CHAPTER 2
1222 Words
His laughter echoed around the house and I wondered what’s funny. “I want your mom to feel special on her birthday, what should I give her?” He asked.
If it weren't disrespectful to roll my eyes at him, I would do it. What the hell was wrong with him? For goodness sake, he lived with my mom for a long time, and yet, he didn’t know what to give her. How pathetic!
“I have no idea,” I replied.
“Okay, just go ahead.” He dismissed me.
On my mother’s birthday, I was dumbfounded at their display of fake affection in front of me. I knew they were faking it, so it disgusted me even more!
“Cassie darling, have some of the soup. I prepared it for you and your mom,” he said.
I tilted my head towards him and said, “Thank you.” Honestly, I missed the man I saw every day while growing up as a kid. “How about you, Mom?” My voice cracked a little when I asked the woman who struggled not to cry while watching her family eating together.
I just hoped that her heart wouldn’t flutter anymore because of his sweetness. It’s temporary and I knew it! “I hope we will stay like this forever,” I said when I tasted a spoonful of the soup he served.
“Like what, darling?” He asked.
“Happy and together,” I answered. He smiled but I noticed how he almost spilled the soup on his bowl. Then, he put down the spoon on his plate and stared at me.
“Yes, it would be great, right Lance?” My mother seconded my statement.
“What’s wrong with you, Adrianna? You’ve been like this since last night!” He shouted all of a sudden, and his loud voice startled me.
“Wait a minute, did I say something wrong?” She asked my father with dignity but her eyes told me that she was hurt, and it fueled my imagination some more that he hid something from us.
“You’re jealous!” He yelled.
“I have all the right to be jealous because I’m your wife for goddamn sake!” She yelled back at Lance Anderson. “Yes, I am jealous! Can you blame me, Lance? You’re acting differently these past few months, and you even put a password on your phone!”
“It’s about privacy,” he reasoned out.
“Privacy? Damn it, Lance! Why can’t you be honest with me?” His petty excuse provoked the s**t out of my mother, and I was proud of the way she stood up to him.
Lance Anderson scowled at us before he stood up and said, “I lost my appetite.”
When he was gone, I smiled at my mother, and put some food on her plate. We had our breakfast as nothing happened. She looked at me apologetically and I knew she had a hard time explaining her side of the story. “It’s okay, he’s just mad,” I told her.
“Right, he’s just mad, darling.” She replied.
In the evening, the house of the Anderson was packed with friends and relatives. Lance Anderson arranged everything for my mother and she was happy about it. I saw her smile, and it was genuine. However, I couldn’t let her suffer the same heartbreak over again!
Before dinner was served, my mother asked me to tell him that everyone’s waiting for him. I knocked on the master's bedroom but it seemed that nobody was inside. As my father loved to spend some time alone on our rooftop, I decided to check the said place.
I found him sitting at the edge and a bottle of beer was in his right hand. That moment, I was tempted to push him so he would die. Since the day I found out about his affair, I imagined killing him with my bare hands several times. A sigh escaped from my lips before I took another step to go to him.
However, my mother suddenly showed up and I wondered why I didn't notice her before. Then, it happened so fast! I screamed as loud as I could and ran downstairs to report what I saw, but then I saw my mother with a big smile while talking to her friends. What happened? Did I just imagine what I saw earlier?
My screams might be so loud because everyone gathered around me as soon I returned to the living room. “He jumped,” I lied when my eyes met with my Mom's. Then, screams began to erupt outside our residence.
My mother left me and ran to see what’s the commotion all about. With shaky legs, I followed her outside, and we joined the group of spectators. Our guests and relatives exclaimed their fear and shock over something horrible.
“Mommy!” I called my mom when she went through the crowd to check what’s going on and her screams pierced my heart. My father wasn’t loyal to his vows. He didn’t keep his promise to stay with her till death, and yet she didn’t mind crying for him!
Blood dripped from his broken skull into the ground and I ought to move away from his lifeless body. However, I couldn’t leave my mother alone, therefore, I ignored the crimson rain of death and stared at his lifeless blue eyes
It’s pathetic but my body refused to move an inch!
I began to panic until my entire being was consumed in total darkness. The people around us screamed, but my mother’s voice was the loudest. I tried moving my legs but I couldn’t feel them anymore. Everything began to feel numb so I decided to just lay down in the arms of the person who caught me before I hit the ground.
After a few seconds, I tried to open my eyes, but it wouldn’t open no matter what! I asked myself if it’s a sign of death, and if it was, I didn’t want to die yet. She needed me...
Not yet!
What should I do?
Forgive me, father, for I have sinned, I chanted the line nonstop.
“Baby! Are you going to leave me too? Please don’t,” Adrianna begged and my eyes were full of tears when I got the second chance to see her again.
“Mom,” I called her in an unstable voice, and like a baby, she cuddled me on her arms.
“Oh baby, I thought that you will leave me too!” She exclaimed.
I smiled at her and said, “Never! Until the time when I can see you laugh again, that’s when I will set you free, Mom.”
“What do you mean?” Adrianna asked in confusion.
“Just…,” I replied without going into further details.
- Writer
