Meet Me in the Margins

by Melissa Ferguson

There is such a lengthy silence this time that I go ahead and cut to the chase. “I know how it must look from the outside, but they are in love,” I explain, repeating the mantra the family has said a thousand times. “And he left you for her,” he says, his face taking on one of those terribly intimidating expressions he gives when he’s about to fire someone, “but comes back to ask you to go couch shopping for his future bride. Your sister.” “I know how this sounds. But this is how my family works. We are loyal to each other to the end. It’s kind of our family mission statement.” Will pulls into the last, lonely empty parking spot at the corner of the courthouse. He puts the gearshift in Park, hesitates for the blink of an eye, then turns to face me. “And that’s where I wonder if I should correct you, Savannah. You may be loyal, but it doesn’t sound as if the rest of your family is loyal to you.” He sounds so harsh, as if editing my life. But despite his words, and the way he is frank in a manner that no one—not even Lyla—has ever been, I feel myself crack a little beneath them.