He Called Her Angel

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

Chapter 27

 D-I-V-O-R-C-E

"What?" I breathed out, unable to wrap my head around the idea.

"I'm sorry." My dad continued while my mom just stared off into space.

"It's not your fault. Things like this just happen to some people. Isn't that right?" He said while giving my mom a nudge. She snapped back into reality although the look of sorrow still filled her emotions. My mom and dad were high school sweethearts and have been in love for as long as I could remember. Could there love really evaporate into thin air? 

"Divorce." I whispered to myself, but my dad responded, "Yes your mom and I are separating." 

I sat there in silence until once again I mumbled "divorce." 

"Yes! Divorce! Do you need us to spell it out for you!?" My mom spit out. 

"Honey." My dad said calmly grasping her arm and in turn making her freeze up.

"As I was saying before," my dad continued, "These things just happen."

This was all it took for my mom to snap.

"Because sleeping with your secretary is something that just happens!" She said her voice laced with venom.

My dad laughed dryly. "Says the women who sleeps with sleazy guys in motels,” he said.

"He has a name and he is not just some sleazy guy!" My mom yelled. 

It was like swords were being stabbed into me every time they opened their mouths. Was I really this blind? I looked closer at my parents and saw that the love between them had been replaced with loathing.

I was so blind, but now that I had been enlightened suddenly a lot of situations started to make sense. The nights my mom never came home. The reason my dad left. All this time I thought it was their jobs, but how stupid was I to buy the same excuse every time. 

Once there fighting died down, my dad finally popped the question, "Since you are almost 17 the court is most likely going to let you decide who you would like to stay with. I won't be going back to China, but I am not going to be staying in Arizona. The choice is up to you." 

All of this seemed so surreal. They wanted me to choose, to choose between what? A few minutes ago I saw my loving parents, but now I couldn't see past the idea of them fucking somebody while wearing their damn wedding ring.

 "You want me to choose!? You want me to choose between the dad who ran away when I was at my worst or the mom who doesn't seem to care. You're both the same horrid people who put sleeping with some goddamn person above their family. You want me to choose? Well guess what I choose neither of you!" I yelled.

My parent’s faces were frozen in a mix of horror and regret. I felt I had said all that I needed to say and so I walked out of the house that felt like it was suffocating me with tension I hadn't felt earlier.

Once I got out I sighed. The whole idea of my parents having affairs was too much to wrap my head around. I felt like the full force hadn't hit me yet and I was worried about when it would.

My phone beeped with a text from my dad saying, "I know you may not want to choose, but you’re going to have to. We're sorry." I stared at my phone blankly. I didn't want to choose. Scratch that, I couldn't choose. I may hate the right now, but I know I love them both even if they don't love each other.

I continued walking along the sidewalk. The autumn wind whipped by me reminding me that winter was almost here. I continued on and into the local park. I sat on one of the picnic benches along side the playground and watched the kids carelessly play.