Chapter 5 - Assumptions And Cruelty
Vanessa stared at him.
He continued.
“Not humiliation. Not threats against an employee for trying to help her. Not accusing her of stealing before she even opened her bag.”
George finally stepped forward.
“I said her bag should be checked because we had an unknown person on private property.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You accused my mother of theft because of how she looked.”
George’s expression hardened.
“I took a precaution.”
“No,” I said quietly. “You made an assumption.”
Patricia folded her arms.
“You intentionally created a misleading situation and now you’re acting offended that people misunderstood it.”
That argument almost sounded reasonable.
Almost.
It was exactly why I did not answer immediately.
I understood what I had done.
I had hidden the markers of my real life.
I had allowed strangers to form the wrong impression of me.
Ethan deserved to be angry about that if he chose.
But misunderstanding someone was one thing.
Degrading them was another.
“I did mislead you about my circumstances,” I said. “You believed I had no money and no connection to anyone here.”
Patricia gave a small nod as though I had proven her point.
I continued.
“But I never told Vanessa to spray me.”
The nod stopped.
“I never told George to suggest searching my belongings.”
He looked away.
“I never told you to worry about your photographs before wondering whether I was hurt.”
Patricia’s arms loosened.
May you like
“And I never told your daughter to threaten a young man’s job because he offered an old woman a napkin.”
The server stared at the ground.
