Eternally Bleeding | Discontinued

Chapter Seven: Honesty

Chapter Seven: Honesty

Honesty is fearing a negative response and telling the truth anyway. ~ Anonymous

My self-esteem was at a normal level after what my Dad had said. I felt more relaxed and at ease. I smiled a bit more too throughout having a care-free conversation with everyone at the table (excluding Dad’s wife.) I managed to ignore the woman when she asked stupid things about me, and even my Mum managed to act like she didn’t exist.

It almost felt like I was having dinner with an unbroken family, but with an uninvited stranger. Just almost.

“I think we’d better get going soon,” the new wife said, getting up from her seat, “Hazel’s going to be tired.”

 “No!” I exclaimed, “I want Dad to stay longer. He’s my Dad too, you know.”

“I know that dear, that’s why he’s staying a couple of more minutes to say goodbye,” she said to me, looking at me in the eye. She then turned to my Dad, “Aren’t you going to tell them the news, darling?”

The way she spoke to him made me sick. She was rubbing it in our faces that he belongs to her now and not us. She treated it as if she stole something from us – which she did.

“What’s the news then?” my Mum asked him, her voice cold and her eyebrows were raised. She looked so scary. But I could see that she was nervous too… probably even more nervous than I was. I glanced at her for a moment and noticed that her fingers were white from holding onto the edges of the table too hard.

“Come on, honey. Tell them the good news,” the woman said, she tried to sound eager and excited but it had an edge to it. It sounded forceful and filled with hatred. She smiled to cover it up, but I always had a sensitive touch to body language. I studied people enough to know them inside and out.

And I didn’t like the woman one bit then. I didn’t like the way she was edging closer to my Dad and I didn’t like the way it made my Dad look. He looked really uncomfortable then and had a slight frown on his face. He looked thoughtful and worried. We were all worried.

“We’re going to move,” he said, blurting it all out at once that it sounded like one word. But I understood that, and by the look my Mum had on her face, she understood what he said too.

“That’s it? You’re moving?” she replied. She relaxed a bit then. but then the lady dropped the bomb.

“We’re moving to Australia, my hometown!” she exclaimed gleefully. She hugged my Dad and kissed him on the cheek. My Dad, however, wasn’t paying attention to her. His eyes were set on my Mum. He looked so tense, so not like the Dad I knew and loved. He changed so much in the matter of such little time.

“What do you mean you’re moving to Australia?” my Mum exclaimed, turning reddish in colour. She looked very, very angry, and by that, I mean very, very irate. She was about to explode, but she had her limits. She never argues with my Dad when I am watching, little did she know I heard them argue in the past…

“I have to think about my daughter,” my Dad replied. He occupied himself by cutting up the Turkey but didn’t eat any more. I noticed that his ears were reddening too. At least he isn’t a robot or something. That would have felt much worse.

“Mia is your daughter too!” my Mom practically screamed, breaking her vow of calmness. I moved back in my seat, shocked. My heart hurt. My head was spinning. It was all too much for me. My mind focused on one word: Josh. I needed his support and his friendship. But he was upstairs; playing on his mobile considering the fact the PlayStation was downstairs. But I didn’t care where he was and what he was doing; he was my friend at the end of the day. I loved him like a friend loves a friend.

“I know that,” my Dad replied instantly. He was about to say more but was interrupted by my Mum who silenced him by slamming her fist on the table. No wonder they got divorced, the cold part of my mind thought, they’re maniacs who cannot agree on something.

Dad’s wife, however, looked like she couldn’t care less. She stood as if she was waiting for it to end and to just leave. She was already dressed and ready to go. She looked almost calm but bored, not fazed on the situation in front of her. It was all her freaking fault!

“Shut up!” I said, loud enough for all of them to hear. “Can you stop arguing and listen to each other for once?” I turned to look at Dad’s wife and said in the coldest voice I could muster up, “Leave the house and never come back. You should know not to go where you are not welcome.” I turned away from her, not caring about how my words affected her. It was the truth after all. My Dad was next in my rant list; I looked at him in the eye and didn’t move a muscle. I felt nothing when my deepest of thoughts slipped on my tongue, “I don’t care if you love the other kid more than me, you messed up with me and you’re going to regret that for the rest of your life. Trust me, when karma comes biting you in the ass, don’t come running back home.  And you know why karma comes back around? Because people like you cannot keep their lives on a line and lose those who matter the most. We were doing well before you came barging into my house. So go to Australia, why should I care?”

I glanced at my Mum and gave her a comforting smile. She returned a small smile and that was it. I didn’t bother look back when I stormed up the stairs to go back to my room. I didn’t really care that it may have been the last time I saw them again. I didn’t care at all.

A/N: This is very short. I’m updating so many short chapters :( I really need to improve them at least, but hey! At least it’s fun for me to write, write, write!