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“Why did you cut my roses?” My voice is eerily calm.
He blinks at me, his brows lowering. “What do you mean?”
“The roses, on the table.” I inhale, but it’s not deep enough. I can’t catch my breath and I fight the panic that wants to overtake me. “Did you cut those? Why?”
“I knew that the storm was coming and when I came home for lunch, I clipped some to take to Kathy when I went to her place. And then I forgot them. I’m going to take them to her tomorrow.”
“No.”
“No? You can’t tell me who—”
“NO!”
The scream rasps at my throat, making it hurt, but I don’t care. I don’t care about anything. I can’t feel anything. My head, my heart, my everything…
Numb.
I march back into the kitchen and grab the vase, clutching it in both hands, the water jostling out of the top, it’s so full. I can’t believe he cut my roses. No one ever does. He knows this. He knows how I feel about them and for him to want to take that specific color to stupid Kathy when it was Mom’s favorite, I just…
I can’t believe it. I can’t believehim.
“Daisy, calm down right now!”
I glance over my shoulder to see my father approaching me and I turn toward the sink once more, lifting the vase and throwing it into it with all my might. On impact, the glass shatters everywhere, water splashing in my face, the roses scattering, petals shaking loose. I’m screaming at the top of my lungs, over and over, and when my father tries to grab hold of my shoulders, I shake him off.
“Get away from me!”
I fall to the ground sobbing. My vision blurred, my head swimming. “Those were Mom’s flowers. You can’t just give Kathy my mom’s roses. They don’t belong to her! You know how I feel about cutting them!”
“Daisy. Sweetie. I knew the storm was going to bring cold temperatures this week and that your roses wouldn’t live much longer outside, so I thought I’d bring a few inside. I didn’t think you’d mind,” Dad pleads.
“You brought them inside for Kathy, not for me or for you. Forher.They’re not yours to cut, Daddy. They’remine.And they deserve to live. Everything deserves to live.” I’m sitting in the center of my own destruction, rocking back and forth, unable to stop the tears. My stomach hurts and I curl my arms around my middle, clutching myself, my hair hanging in my face, sticking to my cheeks because they’re wet with my tears.
When I reach up to push my hair out of the way, I wipe the tears from my eyes, glancing down at my hands.
My fingers are streaked with blood.
I touch my cheek, wincing when I feel the gash in my flesh. And when I draw my hand away, blood coats my fingers, bright red and thick.
I cut myself. Most likely on the glass from the broken vase when it shattered everywhere. And I don’t even care.
“If this is some sort of distraction to make me forget what you just did with that Lancaster boy, it’s not working,” Dad starts out, but I leap to my feet with a shriek, thrusting my face in his.
“This has nothing to do with Arch and me. It has everything to do with you.” I burst into tears again, the salt getting in the cuts on my face, bringing me pain. Everything hurts. All of it. It feels like a betrayal, what my father did, wanting to give the roses to his new girlfriend. She doesn’t deserve them. He barely knows her. I don’t even know her, not that well.
How dare he do this? I’m probably being completely irrational, but I don’t care.
What he did, how thoughtless he was—it cuts to the bone.
“Me? You’re upset because I cut roses for Kathy?”
“You cut my roses and didn’t ask for permission. You chose the exact color that was Mom’s favorite, and planned on giving them to another woman. You say Arch is thoughtless and careless, but you just proved to me tonight that you’re exactly the same way,” I tell him, surprised by how calm I sound.
How calm I suddenly feel.
I exit the kitchen without another word and Dad lets me go, also remaining silent. I keep my posture rigid, my steps slow as I make my way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me and turning the lock before I hit the light switch.
My reflection nearly takes my breath away. I’m a mess. My hair is everywhere, my face bleeding in multiple spots. My eyes are swollen and I close them for a second, hoping it’ll all go away because it’s just a dream.
