BAMBOOZLED

Falling Hard

I shook my head. "No, no, that can't be. Because that would mean Mum knew who you were my whole life and didn't tell me a single thing and that...that can't be. Right?"

"Maybe you should sit down, Vicelia." Dad whispered.

"You knew too?" I choked out. "No, no I don't want to hear this."

"Babe." George grabbed my hand. "I think you need to know the truth."

"George-"

"I'm right here with you Vice. Safest place in the world, remember?"

I nodded and squeezed his hand before sitting down. "Alright, explain yourselves."

Mum sighed. "Look, I was bad news since I was a kid. I liked rebellion and I hated rules and regulations. I was...well I was kind of like you, Vice."

"And I was the same way." Dad shook his head. "We got pregnant with the triplets when we were sixteen. Our parents hoped we would start taking things seriously, but we didn't. They would take care of the kids, so we almost didn't have real responsibility. We weren't ready to grow up."

"And that's when I met Rue." Mum whispered. "She was just like me. We had so much in common. Other than the fact I had three toddlers at home. And then she got pregnant with you, but after you were born, it was like nothing changed. We still wanted to mess around and not take life seriously and get into trouble."

"We thought we were invincible." Rue whispered. "And then you showed me I wasn't."

"I couldn't get in trouble. I had kids at home."

"And I didn't?"

"I didn't think the consequences would be so bad." Mum insisted. "I thought you would get a slap on the wrist, but I already had a record and I couldn't risk my life like that."

"You knew what I was going through at the time." Rue shook her head. "And you still let me take the blame alone. Cassandra you derailed my entire life!"

"You did that yourself, Rue. You knew the risks of what we were doing."

"Just keep going with the story." I said quietly.

"I did feel guilty for what I did, but I know I did the right thing for me and my family. It scared me straight and made me start taking life seriously. Colin and I got married and got jobs and started actually being parents. I heard Rue's parents wanted to give Vice up for adoption and we were in such a good place and wanted to raise a child the right way from the beginning, so they let us have her. You were so beautiful, Vice." Mum smiled slightly.

I scoffed and shook my head. "So what about when Rue got out of prison? You knew she was out, why didn't you find her and tell her you had me?"

"Because you were ours." Dad said. "We had raised you for ten years, you were our child. You didn't know her. Your grandparents said it was best that you never did. And we agreed. You were much better off without her."

"No I wasn't!" I yelled. "How could you keep me from her? My own mother."

"Vicelia, I am your mother!" Mum snapped. "I raised you, I held you when you cried, I was there for every big moment of your life. She was not! You did not know her, Vicelia. She would not have been good for you."

"You didn't even give me a chance, Cassandra." Rue whispered. "I was different when I came out of prison. All I wanted to do was find my daughter and do right by her. You and my parents had no right to keep my daughter from me! How could you?"

"I wasn't going to let you take my daughter from me. You weren't going to uproot her life out of nowhere."

"You think I would have taken her away? Did it even cross your mind that I would want to co-parent with you? That we could have raised her together? It didn't have to be one or the other."