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Shit.
“Um, yeah. She is.”
“My dad is in jail, too. Do you miss her?”
Ally nods. “All the time.”
“Okay, we’re just going to go and get that now. Come on.”
She follows me down to the small bedroom at the end of the hall.
“Are you mad at me for telling them about you?”
“No,” she says. “It’s kind of nice. Normal, like you said.”
“I only told Ivy about your mom because I thought it might make her feel less lonely. Her dad wasn’t a good person who did something bad like your mom, though. She knows he hurt us, and that’s hard for her. But…my mom knew that the other kids’parents would know the truth, so she wanted to make sure that Ivy knew it, too.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” she says. “Does your sister miss him?”
“That’s difficult to answer. I don’t think she remembers him, really, but I think she’s aware that she’s missingsomething.I think she misses the idea of him. My parents divorced when I was that same age, and I don’t remember them ever being together, but I remember missing the idea of us all being together, if that makes sense.”
“I remember my dad,” Ally says. “There’s a handful of really clear memories—distinct, ordinary moments that just stayed with me for whatever reason. I think maybe I miss the idea of him, too. So…it makes sense; that’s what I mean. I miss my mom, too. I wish I could see her.”
“You will, Ally. We can go see her—I’ll figure something out.”
She shakes her head. “You’ve got a solution for everything, don’t you?”
“Smart ass, yes, I do,” I tell her. “Do you still want to go to the party? If you don’t feel like it, we can do something else—anything you want.”
“No, I’m fine. I want to go.”
“Okay, you ready?” I ask.
She nods, and I wrap the charger around the laptop and toss it into my bag.
“Bye, Mom,” I say as we walk back through the living room.
“What? You’re not staying?”
“Nope, going to Tyler’s.”
“Are you staying the night here then?”
“No, I have to take Ally home, so I’m just gonna go back to Dad’s.”
“Okay,” she says. “Well, remember…you said you’d watch Ivy tomorrow.”
Ugh. Right. I did. “What time was that again?”
“I have to be at work at two,” she says.
“Why don’t you bring her over to Dad’s house, then? The pool is open; she can swim.”
“Are you sure they won’t mind?” she asks.
“Yeah, I’m sure. They like having Ivy over. And they always complain that we don’t use the pool enough anyway.”
“Okay, have fun,” she says. “Ally, you come back over here again sometime, and I’ll make you guys dinner.”
