She didn’t kill me.
After everything.
But she knows my new identity now.
She could’ve killed you the moment she saw you,says a voice in my head.Instead, she killed the one person you needed dead.
And she gave you the knowledge of what my father did.
How does she even know all that?
Question after question appears in my mind.
I stare at the photos in my hand.
It’s only then that I realize there is even more in the envelope.
A phone.
I hold it up.
The display activates.
And I see myself.
A photo of me riding Liberty.
A huge smile on my face, arms wide as we raced the horses over the beach.
The feeling of freedom.
And I see the real me for the first time.
Pain stabs through my chest.
My eyes become watery as I realize what this is.
This is El’s phone.
My breathing flattens as I press it into my chest.
I look at Jane.
This is supposed to be our day.
And now it’s about El, my past, and my fucked up parents.
“I’m on the terrace,” says Jane softly, and lets go of me. “Take whatever time you need. I am not going anywhere.”
I stand there.
“Babe,” I call after her, just when she reaches the top stair.
She turns. I don’t know what to say. There is so much I want to tell her.
“I know. Nothing changes. I am not going anywhere,” she says, turns and walks outside.
I stand there.
