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The following scene occurs after Lily and Sam confront their daughter, who’d broken into their house while they were away. The girl has a drug problem and sleeps around, much to her parents’ dismay.
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Molly’s lips bunched up in anger, and Lily feared the girl might actually strike her. Before it reached that point, however, Sam stepped between them.
“All right, that’s enough.” He turned to his daughter. “Molly, you’ll have to do your laundry someplace else. You’ve betrayed our trust for the last time. So until you’re ready to follow the rules of this house, don’t come around.”
“Daddy!” Molly wailed. “Why are you letting her treat me this way?”
“You think I like doing this? Honey, you’re in quick sand and sinking fast. We have to let go or go down with you.”
“All I wanted was a place to sleep,” Molly cried. “And I cleaned up when I left. I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.”
Seeing Sam’s eyes fill up and afraid he would lose his composure, Lily moved the burden off his shoulders and onto hers, as always. “Molly, we love you,” she said in a calmer tone. “And we can’t bear to see you do this to yourself. You need help, baby. And we’ll get you that help if you let us.”
“Yeah? How? By locking me up somewhere?”
“No. You can stay here while you straighten out. But it won’t be a free ride. You’ll have rules.”
“No thanks. I’ve had enough of your rules.”
With that, Molly lugged her laundry bag back to her car and peeled out of the driveway.
Upset at having to turn their daughter away, Lily turned to Sam for comfort. But the look in his eyes did not suggest comfort.
“Well, are you happy now?” he said. “We’ve finally driven our daughter away.”
“Sam, we agreed on this. She has to learn there are consequences to her actions.”
“You didn’t have to ban her entirely. Would it have hurt to let her do her wash here? At least we’d be able to see her once in awhile and know she’s still alive.”
“Are you blaming me now?”
“I’m not blaming anyone,” he said, voice breaking. “I just want my little girl back.”
“So do I, Sam. But I don’t want to see her self-destruct. And I don’t think it’s healthy for Todd to have such drama every time she comes home. No matter what he says, she’s still his sister and he loves her.”
Sam rubbed his face. “If anything happens to her . . . .”
Lily drew back. “You do blame me, don’t you?”
He stared back, silent.
Crushed, Lily fled to her room in tears.
Thank you for reading.
Joyce
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