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“Phoenix, be reasonable!” she says, stepping toward Grace again.
“Mom?”
“Yes, hi, Sweetie. It’s been so long.”
I feel the burn of my anger rising in me. She isn’t listening to me, and now Grace knows who she is.
I yell and wave my fist in the air, warding Tamryn off. I hear Gracie cry and Tamryn shriek before the room turns black--or is it that I blacked out?
I feel like I’m fighting against something I don’t have the power to really fight against. A demon father, a wayward mother, a missing in action baby momma, and then, there are my brothers, all six of them. I know they are out there. I have had little to no interaction with them over the years. Or maybe I have, and this curse makes me not give a damn. Maybe it is also to blame for how I feel about Tamryn. Every time I think about it, I just burn inside, my skin burns. I feel it in my veins, and I want to hurt someone. I know I have done seedy things. I know I am cursed with the sin of wrath and the deadly sins plague my other brothers as well. It may be time to go see them and figure out how we can break this. It is becoming entirely too much.
Chapter 9
“Where is she, Phoe?”
I pause, blinking at Claire. What in the world is she talking about? I look around the room and notice only her and I are in the room. Tamryn and Grace are gone. I sit up and rub my head. What on earth did I do? What was I thinking?
“Where did Tamryn go?”
“How about you answer my question first?”
“Don't play with me right now, Claire. Where is Tamryn?”
“She is more than likely looking for the daughter you magically swept out of here. Why would you do that? That is that girl’s mother. She has every right to be around her and get to know her, just like you did. She has reasons for why she had to go away and she deserves the chance to tell you why! You need not be so stubborn! It is infuriating.”
“Reasons! What reasons are good enough to leave your child? She is as bad as my mother. Let me guess, you will say I need to forgive her next!”
“Their reasons are similar! They want to protect Grace. They want to protect you!”
“I’m protecting my daughter just fine!”
“Maybe Grace is the one protecting you, Phoenix!”
My mind goes back to her mother saying that Grace will help me. She will help me break this curse. But I need to get to the point where I stop ignoring, start remembering what has happened in my life and understand why this is a problem.
I pause and look at my therapist. Even though I don’t realize it, I said that last thought aloud, and she's watching me speak.
“Well, I’m not saying that is a breakthrough, but it is something.” She shakes her head. “Finding the end of your journey only begins in finding the middle. What do you want to find out of this, Phoenix?”
“I need to save Grace.”
“That starts with saving yourself. Now, where is she?”
“Somewhere safe for now.”
“You sent her away to save her from Tamryn?” she asks, offering me a glass of water.
“I did what I had to do. I don’t know that I can trust her.”
Claire shakes her head at me and levels me with a stare. “I know that you've told me a lot so far and there's much more to uncover, but I think that maybe it's time to pull your daughter into these conversations. See what she remembers. Find out if she wants to see her mother and grandmother—”
“I don't want to pull her into those conversations yet. At her age, she should be over with her friends, playing video games or whatever it is that girls do. I can worry about Tamryn on my own.”
“Okay, fair enough, but whether you like it or not, Phoenix, she is a part of it because she sees her dad hurting. You can try to show her differently but she is a smart girl, and she knows there is more to her family beyond herself and you. She knows of her mother, of her uncles, her grandparents—”
“Her grandparents are not in her life, either of them! I don't even know where my mother is!”
“She went away to protect you.”
