I caught my dad on my security camera planning to move my brother into my house while I was on a trip, and when my mom said, “Once everything is here, she will not make a scene. She will just accept it,” I set a trap for them.

I’m sorry I didn’t ask you about Kyle. I should have called. I should have respected your home as yours. I told myself I was helping family, but I was really avoiding a hard conversation. That wasn’t fair to you.

I’ve been thinking about what you said, that I’ve been managing you instead of listening to you. It’s a hard thing to hear about yourself. I keep wanting to argue with it, but I can’t deny that you know how you feel. And if that’s how you feel, then something I did made you feel that way.

I paused there.

It was not quite full responsibility.

More like acknowledging my experience without holding the whole weight of it.

A step, maybe.

Or a sidestep.

The next page continued.

What I don’t understand is why you had to do it that way. At my birthday. In front of everyone. Couldn’t you have told me privately? I’ve lost friends over this, Myra. People look at me differently now.