“Let her go,” Mom said in her Mom Voice. “It was an accident.”
“Iris–”
“Now.”
Levi again seemed like he wanted to argue, but as he looked at how tired Mom was, exhausted with her ice pack, he let me go.
I ran into my mom’s arms, glad to be away from Levi, and she hugged me. I didn’t even flinch from the cold ice pack squished between us.
“It’s okay, baby. We just have to work on those breathing exercises, right? What did Ben just teach you?” Mom asked.
“That I need to remove myself from the situation,” I blubbered.
“But she didn’t do anything wrong, I took her doll.” Zephyr looked bewildered, which matched how I felt.
Any time something happened, I got in trouble. Even if Zephyr had done something bad, somehow I was the one who got in trouble. One of my friends at school said it was the same in her house, because her parents favored their boys. That didn’t seem right to me. My parents weren’t like that.
I was just the one always making a mess of things in my family.
But today…Zephyr took my doll. Levi was acting like I just attacked him for no reason.
“That doesn’t mean she should break your fingers,” Levi snapped. “She needs more practice, Iris, notbreathing exercises. What is she going to do when we’re all gone and can’t pull her to heel?Breathethrough it? Run away?”
“She’s only ten years old.Youwill not be pulling her to heel,” Mom said, her tone a little angry again.
“Iris,” he started, but she cut him off.
“Go away, Levi.” Mom said, her voice gentle now. “I’ll deal with my daughter now, and you later.”
Levi scoffed, and as his angry presence disappeared a moment later, the air felt lighter.
“I’m sorry, Skye.” Zephyr said. “I was being dumb.”
“I’m sorry, too.” I said, sniffling. “I didn’t mean to.”
“I know,” Zephyr said with a sigh. He handed me my doll, then climbed onto the couch next to Mom.
“See? Everything is okay, baby.” Mom kissed my forehead before leaning back on the couch.
The three of us all sat in the quiet for a long time. Mom hugged me while she stared blankly at the wall, Zephyr finger-combed the knots out of my doll’s hair, and I tried not to shiver from the ice pack against my shoulder.
We were supposed to be leaving Mom alone today. When she had her bad days, she needed to be alone, in the quiet. The living room curtains were pulled closed, and the room was dark. That’s why Zephyr and I had been downstairs.
But Levi never paid attention to Mom’s rules. He was a grown-up, so he didn’t have to follow all the rules like we did, but it didn’t make sense why he wouldn’t follow them anyway. Mom didn’t feel good, so he should have left her alone.
Why did he want me in trouble more than he wanted Mom to feel better?
“Levi hates me,” I declared, speaking the words I’d felt inside me for a while now.
Mom sighed.
Zephyr frowned.
But neither of them told me I was wrong.
Chapter 1
Skye
