Chapter 8 - LILY MET HER BROTHERSam met Lily officially at a therapist’s office.
Lily had been impatient for weeks.
The moment he entered, she stood.
“Hi.”
Sam stared at her.
“Hi.”
“You’re my brother.”
The therapist said:
“Lily—”
Sam interrupted.
“I guess.”
She smiled.
“I knew it.”
“How?”
“You have Mom’s eyebrows.”
He looked at me.
Then at her.
“Unfortunately,” Michael said.
That broke the tension.
Sam almost smiled.
Lily gave him something.
A school lunch card loaded with money.
I closed my eyes.
“Lily.”
“What?”
Sam stared.
She said:
“You shouldn’t have to eat floor sandwiches.”
The therapist had to hide a smile.
Sam handed it back.
“I’m not charity.”
Lily frowned.
“You’re family.”
Silence.
Sam’s face changed.
He still refused the card.
Good.
But later, when we left, he walked beside her.
Not beside me.
May you like
I was okay with that.
Maybe sibling love had fewer ghosts attached.
