Chapter 13 - TELLING BLAKE
Ethan refused to do it alone.
A child therapist joined.
Margaret came.
Richard came.
Blake sat on the couch, angry.
“You all think I’m bad.”
Ethan answered:
“No.”
“June hates me.”
“She’s scared of you right now.”
Blake looked away.
“It was cake.”
“You forced it into her mouth after she told you to stop.”
Blake’s eyes filled.
“Grandpa says everyone’s attacking me because of Dad.”
Richard flinched.
The therapist asked Blake:
“What do you believe happened to your father?”
Blake said:
“He died going to the family cabin because family was important to him.”
Ethan looked at Richard.
Then said:
“He loved the family.”
True.
“But he did not want to make that drive.”
Blake frowned.
Richard began crying.
Ethan showed only age-appropriate pieces.
No graphic accident details.
Weather was dangerous.
Aaron tried to cancel.
Richard pressured him.
Aaron later chose to turn around.
The crash happened during that trip.
Blake stared at his grandfather.
“You made him go?”
Richard shook his head.
“No one can make an adult drive.”
The therapist watched him.
Richard’s shoulders collapsed.
Then he corrected himself.
“I pressured him.”
Blake asked:
“Why?”
“Because I thought being afraid made people weak.”
“Was Dad weak?”
“No.”
“Then why did you say that?”
Richard cried harder.
“Because I was wrong.”
Blake was silent.
Then:
“Did Dad die because of you?”
The room froze.
The therapist stepped in.
“No one person can honestly answer a complicated accident that way.”
Richard looked at Blake.
“But I did something I regret. I pressured him to take a risk.”
Blake’s face twisted.
Then he asked:
“So you gave me stuff because you felt bad?”
Richard could not speak.
Margaret said:
“Yes.”
Blake stood.
May you like
“Then none of it was because I was special?”
That question shattered everyone.
