He's five years younger than me and still in high school. Growing up, our parents were always working, so I basically raised him. We had always been super close, maybe even more so than with our parents.
He came to pick me up and we headed home.
When we got there, my parents were already waiting. The moment they saw me, their faces were a mix of relief and worry.
"Carrie’s back! Go wash up, the food’s probably cold by now," my mom said, waving a sage stick around me like she was trying to clear away the bad vibes.
There was this old tradition in my hometown where if you had been somewhere unclean, you would use a sage stick to ward off bad luck. Seeing the looks on my parents’ faces, I knew things were far from okay.
At the dinner table, my mom finally spoke up. "Carrie, why don’t you just marry Kennith?"
I felt my frustration boil over. It was clear they were trying to use me as leverage. They weren’t going to let this go easily.
"If this is what it takes to avoid them pressing charges," I said, my voice steady but my anger barely contained.
My dad didn’t say a word, just puffed on his cigarette, lost in thought. My mom put down her spoon and sighed heavily.