Sixteen dishes were spread across the table. By the time I finished preparing the last one and placed it down, only scraps remained—some garlic, chili, and watery vegetable soup.
I picked through the leftovers, searching for anything edible.
"Forget it," I told myself.
It had always been like this—before marriage and after.
After eating their fill, my mother reached out and touched Julia’s slightly bulging belly, her eyes full of adoration.
"Oh, Julia, I have a feeling this baby is a boy. Not bad, not bad—much better than your sister."
Julia blushed and tilted her chin slightly, her voice dripping with false humility.
"Aunt, don’t say that. Boys and girls are the same, as long as my husband likes them."
Her husband, the well-dressed and ever-smug son-in-law, chuckled, patting Julia’s hand. "Boys are good, boys are good..."
From the other side of the room, laughter erupted as Nate scrolled through his phone. I turned to look at him.
I had been an outstanding student all my life—top of my class, disciplined, determined. And yet, I ended up married to this town’s infamous good-for-nothing, a man who never even finished junior high.
That year, I should never have married him.