The drive home from school was an awkward and painful one. The tension between Spinel and her father was actually so bad that you could actually carve a hole into the air with a knife. Spinel knew that her father had a lot of explaining to do. It was bad enough finding out that Kimber had kept her in the dark about her having cervical cancer. It was worse finding out that Kimber wasn't her big sister as she'd been led to believe. It was even worse finding out about how she herself came to be. Spinel just stared out the passenger seat window, not wanting to directly look at her father.
"Why, Daddy?" Spinel asked, the betrayal and anger evident from the tone of her voice. "Why did you do it? Why did you make me?"
"Why did I make you?" Jeremy couldn't help but repeat. "Well, I had a feeling you'd ask that one day, so I guess I might as well tell you now. I warn you, though... you might not like what I have to say."
Spinel just rolled her eyes. "As if finding out Kimber was actually my mother wasn't a hard enough pill to swallow..."
Jeremy took a deep breath. "Okay... the day Nora and I adopted your mother was one of the best days of our lives. We were determined to give Kimber the same kind of life that Geraldine had wanted to give her."
"Wait... who's Geraldine?"
"Oh, did I not tell you about her? Geraldine was Nora's sister. She actually died not long after having Kimber."
"What did she die from?"
"Preeclampsia. Sometimes, women get it after they've already given birth. It wasn't the preeclampsia itself that killed her, though. It was a stroke that the preeclampsia brought on. Anyway, after Geraldine died, Nora and I adopted your mother and raised like she was our own. We'd been told that we couldn't have children so it was especially poignant for us when we welcomed Kimber into our home. Then we found out that we could have children after all, and we decided that we were going to be one big happy family no matter what. Obviously, though, it wasn't meant to be..."
Spinel finally faced him with a cocked eyebrow. "Where the hell are you going with this?"
"Alright, fine. One year, Nora and I were having marital problems. I just couldn't cope with how badly things had been going. I needed to take my anger on something, so one night... your mother was asleep and I... I did unmentionable things to her..."
Spinel was taken aback by this revelation. "I... I'm a product of rape?"
Jeremy quietly nodded. "Yes. Yes, you are. I'm sorry this was how you had to find out. I... I hope you can forgive me."
"Okay, Daddy." Silence followed for a while. "I don't forgive you. I can't forgive you."
They didn't exchange any words after that for the rest of the drive home.
Spinel was still reeling from finding out that Kimber had been her mother all along and that she was technically a product of incestuous rape. She wasn't exactly sure what to do with this information still. She wasn't about to forgive her father for what he'd done anytime soon. Plus, her entire dynamic with her "big sister" was based entirely on a lie. While the lie may have been made up to give her at least some semblance of a normal life, it was still a cruel thing to put her through.
It hadn't taken very long for Spinel to put two and two together and realize who had left that box of family mementos in her locker. Chloe and Indiana were the only ones whom she entrusted complete access to her locker for whatever reason. It had especially come in handy when she needed them to retrieve things she'd forgotten in a hurry. Once she realized that Chloe and Indiana were therefore responsible for upending everything she thought she knew about her life, she wanted even less to do with them than ever (which was something since she was already ignoring them at school and ghosting them whenever they tried to call or text her). Spinel was ashamed that she was even friends with them in the first place, so she decided to keep to herself for the most part. Just a week after the revelations came out about Kimber and Jeremy, Spinel found herself hanging out with Hudson Evans and his posse once again.
"Hey, baby girl," Hudson said. "You're lookin' awful lonely. Why don't you hang with us after school at my house?"
Spinel was about to politely decline when she locked eyes with Chloe and Indiana in the background. The other freshmen girls wanted to see what she would do and hoped beyond hope that she'd do the right thing, but Spinel graciously accepted the invitation just to spite them.
Later that night, Chloe and Indiana were hanging out at the latter's house, with Chloe crying her eyes out and Indiana comforting her.
"I just don't get it..." Chloe blubbered. "I thought those were supposed to help her realize life was precious? What can we do now?"
Indiana let out a heavy sigh. "Nothing. We did all we could for her, but not even her dad could help us. If she wants to die young, so be it. I just wish we could've helped her sooner."
Chloe sniffled. "Yeah. I hate this so much. You wanna know whose fault this really is, though?"
"Whose is it?"
"Mr. fucking Reynolds. He's the one who raped Kimber and made Spinel in the first place. I can't imagine how much Spinel must be hurting right now, knowing that she's technically not supposed to exist. She has to live with all this trauma of losing her entire family forever, and we can't even help her deal with it. I hate it. I hate it so much."
Indiana gave her friend a tight embrace. "I hate it, too, Chloe. Maybe someday, if she's willing to get help, we'll help her get it."
