Chapter 4 - THE FALLOUT OF THE REUNION
By the time the police arrived, the backyard reunion was in shambles. Aunt Linda was arguing with Uncle Richard about whether the police would actually arrest Tyler, while the rest of the family quietly began packing up the potato salad and folding the blue tablecloths, eager to distance themselves from the scene. Tyler was led away in handcuffs, his face a mask of bitter, unearned indignation as he shouted that I had "tricked everyone."
My mother remained under the oak tree, her face buried in her hands. When I looked at her, I felt a deep, hollow ache that had nothing to do with my spine. She had let me lie on the gravel, humiliated and hurting, waiting to see if I would "prove" myself. As Dr. Sterling helped me into his car, I didn't say goodbye to her. I knew then that the family I had been trying to please for twenty-six months was a house of cards that had finally, thankfully, collapsed.
