Chapter 22 - The seat disappears
I removed Celeste’s formal banquet chair from storage.
Not destroyed.
Not enshrined.
I had it reupholstered because the fabric had faded.
Then I placed it in the family library.
Marnie asked:
“Why isn’t it at the table?”
“Because it’s a chair.”
She stared at me.
“That’s weird.”
“What?”
“You yelled because of the chair.”
“I was angry because Valeria pushed you and used your mother to justify it.”
“So the chair isn’t Mommy?”
“No.”
Marnie touched the back.
“Can I sit?”
“Of course.”
She did.
Feet not touching floor.
Then:
“Can you?”
I sat in another chair.
She smiled.
That was the first time I understood how much power we had given an object.
Valeria wanted it because it symbolized status.
Marnie protected it because it symbolized Celeste.
May you like
I had allowed both meanings to grow.
The chair itself had never asked for any of it.
