“There are none so blind as those who will not see,” Vee said, eyeing me pointedly. She was the last person I expected to quote scripture. She always hated it when I mentioned anything to do with the Bible.
“You’ve never seen my mother’s true face,” Vee went on. “And I hope to God you never do.”
It was hard to envision a version of Sylvia who wasn’t completely timid and meek. But now, different memories entered my head, revealing the truth. I remembered that moment during Vee’s birthday party when I’d caught Sylvia staring at her with pure hatred in her eyes. And after Noah’s get-together, when she tried to make me believe he was dangerous, but when I’d asked questions, she feigned exhaustion. She’d been trying to plant seeds of doubt, to keep me away from Noah, but why?
The world tilted. Suddenly, I didn’t know what to think or who to believe. But the anger I’d felt moments ago dissipated. Now I just felt tired and confused.
I looked to Vee. “I’m going to stay at Aoife’s for a few days.”
“Please come back,” Vee begged. “Don’t leave me alone in this house with her. I couldn’t stand it.”
I was taken aback by her plea. The idea of Vee needing me seemed surreal, and yet, here I stood with her begging me not to abandon her. It was like I’d been plunged into an alternate reality. I stared at her, at how small and weak she looked. Sometimes I hated the fact that I had empathy because it was that same emotion that made me take pity on my wicked stepmother. It turned out she might not be so wicked after all.
“I won’t leave you,” I told her, exhaling heavily. “I just need a few days to get my head straight. I have a lot to think through.”
She nodded weakly, and I walked by her, pulling my bag onto my back. I froze when I saw Noah standing right outside the room. Had he been present this whole time? I met his gaze, but I didn’t know what to say to him. We just stood staring at one another, some new kind of understanding forming between us.
I thought of all the times I’d witnessed him being mean or dismissive towards Sylvia. I’d thought him cruelhearted for it, but now I saw it in a whole new light. Then I thought of him discovering Vee’s lie and treating me to a shopping spree and dinner in the city because he felt so bad about what she’d done. My heart had already softened towards him, but now it was in danger of falling completely.
The world was a different place than it had been this morning, and I was too exhausted to digest all that had changed. All I knew was I needed to get out of this house for a while and spend some time with my best friend.
“I’m spending the night at Aoife’s,” I said, and he nodded soberly, pulling the car keys from his pocket.
“I’ll drive you.”
18.
Dad and Vee were right. They were cursed. Dark shadows chased my father, and now those same shadows chased after me. I couldn’t come up with any other reason for how my grand plans had shattered before my very eyes, nor why I was haunted by such disturbing dreams.
I didn’t want to spend my entire life running away from them like Dad did. Like Vee still was. I wanted to face them head on. I’d end this blasted curse if it was the last thing I did.
“That’s so awful, Stells,” Aoife said as we lay in her bed staring at the glow in the dark stickers of shooting stars and planets on her ceiling. She’d put them there when she was ten and never thought to remove them.
I spent half the night recounting all that had happened for her. She was just as shocked as I was by Vee’s lie, and by the fact that she managed to spend almost all of Dad’s life insurance money in just two years. I was fairly sure she drank most of it.
Something told me Vee was telling the truth about her intentions though. In whatever contorted way her head worked, she thought she was doing me a favour with her unkindness. And maybe she was. Maybe the world was a cruel place, and I needed to be conditioned to face its cruelty.
The thought of abandoning her to that house and Sylvia had my entire being seizing up with guilt. It was the same guilt I’d felt since I was a girl, the guilt that made me feel like I was always doing the wrong thing even when the wrong thing felt right. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my days with Vee, but the idea of leaving her threatened to drown me in remorse.