“This is the daughter you raised?” he snapped. “A little girl already capable of lying and becoming a manipulator... She always picked on her aunt, too. What next? Was she going to bully her baby brother too?”
He stepped closer, his voice full of righteous anger.
“My brother died young. Lisa has no one to rely on but me. Is it really so hard for you two to just accept her? You’re unbelievable, Lorraine. You’ve completely lost your sense of decency.” With that, he turned on his heel and left us standing there, bloodied and bruised, to go after her.
Enid watched his back disappear, her tiny hands clutching the hem of my shirt, her big eyes filled with confusion and hurt.
“Mama,” she whispered, “is it because I’m a girl? Is that why Daddy likes Auntie Malissa and Eddy more than us?” She continued, “I’m sorry… It’s my fault. I made things hard for you…”
Even after Milford hit her—after all the pain—my daughter didn’t hate him. Not even a little. She blamed herself for being born the way she was.
I knelt down and pulled her into my arms, my heart shattering all over again.