LET ME TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED

CHAPTER 7

It's early in the morning and the noise in the living room has woken me up. Mom and dad are at it again. I hear dad shouting and saying he's leaving. The kitchen door closes loudly, a few seconds later I hear mom crying.

****

I find her on the floor laying against the wall by the kitchen. I sit by her side and rest my head on her shoulder with my arms wrapped around her.

"Your dad left us Carlos and he is never coming back.", mom says.

" It's not your fault mom.", I say. "Dad left because he wanted to."

****

We decide to go out and do some shopping and eat out. We go to our favourite place to eat JOE'S where we can have any fast food we want. It's a restaurant and mom's friend Zoey works there.

Mom and Zoey talk for a while and then go to the counter leaving me sitting here and looking at the menu. They sit at a different table and chatt. It must be a serious conversation for them to leave me like they did. I look back at them and notice Zoey looking at me. She whispers to mom.

When she looks behind her she gestures to me that she'll be back now-now. When I look forward again I see Cece and her friends walking in. I look down and hide my face with the menu pamphlet. I look up again when I feel it's safe.

Mom comes back with our orders. Even though I didn't order anything she comes with something she knows I'd always order, burger and fries. Plus a milkshake. I take a chip and eat it. I take a glance in Cece's direction tilting my head a little because the pillar is blocking my view.

Mom notices. "Who are you staring at?"

I pretend to have not heard her question. She looks at the same place I'm lookimg at. Then she looks back. "So what happened between you and that girl?"

I tell her I did something stupid and she broke up with me. I tell mom everything.

"You know you should ge a chance to talk to her.", mom says.

"I tried mom. But it's not going to happen.", I say. Even though Melinda told me that Cece said she'd talk to me when she's ready to, I don'treally think she will.

"You guys were a great couple. I'm sure you two can talk and work things out. Or should I talk to her?", mom says.

"No mom!", I say way too loud. "I think I can handle this on my own."

Well, mom's gone back to her old ways again. When she was always funny and made fun of me. It was always fun then. She was always a funny person, before her and dad started fighting.

"Okay. But you must talk like adults give each other a chance to talk and talk about your feelings."

"Do you think she'll forgive me?", I ask.

"If Cece really loves you she will."

****

When we get home mom tells me we need to talk. We sit at the dinner table after a while. I can see mom is not herself like she was at JOE'S.

She starts of. "As you know, your dad and I have been not so great for a while. We've been fighting a lot and the last few weeks we ended up not talking at all."

She looks really weak from all of this, and talking to me is even more difficult. "We are probably going to get divorced soon. We have thought of marriage counselling, but we're not sure if it will help. Your dad and I first began fighting when Caleb started getting sick when you were still in primary. When the firm cut his pay there was no money for medical fees and your dad became frustrated."