Page 8 of Meant to Be

I’d overheard these whisperings before from some of my aunts and uncles, along with reading about rumors in the press about my father’s infidelity, but nothing had ever been confirmed by my mother. “Berry. Stop it. Right now!” I said as sternly as I’d ever spoken to her—oranygirl.

But of course, she didn’t stop. “It’s true,” she said. “Your father was selfish, Joe—”

“He was ahero,” I said, my voice shaking.

“Yes, Joe,” she said. “He was awarhero. But he didn’tdiea hero.”

“Yes, he did!”

“No. He died putting his own lust for adventure and fame and ambition over you and your mother. That’s what happened. Face facts.”

I couldn’t believe her disrespect and felt myself snap. “Shut your damn mouth, Berry!” I shouted.

“No, Joe,” she said. “Iwon’t. Someone needs to stand up to you—”

“Oh, cut the crap. Lots of people stand up to me,” I said, thinking of all the adults in my life who scolded me when I messedup.

“Yes, but you won’tlisten…toanyone,” she said, her eyes suddenly filling with tears.

Now I felt pissedandguilty, the worst combination. “Shit, Ber. Don’t cry,” I said.

“I can’t help it,” she said, tears now rolling down her cheeks. “The skydiving. Rock climbing without a harness. Riding a motorcycle without a helmet. This idiotic talk about getting a pilot’slicense. It’s all so stupid and pointless. It scares me. It scares your mother.”

“I’m sorry, Berry. You’re right. I’ll be more careful. I promise,” I said.

In that moment, I meant it. Not because I believed for one second that anything could happen to me, but because I loved Berry and my mother and didn’t want to upset them. So for the rest of that summer, and throughout my senior year, I did my best to keep my promise. Don’t get me wrong—I found other ways to upset my mother and Berry; it’s just that none of my bad decisions were things that could have gotten me killed. So that was something, at least.

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