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“It’s Just for a Few Days”
The first week passed quickly. I told myself it was fine.
“She’s still using it. Stop worrying.”
“You’re home with the kids anyway.”
“Public transportation exists for a reason.”
Soon, it wasn’t just Vanessa. Mark’s younger sister, Lena, began borrowing the SUV too. One errand turned into overnight use. Overnight turned into silence.
Meanwhile, I slipped on icy sidewalks while balancing a stroller and grocery bags. I apologized to strangers as my kids cried on buses packed shoulder to shoulder. I learned which drivers waited and which didn’t.
The hardest part wasn’t the exhaustion.
It was the way Mark spoke to me when I asked for my own car back.
One night, after the kids were asleep, I said quietly, “I really need it. It’s getting harder every day.”
“You married into my family,” he said. “What’s yours is ours. That car included.”
Something cracked inside me then. But I didn’t know how to fight it.
The Train Platform Where Everything Changed
It was a Thursday morning when my youngest started crying on the subway, his little body shaking from the cold despite all the layers. I rocked him, whispering apologies to strangers who pretended not to notice.
At Lakeview Station, the doors opened, and a voice I hadn’t heard in months cut through the noise.
“Rach?”
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