The Day I Opened My Eyes to His Lies

I was afraid Abraham would insist on driving me to the station, so I told him my flight left three hours earlier than it did.

Once he was gone, I could switch to a cab and go to the airport instead.

But I'd overthought it.

So now there were still more than four hours until the plane took off.

When I checked my luggage, the attendant took my bag from me.

My cane slid across the polished floor, then jerked sideways.

She caught me quickly.

"The tip of your cane is worn completely smooth. It's dangerous to keep using it like this. Why didn't you replace it?"

I answered without thinking.

"My boyfriend said he'd get me a new one when I got back."

The attendant found a rubber anti-slip pad and crouched down to fix it onto the tip for me.

It took her only a few minutes.

Something Abraham had dragged out for months was solved by a stranger.

An hour before takeoff, according to the schedule I'd given Abraham, I should already have been home.

He called.

"You there yet? Whatever you do, don't forget the greens!"

"Mm."

His end of the line was lively.

There was the clink of bowls and chopsticks.

A middle-aged woman called out warmly.

"Abraham, come sit next to Pam."

"She said her stomach's been hurting since yesterday. Fix her something light."

A man laughed.

"You're at Uncle's house now, no need to stand on ceremony. We're all family from here on."

Pamela cut in, her voice sweet.

"Dad, don't say things like that."

Abraham seemed to move away a little.

"Why is it so quiet on your end?"

"You didn't see me off today because you were in a hurry to go meet Pamela's parents?"

He paused.

"Her aunt and uncle hardly ever come to town, and they asked me to eat with them. Didn't I already call you a cab?"

As if calling me a cab counted as seeing me off himself.

"This dress I'm wearing. It's the one Pamela burned with her curling iron, isn't it?"

The line went quiet for a few seconds.

Abraham's voice turned stiff.

"That was ages ago. Why are you suddenly bringing it up?"

"So it's true?"

"Pam's parents showed up out of nowhere that day, and your dress was about the same as hers, so I let her wear yours first."

I gripped the phone.

"And then you put the one she'd burned back in my closet?"

"It's not like I threw your stuff away," Abraham said, growing impatient. "It's just a little hole in the back, that's all."

"You've got a jacket on today anyway. Just cover it up."

So he'd seen it all along.

When he helped me into the car, when he buckled my seatbelt, he knew there was a scorched hole in the back of my dress.

And he didn't say a single word to warn me.

My voice rose before I could stop it.

"Pamela can't meet her parents in a burned dress, so you gave her mine."

"My cane's been broken for months and you told me to make do. But her table leg gets loose and you go out in the rain to fix it."

"Now her parents are here, and you don't even have time to take me to the station."

"Abraham, why is it that everything can just be 'good enough' when it comes to me?"

He was silent for a moment.

When he spoke again, his voice was full of weary patience.

"Don't be difficult. You really haven't been yourself lately."

"You heard it wrong that night. How many more times do I have to explain?"

On the other end, Pamela's mother called to him again.

"Abraham, the fish Pam put on your plate is getting cold."

Her father laughed too.

"Stop being on the phone all night. This is a family dinner."

A family dinner.

"Abraham, whose boyfriend are you, exactly?"

His voice dropped low.

"Here we go again. I found you a job, I picked you up after work, I've taken care of you for years."

"Haven't I been good enough to you?"

But that goodness was so cheap, so filthy.

It even came laced with tricking me into taking the clients Pamela didn't want, tricking me into using my blindness to pull in business.

Was that kind of goodness really love?

What Pamela got was probably the favoritism he'd truly wanted to give all along.

"Let's break up."

Abraham actually laughed.

"Don't try to scare me with a breakup. You need someone to tell you when your dress is torn. What would you even do without me?"

"Go home, let your grandmother spoil you for a few days. I'll come get you in a week."

He was as certain as if he were soothing a child throwing a tantrum.

I didn't explain any further.

"Don't bother coming."

"Fine, but remember to bring the greens."

I hung up.

Soon an attendant came to take me to board.

Seeing I was blind, she came over and guided me along.

Every few steps, she warned me ahead of time.

"There's a threshold coming up, careful."

"Seats on your left, take it slow."

Even a stranger treated me this way, and Abraham had never once told me to be careful.

Before the cabin doors closed, Abraham sent another voice message.

"See you in a week."

I turned off my phone.

He thought I was only going back to my grandmother's to sulk for a few days.

But as the plane left the ground, I was flying to Northgate.

We would never see each other again.