“Suit yourself, I’d still go,” I say, relaxing into the seat. “If anything, for the change of scenery.”
“Then you can go next year. And if we’re talking about traveling, can you tell me why you’re here and not back home, talking to your folks?”
So much for my change of topic. The good humor evaporates, quickly replaced by a massive pit in my stomach. “Roxie—”
“Listen, Liv, I'm not trying to tell you how to live life, but I am telling you this. You only got one family.” She raises a long index finger in the air. “That's it. You may not want to talk to me about what happened, but they want to talk with you. Maybe they’re trying to fix everything. It wouldn't hurt to hear them out. And maybe you could let bygones be bygones.”
I sigh. Anxious tension fills the cab and makes its way into my chest. I can’t help but say something. “You think that's what this is about? My pride?” She opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off, which I can tell catches her by surprise. “Roxie, they blew their chance. I’ll spare you details but believe me when I say they are only thinking of themselves.”
The cruel words of my family from over the years still ring in my head. Words I can’t forget—phrases that remind me I should have been protected.
“But what if they’ve realized they’re wrong?”
“I doubt that. Everyone is too stubborn to admit fault.” If actions speak louder than words, I should be hard of hearing by now. “They'll never change. Because of that, I'll never give them a second chance.” I turn my head and look out my side of the window, silently defeated.
“Man,” she says. “All that stuff killed your faith in humanity, didn't it?”
“No. Not all of it,” I keep gazing out the window, unable to look at anything besides the buildings. “Just the faith I had in my family.”
A heartbreaking admittance because that's the one source where trust should always be a safe haven. But in my case, family has only provided fear, pain, and torment. Which is why I’m here. Thousands of miles away from the nightmare. Where, hopefully, I’ll never be put in danger again.