She thought he ought to be able to act cheerful by will—like she did. Well, sorry, but that wasn’t how he was made. Zola tried to help him see his home life hadn’t been so bad, like Aston often did. But, then, Aston and Zola hadn’t lived through his childhood. They hadn’t watched Bowden get everything he wanted. They hadn’t watched Bowden never get punished for the cruel things he did and said to others—or the cruel things said and done to him. Bowden’s favorite line, when chastised for taunting Spencer, was, “Oh, I was only teasing. Spencer knows that.” But it was more than that. Bowden had a cruel streak, and Spencer, too often, got the brunt of it. In a surprising twist, Bowden never acted cruel to Rita. He often called her Rita-Savannah. He acted loving to her and encouraged her talents. It was probably the reason Rita never really understood how Spencer felt when Bowden got in one of his moods to bully and tease. She was never his target. Bowden most often targeted Spencer outside the house, too, with no family witnesses.
