Part of Charlotte wanted to tell Aunt Sheena everything: about the horrible things mom did to pay the bills, and mom’s addiction, and the bad boyfriends, and last year with Dom and his abuse and…but Charlotte couldn’t go there. What was the point? What was the point in even thinking about that stuff? Nobody could do anything about it now. She had never had any control over what was happening with her mom. Charlotte had been along for the ride. And now she wasn’t. She had to try and forget.
Aunt Sheena’s eyes traveled over Charlotte’s face, trying to read it for sincerity. “I have a hard time believing this is about school.”
Charlotte bit her lip.
“Please, you can trust me, Charlotte,” Aunt Sheena said with such emotion in her voice that Charlotte felt like crying. “I know I’m a stranger to you, but you can trust me.”
Charlotte didn’t see Aunt Sheena as a stranger. She was so much like mom. The way they moved and threw their heads back when they laughed. Small things, but it was almost like seeing what mom would be like in a parallel universe – a universe where she was happy and healthy and safe.
“Do you want to see a counselor? Or a therapist?” Aunt Sheena asked. “Someone to talk to?”
Charlotte shook her head. “No. Please, no.”
“Are you sure you’re okay here? With us? This is a huge adjustment for you. It would be hard on anyone.”
The water in the pool was too hot. Charlotte stood and wrapped the lavender scented towel around her waist, retreating to a chair. Aunt Sheena followed.
“I was talking to Mr. Kerrigan this morning,” Aunt Sheena said in a lighter voice. “He said you might be helping him around his classroom in the afternoon. Sort of as his assistant. I think that’s wonderful, Charlotte. I think that’s a great way for you to pay him back for his car.”
Charlotte nodded.
“I hope you know, I’m not angry about that…that incident with the car. But you have to promise not to go driving without permission, okay?” Aunt Sheena said. “And Emi, too. Both of you.”
Charlotte wasn’t listening to Aunt Sheena very closely. Her mind was on something else.
“I have a question,” Charlotte said.
“Oh?”
“Why is my mom so mad at you?”
Her aunt spread her hands out in her lap, palms up, like she was offering something invisible to Charlotte. “What has she told you about that?”
“She said that you weren’t there for her when she needed you.”
Aunt Sheena sucked in air. Charlotte could tell the words stung. “That’s true,” Aunt Sheena said. “She’s right.”
“What did she need you for?”
“Someone was hurting her very badly, and I knew about it. But I didn’t…I didn’t do anything to stop it.”
“Hurting her how?” Charlotte pressed.
Aunt Sheena hesitated. “I think this is a story your mother should tell you,” she said. “It was a big part of her life. Mine, too.”
Charlotte’s lips were trembling. “Why hasn’t she told me before?”
Tentatively, Aunt Sheena stretched out her hand. She touched Charlotte’s face like it was fragile as glass. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I really don’t know.”