Chapter 17 - ELENA VISITS THE OCEAN
Elena had not seen Damian in almost a year.
Prison visits left her physically ill.
Vivian never told her what to do.
They met at a bluff overlooking the Pacific.
Elena asked:
“Do you ever wish he had succeeded?”
Vivian turned sharply.
“What?”
“So you wouldn’t have to carry all this.”
“No.”
Immediate.
Elena nodded.
“I’m glad.”
Vivian looked at the water.
“I have wished I never met him.”
“Different.”
“Yes.”
“Do you mean it?”
“Some days.”
“And others?”
Vivian smiled sadly.
“He made me feel alive during a lonely period.”
Elena cried.
“I hate hearing that.”
“I know.”
“Because then I miss him too.”
“You’re allowed.”
Elena stared at the ocean.
“My father taught Damian grievance.”
“My husband helped create some of it.”
“Damian chose what he did.”
“Yes.”
All three truths.
No one needed to collapse them.
Elena eventually visited Damian again.
She told him:
“I love you.”
He cried.
Then she said:
“I will not argue that you deserved less consequence because you were hurt.”
May you like
He nodded.
That was the first prison visit she left without feeling she had betrayed either her son or herself.
