“Listen carefully, Eister.” Her mother, Oletha, told her, while preparing for an excursion with her father. “Men like to be needed and adored, but only when it’s most convenient for them. It’s alright to push him a bit when you’re trying to secure his affections, but once you’ve secured them, never overstep your bounds. Watch him. If he rejects a kiss or says he’s too busy or tired, keep your distance. Doing anything else will only upset him, and he’ll quickly tire of you.”
Even at age five, Eister was used to her mother’s unprompted, and at times unwelcome, lectures, and there wasn’t much beyond a mild curiosity in her wide, grey eyes. “But mother, daddy says if you love someone you always want to be with them.”
“Love? Has that dolt of a father of yours told you he loves me?” Oletha asked her, lip curling with a cross between amusement and disgust.
“Doesn’t he?” Eister asked, uncertainly. She’d always assumed he did because he often said you were supposed to love your family, and her mother was part of their family, but she couldn’t recall him ever outright saying those words.
“Well I surely don’t know, I’ve never asked him,” was the careless response. Oletha leaned closer to the surface of the mirror and smeared a little red paste on her lips, rubbing them together to spread it evenly. “If you know what’s good for you, never ask a man if he loves you. It forces him to think about it, and if he thinks too hard, he might decide he doesn’t. Once he gets it into his head that he doesn’t love you—whatever that means—he’ll look for someone he thinks he does.” She eyed Eister. “And with such a plain little thing like you, it won’t take much for him to abandon you.”
The small child tilted her head with a curious frown. “But daddy says he loves me. Daddy’s a man, too, right?” At the very least, she did remember him saying he loved her.
That got a laugh out of her mother, who was now giving her soft, glossy brown hair a last brush. “He’s your father, little girl, and an idiot at that. What he thinks of you doesn’t matter.” She swept from the room and that was the end of that conversation.