I looked over at my sister’s smiling face. I wanted so badly to be happy for Linda, but it was hard when my own life had fallen apart. Ever since Candace stormed down to the salon and called me a liar and a rapist, I had been trying to do everything that I could to get her to listen to me. But so far nothing seemed to be working. She wouldn’t take my calls and when I appeared on her doorstep two evenings in a row unannounced, she refused to come to the door. I would have stood out there all night if her neighbor across the hall hadn’t threatened to call the police. That was one thing I didn’t need. Tiffany told me Candace had gotten fired from her job. I felt so bad. She reassured me that her boss finding out she was dating a registered sex offender was only a small part of it. Something else had triggered her termination. I wanted to be there to comfort her and listen to what was on her mind. It bothered me that I couldn’t. “Good for you. I guess that means Dad’s okay with you dating a white man.”
