Chapter 12
Lucille later told me why the word came so easily.
Her father had called her mother a stray after divorce.
Her mother lost social standing overnight.
Invitations disappeared.
Friends disappeared.
Homes changed.
Lucille grew up believing belonging depended on being attached to the right powerful person.
Then she attached herself to me.
And when Daisy’s unquestioned belonging threatened her sense of security, Lucille repeated the same language downward.
Pain teaching hierarchy.
Again.
I told her:
“You knew what the word did.”
She whispered:
“Yes.”
“That should have stopped you.”
May you like
“I know.”
No more needed.
