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chapter thirteen halloween isn't for everyone
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Ruth Newby had always suspected she wasn't born the same way as everyone else, or maybe she had even been dropped as a baby. Rue had no idea what it was, but she knew something was wrong with her.
Her mother's behaviour toward her as a child didn't help her suspicions. Emilia had always treated and cared for Rue as if she were glass, a bomb ready to erupt at any moment. She handled her daughter as though she were an unknown hazard.
Rue had moments when she thought her... condition was the reason her father left.
Even after their relationship had improved, the night he left remained a recurring memory for her.
It was Halloween night in 1977, and Rue was six years old. She dressed like Sleeping Beauty, her favourite princess, in a gorgeous, glittering pink gown.
Rue spent the entire day after school, following her father like a lost puppy. Bob took Rue to the mall, where he bought her a new baseball glove and shared a ridiculously massive ice cream cone. After that, he went trick-or-treating with Rue, and once three bags were full of candy, he decided to bring her home.
She spotted suitcases in his car as she tried to fight away her sleep, but she never questioned it. Now, whenever she thought about the bags in the car, Rue realized she should have asked, and perhaps she would have had the chance to beg him to stay.
Rue believes her biggest regret is never begging her father to stay. Because at the age of six, the idea of her dad leaving never crossed her mind, but she was smart enough to understand that packed suitcases in the back of the car meant he was going somewhere.
