Sins of the Father

~VALERIE~

I stood at the end of Maple Street, staring at the small two-story house with its peeling blue paint and overgrown front yard.

Four years.

It had been four years since I had last stood on this sidewalk, nineteen years old with a duffel bag in my hand and my mother's cruel words ringing in my ears.

"Don't come back here with that bastard child. You've brought enough shame to this family."