Nostalgia Trip (A Videogame Creepypasta)

Chapter Seven

After much internal deliberation, I decided to talk with my mother about, well, everything. She played dumb at first, feigning ignorance. It was only when I told her that I had met up with Sam that she quit her act. I sat her down. I wanted to believe that somehow, someway, she had a justified reason for having lied to me. So, I asked her. I asked her why she lied to me about Mr. O. I asked her why she never once spoke about the situation that happened all those years ago.

She started by apologizing for misleading me, but I quickly cut her off. I wasn't interested in her apologies. Rather, I was interested in the truth. I made her face me and look directly into my eyes. She was no longer going to hide behind her lies and her apologies. With that, I sat and waited for her to deliver her response.

According to her, Sam's father had been among the most unremarkable men she had ever met. She never formed a personal relationship with him. She only ever spoke to him because I had been best friends with his son. There was a night where the sound of sirens entered the neighborhood, and several police cars pulled up near Sam's house. A few officers entered the home and soon exited with Mr. O in their custody. He had been charged with the possession of child pornography, as well as the molestation of several minors. He was later convicted of both charges.

Upon hearing the news, both she and my father struggled to grasp the possibility that this man had done something to me. Something wrong... something awful. It wasn't long after Mr. O's arrest that the authorities showed up on our doorstep. My parents had called them to voice their concerns regarding my involvement with Mr. O.

My mother refused to divulge any specific information regarding what happened afterward with the police. She simply stated that they incorporated my case into the investigation, but came up empty-handed. Though no evidence was found to suggest that man had victimized me, there was no evidence he hadn't, either...

This uncertainty weighed down on my father. He had grown restless and highly irritable as the days went on, and no matter what my mother did, he wouldn't calm down. His fear was understandable, and the lack of knowledge about whether his child was harmed eventually drove him over the edge. When my mom found his note, it was already too late. He had left this world, unable to bear his burden any longer.

My mother confessed that she wanted to tell me the truth many times over the years, but couldn't bring herself to do so. While I grew up, I eventually came to forget Mr. O even existed at all. As she witnessed me repress my memory of the events that had transpired, she told herself that it was best if I had completely forgotten what happened. She told me she did it to protect me. To keep me safe from the same paranoia that ended up taking her husband away from her.

Although I extended my arms and embraced her following our conversation, I knew I held conflicting thoughts and emotions. On one hand, I understood why she acted the way she did. I sympathized with her dilemma. I was under the impression that by understanding her, I would come to forgive her. Instead, I found that my feelings were far more complex than that.

Understanding why she did it didn't make it hurt any less. Knowing what it is she went through, while enlightening, didn't take away the pain of realizing that someone I trusted kept me in the dark for so long. If I hadn't met with Sam, how long would it have taken for her to tell me? Would I ever have found out about what happened? The crime that occurred had victimized kids. Our legal identities wouldn't have been publicly disclosed. There would have been no way for me to know that I, or anyone else, had been involved in an investigation. Without inside information, I could never have hoped to independently figure this all out.

Perhaps I'm being selfish. After all, I'm not the only one that's hurting. My mother must feel god-awful, and to that end, I truly feel sorry for her. I'm likely going to need time to fix my relationship with her. After all, it's not like I can just brush aside years of being lied to, no matter how much I sympathize with her.