I wanted to laugh, a dark, bitter laugh. “No. I’m just on my period, that’s all.”
He nodded and took me to bed, rubbing my
stomach. Then, his phone rang. It was Mia.
Jake’s whole face lit up. He hung up, all
panicked, “Mia’s got cramps. I gotta check on
her. Her husband’s out of town, and she doesn’t
take care of herself.”
I didn’t stop him. As soon as he left, I printed
the divorce papers that my lawyer sent over.
Mia was keeping tabs on everything online.
She posted a photo online, “My uncle came to
look after me, because I said I was in pain.”
She showed a photo of Jake cooking and
another photo of him feeding her. I never once
saw him cook, not even when I was at my
sickest.
Then another update came out. This was a
video of him washing Mia’s blood–stained
underwear. Mia was all over him, “If I get a
divorce, will you marry me, Uncle?”
Jake looked all serious and said, “Don’t be
<
silly.” But you could tell his hands were shaking.
I turned my phone off and signed the divorce
papers.
The Dance Studio
Jake was gone all night. The next day, I went to the dance studio by myself. That day was supposed to be the day Jake and I celebrated Mia’s promotion to principal dancer. This used to be my place, the place where I’d won awards and glory. After the car accident, Jake had
bought it.
He told me he did it because it held all my memories. But now I know, he did it for Mia, so she could be queen of it. I chuckled. I saw Jake
get out of his car, with Mia.
He rushed over to me, “Sorry, honey, the roads were closed last night, I couldn’t make it back.” I didn’t care about his excuse, and just nodded. Mia pulled my wheelchair away, “Uncle, those big–wigs want to chat with you, I’ll stay with my
auntie.”
After Mia betrayed me, I never talked to her. It
was only because of Jake that we kept in
く
touch. I didn’t know why she suddenly decided
to be nice to me now.
Mia wheeled me to the hall of fame, but all my
photos and trophies had been removed. Now it
was all about her.
Mia stopped acting, and said, “You were a child
prodigy, whatever, now I have you right under
my foot.” She pointed to a pair of diamond
shoes. “My uncle gave them to me.” She
smiled, “I know you can’t wear heels, because
you’re paralyzed.”
“I’ll let you in on a secret,” she continued, “My
uncle isn’t related to me, we were together for
years. He married you because I wanted your
fiancé. I asked him to go out with you.”
“You’re so pathetic, you can’t dance. I’d be
dead of shame if I was you.”
I looked her in the eyes. “Shouldn’t you be the
one who is ashamed? You had to wait for me to
get injured so that you could have a chance at
taking my spot. Your dance skills are not good, maybe you should change careers?”
Mia kicked my chair hard. “You’re such a
<
cripple, don’t act like you’re better than me.”
She shoved me towards the pool. “My uncle
likes to call you honey?” she said. “My
nickname is candy. You think he calls me that
too? We should test to see who he cares for
more!” She laughed and pushed me into the
water.
