4
As I stepped out of the car, I hadn’t even
reached the school doors when my dad
called:
“Honey, what the heck is going on? How did
Amy just suddenly jump out a window?”
Right after my dad spoke, I heard my mom’s
sobbing voice, “Why would Mark say those
things about you? That’s not who you are!”
Hearing my parents‘ worried, hurting voices,
my eyes welled up.
く
Last time, everyone had seen me as a
monster, a child–killer, cursed at me with the
cruelest words.
Even the inmates in prison treated me like a
beast who had killed a child, beating me to
death.
Only my parents had believed me, had
defended me.
But their explanations were twisted into
malicious lies.
The internet had taken all their anger out on
them.
And they’d been driven to a miserable death
in their own home.
く
୮
To avoid that happening again, I spoke
carefully to them:
“Dad, Mom, don’t worry, I’ll take care of
this.”
“Just stay home, don’t get involved, soon
you’ll see how this all happened.”
No sooner had said that, when an egg
splattered on my shoulder.
I looked up and saw a woman who had a food
stand nearby glaring at me, shouting,
“I know you! You’re that poor kid’s evil mom!”
People around us turned, pointing, and
whispering, some even spitting at me.
L
Ignoring them, I tossed my expensive coat,
worth thousands of dollars, into a trash can,
and walked straight into the school.
Seeing me, Mark, who had been telling my
story for the cameras, turned instantly
agitated:
“Sarah, what did you do to our daughter?
How could you force her to jump out a
window rather than face you?!”
“When you asked to take her to school this
morning, I thought that you had finally grown
a conscience, that you were going to
change.”
“But no, you just made things worse! You
drove her to kill herself!”
<
“If you have a problem, deal with me, why
hurt my daughter? She was only five years
old!”
Mark screamed at me, tears streaming down
his face.
His eyes showed the love he had for his
daughter.
His hysteria felt real.
Even though I’d already seen this twisted
version of him before.
Even though I’d prepared for it, it still hurt to
see him, the man I had shared a bed with for
years, so eager to see me suffer.
Before I could speak, my daughter’s teacher
<
“Mrs. Jones, even if you didn’t like your own
kid, why would you push her to her death?”
“She was your child, your flesh and blood.
How could you be so cruel?”
“If you wanted a child, why would you be so
horrible to her?”
The teacher was equally convincing. The
crowd was taken in by her passionate speech,
and the people were whispering and nodding.
But all I felt was disgust.
I looked at them, both, and said calmly,
“Are you two done acting?”
LO
