Chapter 2

I saw it now.

Gavin might look strong and intimidating, but he was awkward and quiet. He never got involved in anything and just let Linda make all the decisions, no matter if she was right or wrong.

There was no way to reason with those two. They'd never admit anything.

Just as I was racking my brain for a solution, Tommy suddenly blurted out, "Yeah, I scratched it. What are you gonna do about it? Nyah nyah!"

Linda's face darkened instantly, but she just shot Tommy a glare before turning back to me. "Alright, fine. So what if my kid did it?

"You think you're hot stuff just because you own a car? Nobody can even touch it? Is your car made of gold or something?

"Nobody else around here drives, but you just have to flaunt your wheels. What, trying to show off? You're gonna throw a fit over a tiny scratch?

"Let me tell you, just because we live in a small town doesn't mean we're broke. We're loaded. We can buy ten of your cars with our cash. Your little ride is nothing.

"Do you even own a house or any land? Humph. Just because you live in a big city, you think you're better than us?"

She stood there with her hands on her hips, screeching at me, spitting as she yelled.

I couldn't help but laugh out of anger.

Just as I thought. Even if they admitted it, there was no reasoning with them.

My wrist hurt so much that I was sweating bullets, so I had to let it go for now and went back to the car to get my first aid kit.

But just as I was about to patch myself up, a hand with bright red nails suddenly appeared and smacked the open kit out of my hands, sending it flying to the ground.

The clean bandages and cotton swabs spilled everywhere, instantly getting caked in mud.

Linda jabbed a finger at me. "You bitch, who said you could patch yourself up? You haven't even apologized to Tommy yet!"

I was so furious that I nearly passed out. In all my years, I'd never seen anything this absurd. "Why should I apologize to him? He scratched up my car, smashed it, and bit my arm until it bled. Now I'm supposed to say sorry to him?"

Linda fired back, "You slandered Tommy! You scolded him until he cried. You owe him an apology! Tommy, spill it. Didn't she insult you?"

Tommy wiped his tears, nodded, and whimpered, "Yeah, she said I had no manners."

Linda's lips curled into a smug smile as she shot me a triumphant look. "Hear that? Apologize! Bow to Tommy and beg for his forgiveness. Otherwise, don't even think about settling this today."

Linda's yelling got so loud that a bunch of relatives came out, crowding around us in a circle.

They asked, "Linda, what happened?"

"Why's Tommy's mouth full of blood? Did he knock his teeth or something?"

"Seeing blood on holidays is not good. Linda, you gotta keep a better eye on Tommy. What if something bad happened?"

Everyone started chattering at once, voices overlapping.

Linda jabbed a finger at me. "It's all this bitch's fault! She bullied Tommy. Just look at him, bawling his eyes out. Poor kid."

Everyone turned to stare at me.

"Who's she?"

"Never seen her before. She's not family, is she?"

"Oh, wait, I remember now. She's Helen's daughter."

"Didn't Helen pass away over a decade ago? What's her daughter doing here?"

"Look at her, showing up in a car. What else would she be here for? Obviously just here to show off. Rich people in big cities always gotta show off their fancy rides."

"Wasn't Helen just like that back in the day? She got into a good college and started acting like she was too good for us. We tried to set her up with Ben in our town, all for her own good.

"But guess what? She got mad and never came home again."

"Serves her right for dying. She was probably out in the big city fooling around with all sorts of shady men. What's so special about big city life anyway?"

"Who even knows who this woman's real father is. Now she's here making a scene. Look at the blood on her arm. Bet she knocked Tommy's teeth out, and that's why he's bleeding."

My mom was the kindest, gentlest woman I'd ever known, and hearing them trash her like that made my anger flare up inside me.

Linda looked like a petty villain who'd just scored a win. Her chin was held high as she shot me a proud, triumphant look.

Despite the throbbing pain in my wrist, I shot back at them, my voice sharp with anger. "My mom busted her ass to get into college and make it in the big city, and you all wanted her to marry some poor guy and waste her whole life here?

"Seriously, what kind of family does that?

"And also, are you blind? He's the one who bit me. Look, I'm the one bleeding!"

They could see my injury plain as day, but they just turned a blind eye and kept blaming me for everything, not caring who was actually at fault.

"What's so bad about our town? You think you're better than us or something?"

"Wow, city folks really are something else. If you're so special, why even bother coming here? You show up and act all superior. Guess you really are just a wild child raised without a mother."

"Ben is a good guy. He got married a few years ago, and he and his wife work the fields together every day. They've got three chubby sons and are living the good life.

"Your mom actually turned him down back then. She really missed out."

"Yeah, Ben's way better than your dad. If your mom had married Ben, maybe she wouldn't have died so young. Your dad was bad luck for her."