But hearing them was not the same as taking responsibility.
“Why didn’t you stop them?” I asked.
He looked at me.
For once, there was no immediate excuse.
“I thought they were trying to teach you.”
The neighbor’s expression changed.
I felt something inside me go cold.
“Teach me what?”
He didn’t answer.
“How to walk without my brace?”
Still nothing.
“How to stand in a field while pregnant?”
His eyes dropped.
“How to let your family decide what I am worth?”
“No.”
His answer came quietly.
“I was wrong.”
It was the first honest sentence he had said all day.
It also wasn’t enough.
I told him that.
“Being wrong doesn’t undo what happened.”
He nodded.
His mother immediately stepped in.
“Don’t encourage this. If she starts believing everyone is against her, she’ll destroy the family.”
I looked at her.
“You don’t have to believe I’m right.”
