Page 31 - TruthAboutLyingFinal

Nicholas Boothman
“What truth?”
“The one you’ve been avoiding for two years.”
He felt his chest tighten.
“We had a fight.”
“No. That’s the summary. I’m asking for the truth.” “You called me a professional liar.”
“You were one.”
“I called you self-righteous.”
“You did.”
“We both said things.”
Claire’s face changed.
“Mom’s funeral,” she said.
Henry went still.
“You stood in that church and gave a beautiful eulogy about what a wonderful mother she was. How she always put us first. How she taught us integrity.”
“She was our mother.”
“She was an alcoholic, Henry.” The room seemed to shrink.
“She forgot to pick me up from school so many times I stopped calling. She told me I was a disappointment every time I didn’t meet whatever impossible standard she’d invented that week. She made the whole house orbit her moods. And you stood there in front of everyone and turned her into a saint.”
“I was trying to honor her.” 31