Let tomorrow come

Chapter 20.

It's April now. After the incident with Astra, everyone finally calmed down. My dad is supposed to come see me in May. Lately he has been somewhere with poor communications. And I have to send him letters. I finally got an answer, and in a month daddy will be here again. There is another good news, or maybe not so good... I don't know how to take it. Yesterday the Wilsons came to visit. I was really glad to see Peter; we had not seen each other for about a month. He is completely immersed in the educational process and rarely finds time for me. It's not surprising, because we have a decent age difference. He is a friend to me, but perhaps he just considers me a child and treats me condescendingly. In any case, he told me important news.

My mother called Mrs. Wilson a few days ago, asking how we were doing and whether Dad came often. Peter's mom said that everything was fine, except for the case with Astra. Mom also asked when Dad was coming, and the Wilsons paid us a visit over the weekend to see if we knew anything about it. Only my mother asked them not to tell my grandmother that she was interested. So they will not inform my grandmother for now and just want to know how dad is doing. I told Peter that if they contact my mother again, they should tell that I miss her. Peter nodded and hugged me goodbye.

***

Today is a sunny warm day. The trees are starting to turn green. I love watching the process of the leaves opening. We are waiting for dad any day now. Yesterday, when Ann picked me up from art class, the teacher told her that if I continued to develop my talent in this area, I would have a promising future. I was glad to hear this. Lately we've been learning the basics of portraiture and sketching different face shapes. For me, working with a face is a little more difficult than working with nature or objects. The artist's world is huge. It turns out that there are many different techniques and directions. I never thought about it. Ann admires my work, but I doubt it's that good. This is just friendly support on her part. But this suits me too, I will try even more. Alice notes my progress in regular school-related activities. She rarely praises me, but recently she was talking about it with my grandmother, and I accidentally heard it when I passed by. True, grandma is reserved as always.

I'm waiting for my mother too, I miss her so much. I hope she really comes and doesn't leave us again. I think she didn't behave very well after all, we children always need both parents. We need warmth and support. In any case, I still have the recordings on the tape recorder that Peter gave me. And I keep wondering why she didn't try to contact me, although I left her a message on her answering machine.

***

I'm wearing a beige turtleneck with black birds on it and a black skirt just above the knee. The hair is braided to one side. When I look in the mirror, a short girl, whose movements are a little angular, smiles at me in the reflection. Her clothes make her look more mature, but she is far from being a graceful lady. Large eyes remain serious and somewhat wary, despite the fact that the mouth lives its own life.

"Christina, remember, you will study a lot. You will be as smart as Peter, and maybe even smarter," I say, pointing a finger at my reflection.

***

Dad arrived and we hugged for a long time. And we chatted about mom in the evening. He has already come to terms with her absence and it will be exciting for him to see her after a long separation. But I know that he will control himself, although he is a little hot-tempered by nature. Dad found out about Astra and was upset even more, because my brother showed himself poorly. He had an explanatory conversation with John and even hopes that he heard him. I hope too, because my brother became a little calmer after this incident. And my dad and I also went to Claude's greenhouse. Claude has already planted hyacinths and bluebells, as I asked last year. I look after them. And dad wanted to see the results of my labors. Then he would catch up with me on the lawn next to the fountain and circle when he managed to catch me, and I would laugh. I love the family atmosphere of warmth and comfort a lot...

***

Mom has changed. She's even thinner than she was before, which makes her seem a little taller. She withdrew into herself. Grandmother disapproved of her return. But in this case, I am not surprised by the reaction from my grandmother. The relationship between dad and mom is strained. She hardly speaks, and if he tries to talk to her, he does so very carefully. She told me that I had grown up noticeably. Well, of course, because she hasn't seen me for so long. And then she stroked my head and was silent. Finally, I asked her:

"Tell me, are you still angry with dad? And why were you gone for so long? Do you know that we missed you?!"

"I don't know..." she answered, barely audible, "...A lot of time has passed, dad and I will talk about everything one day."

"I don't want to interfere in your affairs, otherwise you'll say that I'm small and don't understand anything. That's what grandma usually says. But here..." I handed her the recorder, "...take it. I won't explain anything, but Peter gave it to me. He and I are friends. I recorded this down for you. I don't know what your problem is, but it's not dad's fault. I know this for sure."

"What is this, Chris?"

She seemed surprised.

"Mom, this is an ordinary voice recorder. I threw it under Mrs. Mabel's bed, and when she left, I took it from there. Don't ask anything else, it doesn't matter. And I hate that you didn't call me, although you left your phone number when you ran away. And I sent you a voice message. I'm a little offended by you."

"Sorry, daughter, I didn't mean to. I changed my number. Okay, I won't ask you. Apparently you have not only become taller, but also smarter. I'm happy for you."

She kissed my forehead and left.