Win, Lose, or Die by Diane Hoh

Author:Diane Hoh [Hoh, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2013-08-13T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

THE FIRST THING NICKI did when she got back to her room was call her parents. Nicki’s mother answered the telephone and her father picked up the extension in the living room. When they had all exchanged greetings, Nicki said, as casually as she could manage, “Do you two remember when we were living back here, in Nokomis, and I played in that big tri-state tournament the night before we moved to Denver?”

The silence that followed told her everything. Her worst fears were confirmed. It was true. It was all true, and they’d known this whole time. They had kept the truth from her.

Her father cleared his throat. “Nicki, you’ve been in so many tournaments.”

“Don’t,” she murmured in a strangled voice, “don’t keep it up. I know. Why didn’t you tell me?” She was sitting on her bed, and now she sagged back against the wall. “I don’t understand.”

Another silence. Then her mother said, “Nicki, why are you thinking about that night now, after all this time?”

But Nicholas Bledsoe said in a weary voice, “Give it up, Celeste. We knew there was a good chance she’d hear something when we moved back east. Nicki’s right. It’s time to quit pretending.” To his daughter, he said quietly, “What do you need to know?”

She didn’t know where to begin. So many questions. So many awful answers, waiting to be spoken aloud. “Did that child really lose the sight in one eye?”

Her father cleared his throat. “Yes. But,” he added quickly, “it was an accident, Nicki. No one blamed you.”

Someone did, she thought. Someone who had said, “After what you did. …”

“You told me you didn’t find out anything,” Nicki accused. “You said there hadn’t been any reports of an accident like that.”

“We felt it was for your own good, Nicole.” Her mother’s voice, low and calm. “It was an accident, honey. We couldn’t see what good it would do for you to know. Your father paid all of the child’s medical bills, every penny.”

The letters from the New York law firm.

Nicki felt sick again. “Oh, God,” she groaned, bending double on her bed. The room was spinning around her, a pale blue blur. “Oh, no, no. I didn’t do that, I didn’t. Someone is blind in one eye because of me?”

Her father’s voice, deep and suddenly stern, came back on the line. “Nicole, listen to me. I don’t know why you’ve dredged up this thing after all these years, but I wouldn’t have told you if I didn’t think you could handle it like an adult. Don’t prove me wrong now. As your mother said, it was an unfortunate accident, and it was handled in the best way possible. There is no sense at all in dwelling on it now, after all this time.”

“Terry …” Nicki murmured. “The name that woman screamed was Terry. Did I blind a girl or a boy?”

Her mother gasped at her daughter’s choice of words. “You didn’t blind anyone!” she said angrily. “Not … not completely. Don’t say that!”

“Was it a girl or a boy?” Nicki demanded furiously.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.