Part 1: When the Past Walks Back Into Your Family

December 28, 2025 by ucef

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I closed my eyes, gripping the phone a little tighter.

“She bullied me,” I said. “Relentlessly.”

Silence.

“I mean,” he replied carefully, “kids can be cruel sometimes. That was a long time ago. People grow up.”

Maybe they do. But some scars don’t fade just because time passes.

Nancy wasn’t the obvious kind of bully. She never shoved me into lockers or stole my lunch money. That would have been too noticeable. Too risky. Instead, she perfected something far subtler.