“So your solution is for my sister to impersonate me because your ego cannot survive the truth of your own life,” I said while maintaining a level voice that surprised even me. He told me I was being dramatic and offered to take me on a weekend trip later to make up for the slight.
I looked at him and felt a decade of resentment finally beginning to boil beneath the surface of my skin. I asked him what Kelsey thought of this insane plan and his tiny hesitation told me everything I needed to know.
“I already asked her and she said she would do it,” Troy admitted while taking a large bite of his dinner. He had asked my sister for her consent to replace me before he had even mentioned the idea to his own wife.
I felt a cold and clinical sense of betrayal that felt more like a mathematical certainty than an emotional wound. I had been paying Kelsey’s rent and car insurance for two years because she was always in the middle of some self inflicted crisis.
“Okay, one night,” I said while nodding slowly and picking up my fork to finish the meal I could no longer taste. Troy looked relieved and told me he knew I would understand because I was always the rational one in the family.