Hard Questions

Kristo

“They died a long time ago. I told you that,” she replied. “In an accident. I was just eighteen. I was so young, and Jolene was barely a few years old, and I had to step in and look after her. There was no one else in the family who could do it, so I …”

She hesitated again, catching her breath.

“They gave us a payout, the insurance people, for the accident, and I took it so I could go off to college and support my sister at the same time,” she explained. “But when I finished up, I realized I couldn’t hold down a job and look after her.”

“Hey, you don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to,” I assured her swiftly. “Really.”

“No, it’s okay.” She brushed a few tears away from her eyes, as though angry at herself. I fell silent and looked at the store assistant, who was lurking nearby awkwardly and watching us. I shot her a look that told her to back right the hell off, and she scurried away to the other end of the store and left us to it.

“I wanted to be with her,” she wen