Chapter 18 - THE FAMILY STARTS TO SPLIT
Patrice corrected her statement first.
Then Jackson’s brother.
Then two cousins.
Not because all suddenly admired Avery.
Because Maren’s screenshots made the original coordinated story difficult to maintain.
Patrice admitted Avery did not throw a plate.
Jackson’s brother admitted he heard Genesis demand the apartment.
A cousin admitted relatives mocked Avery.
Another insisted the spaghetti looked like “a joke” until he saw Avery’s face.
One by one, certainty fractured.
The family chat became quiet.
No one wanted written opinions anymore.
Genesis hated that.
For years the group had been noisy.
Birthdays.
Prayer requests.
Photos.
Gossip.
Now every message felt evidentiary.
Maren posted:
**Can we please go back to being a family instead of a committee?**
Nobody responded for six hours.
Then Elise sent a heart.
That was the beginning.
At Thanksgiving, attendance dropped.
Genesis expected everyone.
Several refused unless Avery’s situation was not discussed.
Genesis called it disloyal.
Then caught herself.
She was beginning to hear the word differently.
Jackson attended for one hour.
No Avery.
No performance.
Patrice apologized to him for falsifying details.
Jackson said:
“Don’t apologize to me.”
Patrice looked uncomfortable.
“She won’t talk to me.”
“Then you live with that.”
Genesis stared at her son.
That sentence would once have sounded cruel.
Now it sounded like consequence.
Maren mailed Avery a Thanksgiving card.
No plea.
Just:
**I hope your home feels peaceful.**
Avery kept it.
That evening she ate with her mother and sister in Hoboken.
They made lasagna.
No spaghetti.
Not yet.
Avery laughed more than she expected.
At one point her mother asked:
“Do you miss him?”
Avery said:
“Yes.”
Her sister looked surprised.
Avery continued.
“I miss who I was with him before I started doubting every conversation.”
“Would you go back?”
“No.”
No hesitation.
Missing was not instruction.
Love was not instruction.
Grief was not instruction.
Avery was learning to separate feelings from decisions.
The Bennetts were learning the same thing about obligation.
Genesis could feel abandoned without actually being abandoned.
Jackson could feel indebted without owing infinity.
Relatives could feel disloyal while telling the truth.
May you like
Avery could feel love while leaving.
Maturity was irritatingly full of contradictions.
