PART 2 — THE NIGHT SHE TRIED TO ERASE MOM
Prom night arrived.
I nearly stayed home.
Instead, I stood in front of my bedroom mirror wearing Mom’s dusty pink dress.
For a moment, I saw her face in mine.
Then I touched the blue K hidden inside the lining.
“I won’t disappear, Mom.” Pregnancy& Maternity
Downstairs, Dad looked up and froze.
“You look just like your mother.”
For one second, I thought he finally understood.
Then Shirley called from the kitchen.
“Hopefully she doesn’t spend the entire night crying like her.”
Dad flinched.
I stared at him.
“Say something.”
He barely managed, “Shirley, please.”
That was all.
When Gary arrived, he looked at me and smiled.
“You’re beautiful.”
At prom, I finally began relaxing. SpecialOccasions
Friends complimented the dress.
When I told them my mother had made it, their expressions softened.
Gary handed me a cup of punch.
“She would be proud of you.”
Then the doors opened for the parent chaperones.
I looked for Dad.
Instead, I saw Shirley.
My cup slipped from my hand.
She was wearing my mother’s dress.
Not the original—but an almost perfect copy.
Same dusty pink fabric.
Same fitted bodice.
Same handmade-looking flowers.
The only thing missing was Mom’s tiny blue K. Pregnancy& Maternity
Someone whispered, “Is that Delilah’s mother?”
Another student answered, “No. That’s her stepmother.”
Shirley walked directly toward me.
“Oh, Delilah! Look at us. We match!”
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“You copied Mom’s dress.” Pregnancy& Maternity
She leaned closer so only I could hear.
“You don’t own grief, sweetheart.”
“How could you do this?”
Her smile became colder.
“You thought tonight would make you special. I wanted you to understand that you’re ordinary.”
I turned to my father.
“Tell her to stop.”
Dad lowered his eyes.
“Not here, Delilah.”
“She copied Mom’s final gift to me.” Pregnancy& Maternity
“Please lower your voice.”
That hurt almost as much as Shirley’s cruelty.
I turned toward the exit.
Then Gary grabbed my elbow.
“Don’t disappear.”
Mom’s voice returned instantly.
I stopped.
“Everyone is staring,” I whispered.
Gary looked around.
“Good.”
Then he added:
“Let them see what she did.”
I told him I couldn’t fight Shirley in front of hundreds of people.
“You don’t have to fight her alone.”
Gary walked toward our senior adviser, Mrs. Chen.
What I didn’t know was that Gary had already spoken to her after our visit to the alteration shop.
Mrs. Chen had also known my mother. Pregnancy& Maternity
Mom had volunteered for years helping with school theater productions.
And Mrs. Howard happened to be at prom helping prepare a memorial display.
The truth was already inside the building.
Gary only needed Shirley to step into it.
