“How can you hit her?” Mom fires at him. “No matter what she did, you shouldn’t do that!”
“Is this how you raise her?” he yells, his voice thundering through the living room. “Anything could have happened to her in Colorado, and yet you’re not concerned about that?”
“Of course I’m concerned!” She snaps back. “But hitting her twice, no less, won’t fix anything. She came home safe, and that’s what matters.”
“What matters is my authority!” His voice makes me flinch. “And I demanded she come home.”
Mom holds me tighter. “I never claimed your authority or whatever you say doesn’t matter. But she’s an adult, and at her age, people make mistakes. That is not a reason to slap your own daughter! It shouldn’t be!”
I never imagined Mom would ever stand up to him like this, not for herself, or fo
