Chapter 9 - Candace’s Regret
Candace’s case ended with a plea agreement.
She avoided jail after completing anger-management classes, financial restitution, and community service. She was ordered to stay away from Naomi.
For a long time, Candace blamed everyone else.
Naomi.
Trevor.
Their mother.
The lawyers.
The world.
But one afternoon, while volunteering at a shelter kitchen, Candace watched a woman lift a hand to protect her face when someone moved too quickly near her.
The woman had been abused by her husband.
Candace froze.
For the first time, she saw the slap not as a moment of anger, but as violence.
She remembered Naomi’s face.
The shock.
The pain.
The way Naomi had looked past Candace toward Trevor, waiting for him to defend her.
Candace wrote Naomi a letter.
Naomi did not respond.
But she read it.
Candace wrote:
I was cruel because I was jealous of the love you gave Trevor. I wanted my brother to choose me because I did not know how to be loved without control. That does not excuse what I did. I am sorry.
Naomi folded the letter and placed it in a drawer.
Forgiveness was not immediate.
And it was not required.
May you like
But she no longer carried Candace’s cruelty as proof that she was weak.
It was only proof that Candace had been wrong.
