“Andrew was supposed to be the it thing. He played football and he was the best quarterback out there, and he got picked up by the biggest university. With that came housing if we were married, so in a small ceremony, we got married. Then he got hurt junior year. Sacked in the stomach, and when the guy landed on him, he crushed his ACL.” My hands start to shake. “I didn’t know he was on drugs. I was a new mom with no help, and Dylan had colic. If he was around, he was moody and angry, and I just thought that it was because he was frustrated.”

“Caroline,” she whispers, “you don’t have to do this.”

“But I want to,” I say. “I have to. You were the first woman Justin ever loved.” She smiles, and the tears roll down her cheeks. “When I finally realized what was going on, he was too far gone, and I was already going down that black hole with him. I have never done one drug in my whole life, but then, I owed over fifty thousand dollars in credit card debt, six months of rent, and let's not forget about the dealers that he kept taking shit from and never repaying.” I close my eyes.

“I came home one day, and he was on the couch fucking our landlady because he didn’t have rent.” Parker gasps. “Three months later when he came home and was coming down from his high, I told him he had to sign a paper so I could get extra diapers from the church. I lied. They were divorce papers that I got online, and the next day, I filed them at the court, and just like that, without him knowing, I cut the tie I had to him. But I still had Dylan, and I tried to shield him and, well, protect him from what his father was. I think I did a pretty good job.”

“No!” Parker almost screams. “You did an amazing job. He’s wonderful and kind and smart. But the best thing he has is his heart of gold. You can’t teach that.”