Perfectly Wrong

27. How Long

Maisie has never been to Camila’s house, but you wouldn’t say that by the way she opened the front door and entered the living room, dragging an angry Camila behind her. Sinu is sitting down on the couch, looking in surprise as a stranger enters her house with her daughter behind her. Camila has to admit the surprise on her mother’s face is gratifying. The blonde pulls Camila to the couch and makes her seat down next to her mother before sitting down in front of them at the coffee table.

 “ I’m Maisie, your daughter’s best friend.” She says to Sinu. “ There, now that we all know each other, let’s get down to the nitty gritty.”

 Sinu looks at Camila, then back at Maisie and doesn’t say a thing. Camila has no idea what her friend is doing, so she keeps quiet too.

 “ Sinu, right?” Maisie asks. “ That’s your name?”

 Sinu nods her head.

 “ Sinu, Camila has questions. Lots of questions. You have answers.” Maisie looks at Camila. “ Camila, you ask questions and your mother will answer them.” She then looks at both of them. “ That’s how you do it. Any questions? For me, I mean?”

 Both Camila and Sinu shake their heads, so Maisie stands up.

 “ Alright then. My work is done here. Call me later.”

 Before she leaves, Maisie wraps her arms around Sinu’s shoulders, who looks at Camila in surprise before returning the hug. Her friend squeezes her mother in a long hug before letting go and smiling at them, leaving through the front door seconds later. Camila and Sinu both sit in silence, staring at the front door before laughing together.

 “ Wow, Camila.” Sinu says. “ You sure know how to pick them.”

 “ I know. She’s great, right?”

 “ We better do what she says.” Her mother says after a while. “ Ask me a question, I’ll answer it best I can.”

 “ Are you going to die?” Camila decides to go straight to the point.

 “ Aren’t we all?” Sinu replies.

 “ That’s a question.” Camila protests. “ You’re supposed to just answer.”

 Her mother sighs like she’s hesitating, not wanting to answer.

 “ Possibly. Probably.” She admits.

 “ How long? How bad is it?” Camila asks.

 “ Camila, maybe I should explain it first. It’ll give you a better idea of what we’re up against.”

 She watches her mother stand up and take a seat in one of the stools at the bar, motioning for her to sit next to her. Camila walks there as her mother grabs a pen and a sheet of paper, writing something down.

 “ There are two types of lung cancer. Non-cell and small cell. Unfortunately, I have small cell, which spreads faster.”

 Camila takes a seat next to her mother, watching as she draws a diagram.

 “ Small cell can either be limited or extensive.” Sinu points to an area of the pair of lungs she drew on the paper. “ Mine was limited, which means it was contained into this area.” She then circles an area of the lungs. “ This is where they found a tumor. I was having some symptoms a few months before your father died. He had me go in for a biopsy and that’s when we found out it was malignant. We researched doctors for a few days and finally decided the best one would be one we found here in Michigan. We decided to move before your father even died. We-”

 “ Mom, slow down.” Camila says, making her mother put the pen down. “ I need a minute. God, it feels like I’m in science class.”

 Camila stands up and walks to the bathroom, thinking how her mother had months to think about this. She was telling Camila about it like she was teaching her how to bake a cake. After splashing water on her face, Camila takes a look in the mirror. She looks like crap, with mascara under her eyes and her hair wild. She wipes off her makeup before brushing her hair, walking back into the kitchen to listen her mother tell her how she’s going to die.

 “ A week after we decided we were moving to Michigan to be closer to the doctor, your father died.” Her mother continues after she takes her seat again. “ I was so consumed with it that I just tried to push what was going on with me out of my mind. I didn’t go back to the doctor for three months and by that time, it had spread. It was no longer a limited small cell, it was extensive.” She looks away, ashamed. “ I blamed myself for your dad’s heart attack. I knew it was the stress of the diagnosis that caused it.”

 Camila watches as her mother stands up and walks to the living room, looking out the window.

 “ Why didn’t you tell me?” Camila asks. “ I could have helped you, Mom. You didn’t need to deal with all of it on your own.”

 “ I know that now, but I was in denial and angry.” Sinu says. “ I was hoping for a miracle, I guess. I don’t know. Days turned into weeks, and then months. Now we’re here and I started chemotherapy again three weeks ago.”

 “ That’s good, right?” Camila asks with her voice weak. “ If they’re giving you chemeo then there’s a chance it will go away.”

 “ It’s not to fight it, Camila.” Her mother shakes her head. “ It’s to manage my pain. It’s all they can do now.”

 Camila rests her head on her hands as the tears start to fall from her eyes, eventually grabbing a tissue and taking deep breaths in an attempt to hold back the rest of her tears. She’s so sick of crying, it’s all she’s been doing lately.

 She feels her mother’s arms go around her, so she turns around and hugs her. Sinu eventually pulls away as she starts coughing and Camila's heart starts aching for her mother. How could she not have noticed how sick her mother is? She’s been so focused on her own misery that she didn’t even notice her mother being taken away from her.

 “ We’ll tell Sofia tonight.” Sinu says when the coughing stops. “ Amelia will be here at seven. She wants to be here since she’ll be her guardian.”

 “ What do you mean her guardian?” Camila asks with a laugh, thinking her mother has to be joking.

 “ Camila, you’re still in high school and soon you’ll be in college. I don’t expect you to give everything up. I don’t want you to. Amelia has raised children before. She wants to do it. She really likes Sofia.”

 Camila stands up in anger, pointing her finger to her mother.

 “ She is not getting Sofia!” Camila yells. “ You are not giving her my sister!”

 “ Camila, stop it!” Sinu puts her hands on Camila’s shoulder. “ You’re still in high school! You haven’t even started college yet, what do you expect me to do? We’ve got no one else.”

 Camila walks to the front door, opening it as she leaves the house. Her mother follows her to the driveway and then to Shawn’s front door across the street.

 “ You’re not telling her tonight!” Camila says, turning around to look at her mother. “ She doesn’t need to know yet. You better not tell her!”

 “ We have to tell her.” Sinu says. “ She needs to know.”

 “ Go home, Mom! Just go home. I’m done talking about it.” Camila says, opening the door to Shawn’s house. “ And if you ever want to see me again, you won’t tell her!”

 Camila hears her mother’s sobs as she slams the door behind her, finding herself in Shawn’s living room. She walks to his bedroom and throws herself on his bed, crying and screaming.