okay, Lex. It’s okay.”
Jordan reappeared, looking kind of helpless himself. “I’m sorry, Jules.”
She waved him off. “It’s okay. You better come give us a hug too.”
He came over and wrapped an arm around each of them. Julia patted his back. “Aren’t we just a bunch of broken people or what?” She laughed a little, which made Alexi laugh. Julia looked at me and held her free arm out to me. “Better run for the hills while you still can.”
“Ami, everyone has problems.” I walked over and put one arm around her and the other around Alexi’s shoulders, which completed a circle. “You won’t scare me away like this.”
