Chapter 9 - The Second Collar Was for Me
I knew that immediately.
Still, opening the box changed things.
GOOD GIRL.
MRS. WESLEY HALE.
My name erased.
Not literally.
But symbolic.
The tag did not say Nora.
It said Mrs. Wesley Hale.
Margaret called that:
tradition.
I called it:
hierarchy.
She had spent three years making small comments about my surname.
I married Wesley but kept Reed professionally and legally as part of my name.
Nora Reed Hale.
Margaret hated hyphen? Let's make not hyphen, dual usage. My passport remained Nora Reed; socially Hale? Simpler: Nora Reed Hale, but professional Nora Reed. Margaret insisted Mrs. Wesley Hale.
At engagement:
“Eventually you’ll stop clinging to maiden name.”
After wedding:
“People will think you’re not committed.”
After pregnancy:
“The baby will be Hale, obviously.”
June was June Reed Hale legally.
Margaret complained.
“Double names are insecurity.”
I dismissed.
Then adult collar:
MRS. WESLEY HALE.
Not accidental.
The prank was not merely calling me dog.
It was reminding me:
Your position exists through Wesley.
Good girl.
His wife.
My family.
Know your place.
She said similar words to June:
Learn your place, little dog.
The entire thing was hierarchy disguised as silliness.
That was why it hurt beyond insult.
May you like
The joke had a thesis.
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