“It’s your fault she’s like this, Mark, you know it is!â€?

“How can you blame this on me? You’re the one who sent her to that goddamn school before she was ready! You’re the mother around here; I’m not the one raising the child!â€?

“You’re just such a jerk! ‘You’re the woman, you need to raise Katy properly.’ Why do you do this to me?â€?

They’ve done that for as long as I can remember – fought about whose fault I was. Who went wrong and turned Katy into the silent girl she is today. And other things, too – who spends the money, who takes out the garbage, who’s a better person…

I used to think that it was my fault that my parents seemed to hate each other. Actually, I don’t think they realized until a few years ago that their fighting wasn’t a secret; they would always fight late at night, not realizing that every word they said floated up the heating vents, straight into their daughter’s ears. I think they still don’t know that every night, I’m forced to go to sleep listening to the lullaby of their shouts.