\u201cI\u2019m going to say this once, because I\u2019ll never say it sober,\u201d Nora\u2019s voice said, loose and laughing on that balcony. \u201cDalton\u2019s money is part of why I\u2019m marrying him. But the real reason I wanted out of that house is my brother.\u201d On the screen she stared into her pink drink. \u201cThey never aimed it at me, so I let them aim it all at him. I watched it for twenty years and called myself the lucky one. He\u2019s the best person I know, and I\u2019m a coward.\u201d The clip ended. The lights stayed dim, and nobody in that hall moved. I had expected to feel victorious. I felt tired, and strangely careful, like I was carrying something full to the brim.<\/p>\n
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Dalton stood first. He did not shout. He looked at Nora for a long moment, touched her shoulder, and said, \u201cWe are going to talk about all of it, tonight, together.\u201d He stayed beside her, which was somehow harder for her than if he had left. My father cleared his throat twice and found nothing to say. My mother lowered the napkin from her mouth, and for the first time I could remember, she looked straight at me and did not look away.<\/p>\n
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