Rise To Stardom

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Emory:

Are you at work?

Can we talk?

Text me when you get this.

Three hours later and I was yet to receive a response. Not a voicemail, a text explaining her lack of reply, not one form of acknowledgement. My mind was still wrapping itself around the news about my dad's fast-approaching expiration date.

I needed my mom to process this with. Sure she was working to keep this roof over our heads, but did she even care about dad's declining health?

Did she even bat an eyelash when she got dad's text last night or did she shrug and continue on with her more important meeting? I reminded myself of the promise I made to dad and picked up the phone again. This time, I tried to call her.

One ring...

Maybe she saw I was calling and started wrapping something up.

Two rings...

Maybe she was nowhere near her phone.

Three rings...

She wasn't going to pick up. Her voice message greeted me on the other end instead.

"This is Jaqueline King, of King Hotels—"

I rolled my eyes. Of course she would add that. She was more prideful of her hotels than her family waiting for her at home.

"Sorry I can't come to the phone right now. Leave your name and number and I promise to call you back as soon as I can!"

Beep.

"Hello, this is your daughter speaking," I introduced, as if I was one of her employees. "I don't know if you remember, or even care, but your husband's cancer came back—" Here come the waterworks. My vision was increasingly blurry at the reminder.

I dragged my head up to face the light above my bed, hoping it would pause the water before it left a moist path down my cheek. To no avail. As a matter of fact, more tears were produced. "We're going through a really tough time over here, mama," my voice faltered halfway. 

"Daddy's sick again, you're not here. I just want..." my hands clapped over my cheeks to roughly swipe the tears away. They disrupted enough of my morning. "I really need you right now! Please, mama. Please! Be a mom for five minutes and call me back. Please!" I hung up and threw my phone back on my bed, weaving my fingers through my hair.

Anger permeated my body. Anger toward God for taking away my father. Going to church every Sunday was our routine.

Growing our relationship with Him was how we bonded. Now, He was taking him home, which I knew He would somewhere down the road, but I wasn't expecting it to be this soon.

Also, I was angry at my dad for smoking which was what caused all this in the first place. He never thought about what would happen and the affects it would have on his body. I was angry at my mom for not flying out here the second she heard the news.

I wanted her to hold me in her arms and kiss the top of my head, crying with me. Both of my bosses had been calling me all day asking if I was coming in for my shift. There was no time to think about work.

Aubrey, my best friend since we were toddlers, had been trying to get a hold of me. She had been texting me about going out tonight, but there was nothing to be happy about. My best option was to sulk around the house, curl up in my favorite blanket and watch sad movies all day. That was exactly what I intended to do.