My sister hurled red wine across my dress uniform and told me I had no place in that ballroom, my father told security to get me out before I humiliated his future son-in-law, and I watched the stain slide over my ribbons, checked the countdown on my watch, and said, “You’re right. I don’t,” because in less than a minute the entire room was going to understand why I had really come.
her eyes fixed firmly on the gray concrete beneath her boots. “I didn’t understand that you wore it because you were willing to be the one people blamed.”
I was quiet for a long moment. Traffic hissed past the curb on the wet street. Somewhere in the distance, a press camera clicked rapidly, and then stopped when no one interesting appeared.