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It’s strange. I’ve thought those same thoughts myself. A hundred times over, but it doesn’t scare me anymore.
“I still love him,” I sign, my heart racing.
Henry balks. “I’m not talking about love, Yaya. I’m talking about trust. What happens when some moron at a hospital or a law office or a cop needs your authorization over the phone and you’ve explained a million times that you’re deaf, but they still won’t give you an accessible way to get information? Will he get that frustration? Will he get that anger you feel?”
“No, he won’t.”
“Exactly. Exactly.” Henry signs so fast it’s like watching a movie on fast-forward. “And what if you have deaf kids and he wants to force them into speaking. What then? You think he’ll understand then?”
“I don’t know.”
“And still?” Henry looks exasperated.
“You’re right. You’re right about everything. But…” I breath hard. “I’m more scared of being without him than facing a world filled with difficulties.”
An intrinsic rightness underlines my confession, eclipsing the fear that’s always paired with doing something as risky as falling in love.
“I never believed I could love a hearing person. Never. You know that better than anyone. But I love him. I love him so much.”
Henry tilts his chin up and stands coldly. “Then you shouldn’t have left with me.”
I watch as he stomps out the door.
A tear slips free—not because Henry left upset, but because I recall the shattered look in Dare’s expression earlier.
My throat chokes up and I clutch my chest, bowling over.
Henry’s right.
I left with the wrong man.
CHAPTER19
snitches get stitches
DARE
Talia is not happy about missing a chance to have brownies, and I’m not in the best of moods either, so the both of us are sulking when we visit Lucy.
My sister stares hard at me and I really wish I didn’t promise Talia that we’d say hi to her mother the minute I got back. To be fair, when I made that offer, I didn’t think my girlfriend would be waltzing off with her male best friend who happens to be in love with her.
But no one can foresee the future.
“Okay, someone better start explaining,” Lucy says. “Because I didn’t go cold turkey and endure that awful, know-it-all therapist with the giant mole telling me all the ways I went wrong in life so I could earn a visit from the Grim Reaper and his child assistant.”
Talia huffs, folds her arms over her chest and gives me her back. If I were in a better mood, I’d find it funny that my niece seems more irked now than she did when I was coming up with her punishment for the infraction at school.
Didn’t take long for her to build a loyalty to the Williams family. Guess there’s something about us Sullivans that make us greedy for Yaya and her folks.
“Rich-urd,” Lucy puts emphasis on the last half of my name, “start talking.”
“I have nothing to say.”
“Uncle Dare got into a fight with Yaya and now he’s mad at everyone,” Talia tattles.
I glare at her and sign, “Snitches get stitches.”
Her mouth drops open and she turns to Lucy. “Mom, Uncle Dare just said snitches get stitches!”