said, ‘What are you going to do, girl?’”
My stomach turned.
“That’s why you said it.”
Suddenly, her words from weeks earlier came back perfectly.
What are you going to do, grandma?
“That’s why you said it.”
“Yes.”
I sank back against the table.
“The ruling was still correct.”
Audrey told me what followed.
The opportunity vanished. A sponsor lost interest. Her coach began focusing on another athlete. She competed again, but badly, and eventually walked away from the sport.
“I spent years thinking that was the moment everything ended.”
I swallowed.
“The ruling was still correct.”
Audrey told me what followed.
“I knew you’d say that.”
“But what I said afterward wasn’t.”
She looked away.
“You were seventeen. I treated you like another complaint I wanted to get rid of. I was wrong.”
Silence hung between us.
Then another thought struck me.v
“You knew who I was when
