Bittersweet Year

Road trip of shame

"Honey, there's something your father and i have been keeping from you." My mother was avoiding my eyes as she started to explain herself. "So your father and I made a decision without your consent...we decided to get...a divorce." She spat those last words like the were poison.

"WHAT?!" This was honestly unexpected. I mean they have been arguing a lot but isn't that what married couples do?

"It's not really a divorce it's just a separation but i'm pretty sure that it'll be divorce after all the paperwork is signed. You're old enough to handle the truth so I'm gonna tell you why. About a year ago your father got a new lawyer for the firm. Her name, as you know, is Stella. She was in his office one day and she confessed her feelings for him and he shared the same. So he had an affair with her and i found her Victoria's Secret underwear in my sheets when i was making the bed and your father was in the shower. I confronted him about it and he just told me he slept with his co-worker who is 26 years younger than him not to mention." I could see tears pooling in my poor mom's eyes.

I had never seen my mother cry in my entire life. She was always the strong type who, even when times got very very tough, she would stay strong for my sake. Like once I was 5 when her cat died that she'd had for 18 years, longer than the average life expectancy, she didn't shed a tear. Well not in front of me anyways. She always made sure when i cried she was there for me as a shoulder. But this time the tables were turned and i was her shoulder. So i hugged her and she broke down in my arms.

Hearing her sobs made my heart hurt. The one person who i had the closest relationship with was hurting and i hadn't comforted her before so this was new territory for the both of us. But i started tearing up looking at the woman who had once been a strong unbreakable woman and now was a broken and vulnerable person.

"Oh honey, I-I'm so sorry."

"There's no need to apologize for you hurting mom. You've always been there for me now i'm here for you."

It seemed like hours before her sobbing died down. "So basically here's whats happening. We are taking all our stuff but not the furniture, because he gets the house."

"So where are we gonna live mom?!" I wasn't sure why she was so calm telling me all this because from what i understood we didn't have anywhere to live!

"I got a job offer in California and the job comes with a fully furnished house with everything else like plates, pots, pans all that stuff."

"Ok. So when are we moving."

A guilty look took over my mother's face. I instantly knew that I wasn't gonna like the outcome of the question i dared to ask. "Well...we leave soon."

"how soon mom?"

"Like Friday evening soon?"

"BUT TODAY'S THURSDAY!" I was yelling at the top of my lungs. I had finally made captain of the boys soccer team, my grades were still flying high and everything was finally falling into place at school just to be ripped from under me. I stormed up to my room to get ready for my evening jog.

Running was a way for me to escape my problems. When i ran it was just me, the road and the wind in my hair. Most of all, it felt like if i ran fast enough and far enough, nothing could touch me. Catch me. Or hurt me. I think the reason i love running is because of that and the fact that when you run by yourself, it's the best way to think of a way to solve those never ending problems. Although it didn't solve all my problems, it was a damn good place to start.

That night i ran for a solid 3 hours, the longest i'd ever ran non-stop at my fast pace, and i knew i was gonna regret it. I just had so much on my mind. The fact that i was no longer going to be on my soccer team anymore, or at my school for that fact. At least it was only mid October and i wouldn't have missed much at my new school.