Chapter 6 - Father to SonMy parents were harder. Mom wanted a family meeting. I declined. Dad wanted to talk man to man. I told him that could start after he apologized father to son.
Nine days later, he came into my shop. I was under a pickup replacing a rusted brake line when his shoes stopped next to the lift. I rolled out.
"I failed you," he said.
The shop went quiet.
"Your mother and I made you responsible for things that were never yours," he said. "We called it maturity because that was convenient. We let Renata stay a child because you behaved like an adult."
I wanted to forgive him immediately, because that would have been easier. But easy forgiveness belonged to the old machine.
"That hurt my children," I said instead.
He nodded. "I know."
"No. Desmond asked whether he was bad because adults laughed at him. Piper checked every plate I served her for two days afterward."
His eyes filled. "I'm sorry. To them first, if they'll let me."
That mattered. Not enough to fix everything. Enough to crack open a door.
Mom took longer. She kept explaining that she loved both children, that she feared Renata falling apart, that I was strong enough to absorb things. Eventually I told her, "Stop calling my pain strength. It's just pain you found useful."
She cried. I let her. I didn't comfort her. That was new.
A month later, Renata asked to apologize to Desmond and Piper. I told her to write them a letter first. The letter was awkward but sincere — she wrote that she'd been angry with me and used them to hurt me, that adults should never make children feel ashamed for a joke.
Piper listened with her arms folded. Desmond asked, "Is Aunt Renata still mad about the Mercedes?"
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"I think she's angry with herself now," I said.
He nodded. "Good."
