In Her Shoes

Mom said that we could each get one present, and you got... A Nancy Drew book. I asked for a puppy, and she got it. It was so cute. I named him Honey Bun. Why'd you only have it for one day? I guess Dad thought it was a bad idea. Why? I don't know. I think he thought I was too young. No, he was just mad. About a dog? About the whole day. He didn't have any idea where we were, and school had called. Oh. Really? Yeah. He was really panicked, and really, really mad at her. They had a huge fight. I don't remember a fight. You were in your room with a record playing. I was? Yeah. They put you in there and turned the music on so you wouldn't hear them. Why? What were they saying? He was saying she was unfit. That's the word he used. He said he was going to send her away, put her away, something. He kept saying away. And her? There's nothing wrong with me. I'm a good mother. He'd say away, and she'd say, I'm their mother. So he was going to have her hospitalized. When exactly was this? November 3rd. No. No, it wasn't. It was, like, months before that. It was two days. It was Tuesday, and she died that Thursday. It was on purpose, wasn't it? The car, the tree. Wasn't it even raining that night? You were so little. How do you tell a six-year-old or mom left by choice? Who told you? No one.