Bring It On

Chapter 21

Tanner's POV

Anna-Lee left to go to Oakley Medical Ward shortly after we finished the chores. Reaper had chose to stay, and without her here, he went back to being his usual mute self. The two were different when they were around each other. They had emotions towards each other, but without the other they were their usual cold selves. I get to see sides to them that no one in the club got see, and the fact they were comfortable enough around me to that way, made me happy. I care about Reaper and I love my sister so it means a lot that these too trust me that way. 

After Anna-Lee left the rest of us sat for breakfast. Since she wasn't here, I decided to raise some hell. "So when were you going to tell me you put Anna-Lee in a psych ward?" 

I watched as my parents tensed and looked at each other. "What are you talking about," my mother asked, not meeting my eyes. Instead she was looking down at her plate, her fork pushing around her eggs. 

"Don't bullshit us," I snapped coldly. "We know she tried to commit suicide when she was twenty three, and then spent two years in a psych ward. Why the hell did you not tell me?" 

They didn't reply to me. I was getting really pissed off now, "It's because you can't accept that she's not the same person." 

They flinched at what I said. I slammed my hands on the table and stood. My father stood with a glare, "Don't take that tone with us." 

"She fucking loves the both of you, yet you can't seem to return those feelings," I told him. 

"We do love her," my mother said to me. 

"Then fucking act like you do," I yelled back. "She was hurting and in need of comfort. Did you guys even go and visit her or was the sight of her in that place too unbearable?" 

I got my answer when they didn't answer. "Our whole lives, Lee hasn't fit the mold you've wanted her to fit in. She's always wanted to be her own person. That person she grew up into became a hero. One you two should be proud of. You both look at her, and see her struggles and how she copes with them, but do either of you know what she did?" 

"They refused to ever tell us and she never told us about what she did," my dad confessed to me as he sat back down. 

"She was in a special ops team," I told them. "She did things that you will never read about in the paper or online. It was all classified but she told me about them. She took out terrorists, sex traffickers, and so much more. Her last mission, got her honorably discharged with a purple heart. Her last mission she had been captured and tortured. That friend she is going to see, was beside her also being tortured. He didn't recover like she has, so we should consider ourselves lucky that we have the woman that we do. I'm not pissed at you for putting her in a psych ward because I could tell from what I know, and what I've seen that she needed the help. I am pissed that you didn't tell me. She was most likely scared and in need of our support." 

"Putting her in the psych ward was the only thing we could think of to do for her," my mother confessed to me. "She was a shell. I read books and such, trying to figure out how to get her to talk to us, but she was always so verbally hostile. She was in pain and she was scared, but we didn't know what to do. We were terrified when she tried to kill herself." My mother wiped the tears from her face. "I once offered for her to see a therapist, but she didn't react well to that. It's not that we didn't try Tanner. The reason we didn't tell anyone in town what actually happened was because we didn't want them to look at her with pity. You know as much as we do that she would have hated seeing their pity. We didn't tell you because we wanted to truly sell the lie. If you suddenly came home, we didn't know how to explain your sudden move back home. We were so happy when they released her. We could tell she was better than what she had been, but we could also tell she hated us for putting her in the ward in the first place." 

"When she got out, why did you keep trying to set her up with people," I asked my mom. 

"Because she had some unhealthy ways of coping," my mom answered. "I was hoping she'd find someone who could make her happy and possibly not give her a STD. I know she practices safe sex, but things could happen when too much alcohol is in the equation. She spent countless mornings coming home smelling like the worst bars on the planet. I wasn't expecting her to get into a relationship but I was hoping she could find someone that she could go too that would help her, and not some random guys she met in a bar. When she snapped and declared she was going to move in with you, I was all for that idea because I was praying that maybe you could help her, maybe make her happy." 

I honestly didn't know what to say to any of this. Now that I have both sides of the story it was different. My parents lied to protect her, not their image. I was pissed they didn't go visit and they didn't tell me, but I do understand where they're coming from. 

"Have you tried talking to her about any of this," I asked them. 

They shook their heads. "We never had the chance. She was always gone to some bar, sleeping off her hang over, or smoking weed in the barn," my dad said to me. "And yes, we know you kids use the loft for where you smoke. We didn't say anything because we were happy you were doing it on property and not somewhere you could get arrested. And the missing weed you two would argue about was actually because of us, that's why sometimes we would increase your allowances."

Well, at least that means I don't have to lie anymore. 

"And then she left," my mother continued. "We didn't want to force our explanations on to her. We wanted for her to be ready to talk. In the past when we've tried she was verbally hostile so that's made us become somewhat hesitant when it comes to talking to her about this." 

She then looked over at Reaper, "And I'm sorry for how I was when we first met. Tanner doesn't have a good history with making friends that are good and Anna-Lee's past taste in men are questionable at best. I see that you make her actually happy though, and that is enough for me." 

Reaper gave her a simple nod. 

"Look, I understand the reason for lying but I'm still pissed you didn't tell me and you didn't go visit her," I told them with a sigh. 

"And we understand that," my father said with a nod. 

"And you need to talk to Anna-Lee," I told them. 

My mom nodded, "We will." 

Well, this didn't go how I thought it would, but it went much better than I thought it would. Now I wonder how she was going to react when she finds out.