𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐞,
𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐢𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝.... 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.
𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫..... 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝'𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐢𝐭. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢'𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.
𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐲. 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐣𝐨, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ?
𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮....
Jojo clutched the letter, its weight magnified by the weight of her emotions. "Father, I'm sorry. I just can't anymore," she whispered, tears tracing paths down her cheeks. The floodgates threatened to burst, but a timely knock on the door forced her to rein it in.
"Jojo, come on, we have to go."
Wiping her face midway through the struggle with emotions, she managed to compose herself. "Coming," she replied, hoping Martha didn't catch the hoarseness in her voice.
*****
The van nestled into a parking space, and the group spilled out, ready for a day of shared endeavors.
"It's going to be a long day," Larry groaned, a playful anticipation that drew laughter from everyone.
"Typical Larry," Martha quipped. "Okay, everyone split up. We all have specific lists, so we'll meet at the cashier's counter."
"Okay," chorused the group, scattering into pairs-Martha with Jessie, Kore with Lawrence, Jojo with David, Paul with Larry, and Florence.
*****
Larry, ever the jester, couldn't resist teasing Florence. "You know, you should really learn to smile. At least, smile."
"Why don't you mind your business?" Florence growled, interrupting her shopping to throw Larry a death glare.
"What? You think I'm scared of your face?"
"And what on earth is your problem?" she hissed. "I really don't know why some people can't mind their own business." She continued, throwing whatever she could find into her shopping basket.
"I'm not the one with a froggy face," Larry persisted, cheekily sticking out his tongue while Florence responded with yet another death glare.
"Bye," Larry waved at her. "Catch ya in the van."
YOU ARE READING
A CAST OF PAIN (Closed For Editing)
General Fiction25 years go down the drain when series of dreams, supposedly forgotten parts of her life, memories spring up. They're painful but by implication, consequential. What does she do with the memories that seem to cause so much pain . Jojo, a happy go...
