A lifetime to cherish you.
But I need you to live, Stasi.
Live.
40 – Stasi – eight years ago
Ikeep my arms crossed.
“Get out of the fucking car,” my mother snaps. “You’re embarrassing me.”
I can barely keep the tears at bay, even though I haven’t stopped crying. “Take me back. Please.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snarls. “Get out of the damn car now, or I will press fucking charges against them, Anastasia.”
Slowly, I untangle my arms.
And I get out of the car. A man stands there, tall and thin with a hooked nose. He doesn’t smile. And neither does his daughter.
She’s beautiful. Tall, like her father, with flowing blonde hair and lovely deep blue eyes in her blue floral dress. But her plump lips are pursed in clear displeasure, her gaze icy as it rakes across me.
“I thought you said she was pretty?”
It takes a minute for her words to filter through the pain inside my head. Inside my heart.
I blink, as my mother laughs, a tinkling sound. The girl’s father says nothing.
“Oh, Ella,” my mother says finally. “I don’t remember saying that!”
And I turn to look at her.
That’s it?
Ella sniffs, turning her back on me as she walks into the house. The man – Martin, as my mother introduces him – gives me a cool nod.
“I hope you behave yourself in my house,” he says quietly. “I won’t have any trouble. This is Ella’s home.”
My nod is slow.
I miss William.
I missthem.
***
I can’t hear anything over thescreaming.
My mother sobs, the back of her hand pressed against her mouth as she lays back on the couch. “How will we live? He’s ruined us! Selfish, selfish man.”
The two officers glance at each other. A radio crackles. “We’re very sorry for your loss, ma’am.”
***
Ella won’t stop screaming. I shake her shoulders. “Ella!”
She doesn’t respond. So I take a breath, and I slap her.
She silences immediately.
