Dear Traitor

Section Five

Before I tell anymore stories, I would like to clear something up really quickly. You always love to bring up the time I sent the middle finger emoji to my sister and said it was for Portia. You also always mentioned the time I called her a hoe over text, which I texted to my sister as well. It is constantly being brought up in court as well. To that I say, I am sorry. That was immature of me and solved absolutely nothing. I also said I wished Portia would go back to Louisiana, where she is from. Not to her face, as she claims, but to my friends. I am fully aware it is not nice, but when she became bitter towards me out of the blue, I always wanted her to go back to Louisiana. When she was not around, you changed.

One weekend when I came to your house, I asked you where Portia was. You said she was in Louisiana visiting family and (if I remember correctly) would be gone the entire time I was there. I cannot describe to you how much relief I felt that weekend. Since she was gone, that meant you would be nicer. The only way I am able to explain it to you is that when Portia was not around, it was as if a flame was extinguished within you. You spoke with softer tones, no lectures were given, and you did not have those razor-sharp eyes you had when she was there. You were more relaxed. We sat around the table and ate supper, just like we did in 2018 before Portia came into the picture. Except Layla (our dog, who Portia kicked out of the house) was not stealing my chicken nuggets. I will never forget the time I was holding a chicken nugget when Layla appeared from under the table and ate it out of my hand. Layla also used to wake me up for school every morning by jumping onto my bed and lying beside me. Now that I am thinking about it, you were also much calmer when Layla was in the house. After all, she is your service dog. She is my dog, too.

Then, before me and my sister went to sleep, I would beg for you to retell one more funny story from your childhood. The ones about when you swing from vines and fall into mud or the trouble you caused at school.

Again, all of this went away once Portia arrived.