Chapter 2 - Bethany was still drinking wine
The birthday party had not stopped.
That is another detail I remember.
Rosie had been missing for almost fifteen minutes.
I thought she was with my mother.
My mother thought she was playing upstairs.
Bethany apparently knew exactly where she was.
And yet when I carried Rosie into the dining room, Bethany was sitting beside the window.
Wine in one hand.
Perfect posture.
My younger brother Daniel beside her.
My parents at the head of the table.
Cake half-eaten.
Guests still talking.
Then they saw Rosie.
Silence.
Bethany looked at the bruise on her cheek.
Then at me.
“It was just a joke. She’s fine.”
I had never hated a sentence more.
Rosie tightened both arms around my neck.
I asked:
“What joke?”
Bethany rolled her eyes.
“She got dramatic.”
Rosie whispered against my chest:
“She made me say I didn’t see.”
That was the first indication this was about more than cruelty.
May you like
I did not understand yet.
Then I lost my temper.
