The more I thought about it, the less any of it added up. I turned to my daughter.
"Sweetheart, you send one in the group. Let's see what happens."
Isabel stepped directly in front of her, blocking her.
"Leslie, this is a game for adults. She has no business being part of it!"
My mind was a tangled mess.
But now I understood—completely. This whole thing was a setup. Every last one of them had been in on it.
I turned to leave.
Isabel grabbed my arm.
"It's New Year's Eve. Where do you think you're going?"
My fists clenched slowly at my sides.
Fine. Consider this game the price of seeing people for who they really are.
But just as I thought it was over, my daughter seized my arm again.
"Dad, keep playing!"
"You have to keep playing with them!"
In seventeen years, my daughter had never once talked back to me. Not a single word.
But tonight, she was like a different person.
I even had the absurd thought that something had possessed her.
I took her hand, keeping my voice as low as I could, terrified of setting her off.
"Sweetheart, what's gotten into you tonight?"
"Something's clearly wrong here. Dad's card is already empty—we really can't keep playing."
Before I could finish, she broke down.
"Dad!"