You Don't Know Me | A Andy Gibb What If Story

Chapter 8

Thanksgiving was approaching. With my parents being in Canada, my sister halfway across the country, and my brother still in the military, I was going to be having Thanksgiving with Violet and Grandma Mary. 

"It's only gonna be us three," Violet told me on the phone.

"Oh good a small and quiet Thanksgiving. I honestly don't like the idea of loud, bustling holidays," I told her.

Violet chuckled.

"Yeah, I get that. Also, did I tell you who wrote to me?" Violet asked.

"Who?" I asked her curiously.

"My dad. He sent a letter about 3 weeks ago, well it was dated that. But because of the way the prisons process the mail it got lost," Violet explained.

Her dad was in prison shortly before her mom passed in the car accident. He was arrested for drug-related charges and armed robbery. She didn't have a great relationship with him but they were there for each other when they needed it.

"Does he know about everything?" I asked her.

"Well Grandma Mary, well of course, she told him at a visit and he was curious to see how things were going," she commented.

Grandma Mary made a promise to keep the contact because that is the only parent Violet would have in her life.

"That's good, right? I don't know how to react Violet," I told her honestly.

She sort of laughed.

"(Y/N), you are perfectly fine in your reaction. I mean I didn't know how to react when the letter came in the mail," she replied.

I sighed in relief.

"So are you gonna go see him or?" I asked curiously.

"Grandma thinks right now no. I am working on getting a letter written to him and she's gonna visit him next week. I just can't bring myself to see him. It's a reminder that mom's gone," she confessed.

I frowned at her comment.

"I get that. Totally get it. Are you gonna talk about this at the AA meeting? I mean it would be a great topic to show your strength and growth," I told her.

"I mean I did drink a lot in the beginning after my mom died because of my dad. He always drank when I was growing up and used it as his vice. I guess the apple didn't fall from the tree but hey I turned it around," Violet told me.

"Yes, you did turn it around I am so proud of you. I always say that but it's true," I told her.

She had come so far in the last 8 months. I didn't want anything to set her progress back.

"That always makes my little heart so happy hearing that," Violet told me.

Just then, my timer in the kitchen went off. I forgot I was baking a pizza for dinner.

"Violet I gotta get my pizza out of the oven or I'm going to starve tonight," I joked.

"Ok I'll be here," she told me as I put the phone down on the side table.

I ran to the kitchen and grabbed my oven mitts.

I pulled my pizza out. It was a little crisper than I had wanted, oh well.

I set it on the counter to cool off before going back to the living room and grabbing the phone again for a few. I was ready to eat.

"Okay I'm back," I told her.

"Oh, goodie. Was your pizza okay?" she asked chuckling.

"It's a little crisper than I thought but that's ok," I told her.